ThruDark Pinnacle 28 review: a seriously built hiking backpack, tested

Last Tuesday I walked the Old Harry Rocks and Ballard Down circular, about 10km of chalk cliff and open ridge on the Purbeck coast, with the ThruDark Pinnacle 28 on my back for the first time. It is a 28-litre technical hiking backpack at £160, and I have been waiting to get it on a hill since ThruDark announced it in the summer.

These are early impressions from one full day, not a long-term verdict. More testing is coming, including heavier loads and worse weather. But a day with a long sustained climb and an exposed, windy ridge tells you a lot about a new pack, and this one made a strong first case for itself: comfortable straight from the wrapper, well ventilated on the climb, and secure on my back however I wore the straps.

This review is part of the Coast & Fell ThruDark brand spotlight, which covers the Poole brand's ex-forces story and how the rest of the range stacks up. The short version on this one: comfortable, tough and well ventilated.

How I came to have one

A couple of weeks before this walk I was invited to ThruDark's new HQ at Sentinel House in Poole. I was given a tour of the amazing offices and, to be honest, I left a little jealous that I don't work there! I was shown around the store too, getting to see a lot of the gear they have, and George kindly talked me through the relevant gear, the specs, and the generations and evolutions of some of the longer-standing items ThruDark do.

I was kindly given the Pinnacle 28 to test, along with the Bastion jacket and the new generation Centurion. I will do full reviews on those just as soon as it gets cold enough to properly test them.

The Pinnacle comes in two sizes, a 28 litre and a 42 litre, both in Obsidian Black and Olive Green. For me the 28 made the most sense: it sits comfortably between my 20 litre Osprey Daylite Plus and my 33 litre Osprey Talon 33, which is exactly the slot I wanted filling. And I chose the Olive Green because, well, it looks bloody amazing!

For context, everything else of theirs I own, the Phalanx fleece, the Black Ops Dyneema jumper, a couple of tees, I bought at retail over the years, and that kit is why I rate the brand. Gifted kit does not change what I write: what follows is what I actually found on the hill, the good and the not so good.

Pros, cons and feature requests

• Really comfortable on a full day out, straight from new
• A great looking pack in either colour, distinctively ThruDark
• Good back ventilation, no sweat patches after 10km of coast and ridge
• Sits securely on the back with the straps done up or hanging loose
• Main compartment opens up wide, with easy access to everything inside
• Serious construction: recycled Robic body, 840D ballistic nylon reinforcement, YKK zips
• Detachable rain cover included, not sold as an extra
• 5-year warranty and lifetime repairs

• A single lid pocket, normal for a 28L but worth knowing if you live out of your lid
• Mesh style hip belt pockets leave a question mark over snacks in heavy rain, not yet tested
• One day of testing so far; heavier loads and wet weather still to come

• A built-in waterproof shoulder strap phone pocket. No hiking pack offers one, and it would genuinely stand out (more on this below)

Who is this pack for?

The Pinnacle 28 is a day pack for proper hill days: 28 litres for waterproofs, layers, food and water, built from fabrics chosen for abrasion resistance rather than minimum weight. It suits walkers who want British kit built to last and backed by a real warranty, and anyone who values easy access to the main compartment over lots of small organiser pockets.

If you are shopping for overnights rather than day walks, the 42L version is the one aimed at you.

Specs and construction

Capacity

28 litres

Weight

1.2kg

Dimensions

52 x 25 x 21cm

Price

£160

Load rating

Tested to 13kg

Back system

Adjustable padded back panel with ventilation mesh over the padding, 60mm of length adjustment, load carried close to the body

Main fabric

Robic 210D Hex nylon, 100% recycled, C0 DWR, rated 1500HH

Reinforcement

840D ballistic nylon at high-abrasion points

Rain cover

Included and detachable, 210D nylon ripstop rated 10,000HH+, stowed in its own compartment

Zips

YKK throughout, including a YKK Vislon AquaGuard waterproof stash pocket

Pockets

Quick-access stash pocket, side and front stretch mesh pockets, zipped hip belt pockets, internal mesh zip pocket with key clips

Other features

Hydration reservoir sleeve, side compression straps, trekking pole attachment with bungee, light attachment point, sternum strap with emergency whistle, emergency signalling information panel

Colours

Obsidian Black or Olive Green

Made in

Vietnam

Warranty

5 Year Overwatch Warranty, plus lifetime repairs

The construction follows the pattern of everything else ThruDark make: specify a proper technical main fabric, then armour the failure points. The main body is Robic 210D Hex nylon, 100% recycled, with a C0 DWR treatment, and the high-abrasion points are reinforced with 840D ballistic nylon, the places a rucksack actually wears through. It is the same thinking that puts Dyneema in the elbows of their jumpers, applied to a pack.

ThruDark's claim for Robic is 50 times the tensile strength of standard nylon and 2.5 times the tear resistance. That is their number, not my measurement, but Robic is a recognised high-tenacity nylon and the choice fits the job. The 13kg load rating reads like an honest real-world figure rather than a headline one.

The rain cover is included and detachable, stowed in its own compartment so it deploys in seconds. The back adjusts over 60mm so you can dial the fit rather than take pot luck.

And a detail I genuinely like: the emergency signalling information printed inside the pack. I hope to never need it, but it is a great thought to have it right there if you ever do.

First day on the hill: comfort and carry

The test ground was the full Old Harry Rocks and Ballard Down loop: around 10km, a long sustained climb up Ballard Down, and an exposed, windy ridge on a warm day that reached about 18 degrees. A good mix of effort and conditions for a first outing.

The headline is simple. It was really comfortable, straight out of the wrapper, with no bedding-in period and nothing rubbing or digging by the end of the day.

The adjustable back earned its keep before I even left the house. Trying the pack on the night before while packing, it sat a little high on me, and I was grateful for the adjustment: I am 6ft tall, so I let the back out to the maximum length it allows and it sat much nicer against my back. My Talon offers the same adjustability, but my Daylite Plus does not, which is why that pack always feels like it rides up too high.

The back ventilation worked. On the climb up Ballard Down, which just keeps going and going, I was working hard in the sun and I finished the day without a sweat patch. The back system is an adjustable padded panel covered with ventilation mesh, so air can move between you and the padding rather than the pack sitting flat and sweaty against your back. It carries the load close to the body, and on this evidence it breathes as well as it carries.

The thing that surprised me most was how it sits. The Pinnacle felt just as comfortable and secure with the straps done up or hanging loose, and on a long walk that is a nice sense of freedom, being able to unclip everything on an easy stretch without the pack punishing you for it. Plenty of packs, including ones I rate highly, only feel settled once everything is fastened. This one does not care, and the full comparison with my usual day pack is further down.

A fair caveat, and I want to be straight about it: my load that day was light. With a heavier pack I would still want the hip belt done up to take the weight off my shoulders, and I have not yet carried the Pinnacle anywhere near its 13kg rating. That test is coming.

One more thing that deserves more weight than reviews usually give it: this is a great looking pack. In either colour, Obsidian Black or the Olive Green I went for, it is distinctively ThruDark, and that matters. Feature for feature, in size and configuration, it lines up with packs like the Rab Protium, and the honest difference is that the ThruDark is simply the sexier pack. On looks alone it is a clear choice, and anyone who says looks do not count has never chosen between two packs that both do the job.

The lid pocket, and how the storage is laid out

The Pinnacle 28 has a single lid pocket, zipped and sat on top of the lid where it is easy to get at on the move. It took my glasses and my Anker charger fine, and that is about the right expectation for it. That is normal for this size of pack. My 20 litre Osprey daypack does not offer any more up top, and while my Talon 33 has a big lid pocket with a hidden pocketed section underneath that I find really useful on longer walks, the Talon is a bigger pack. If lid storage matters to you, the 42L Pinnacle adds a floating top lid with a zipped pocket on its underside.

Where the Pinnacle spends its storage budget instead is the main compartment, and it is money well spent. The pack opens up wide, with lots of easy access to everything inside, and I really like that. No feeding your arm down a narrow tube to find the thing at the bottom; the pack opens and your kit is right there.

There are zipped hip belt pockets and stretch mesh pockets on the sides and front, so the small-bits storage is there, it is just distributed around the pack rather than stacked in the lid. If you live out of your lid pocket, know that before buying, or look at the 42.

Inside there is a hydration reservoir sleeve, with routing to feed the tube out through the pack and a drain hole for the day a bladder decides to leak. On the outside you get a trekking pole attachment with a bungee, a light attachment point and side compression straps, which earned their keep on the walk by keeping my water bottle and Lucozade snug in the stretch mesh side pockets rather than bouncing around.

One thing I will be watching on the hip belt pockets: they are a mesh style material, and I wonder how their contents will fare in proper rain. It did not rain on this first test, but like many hikers I keep snacks in there, sweets, nuts, trail mix, something to pick at through a longer hike. If moisture gets in and my Haribo turn sticky, I am going to be one unhappy, wet, Haribo-less hiker! I am fairly sure the special forces do not march on Haribo, but it is a genuine real-world question. To be fair, it is easily solved with a small waterproof baggy, the same trick I already use for my first aid bits and painkillers. A wet-weather test is coming either way, and I will report back.

While I am on storage, here is a feature request rather than a criticism, because I have never seen it on any hiking pack: a built-in shoulder strap phone pocket. I use an Osprey Pack Pocket Organiser on my packs, a 1 litre zipped pouch that velcros around the strap with a hook at the top to stop it sliding down. Modern phones are big and heavy, and shoved in a trouser pocket they get annoying on a long hike and drag your trousers down. The phone is also the thing you reach for most on the trail, for navigation, music, audiobooks and photos, so having it on the strap just makes sense. Build something like that into a pack, properly waterproof, and it would genuinely stand out.

How it sits against my Osprey packs

A fair word first: the Pinnacle 28 and the Talon 33 are different beasts. Five litres is a real gap, the Talon's natural rival in this range is the Pinnacle 42, and the 28 lines up closer to the daypack end of the spectrum. But I own the Osprey Talon 33, I have reviewed it, and I carried the Pinnacle over ground the Talon knows well, so the observations are worth having, with that class difference kept in mind.

Carry. This is where the Pinnacle wins, at least at light loads. The Talon wants its hip and sternum straps done up to feel secure; leave them undone and it feels ready to slip off. The Pinnacle sat securely either way, which made the easy stretches of the walk noticeably freer. With a heavy load I would strap both packs up properly, so treat this as a light-day advantage until I have tested further.

Ventilation. Honours even so far. The Talon's AirScape panel has never left me with a sweaty back, and the Pinnacle matched it on a warm day with a hard climb. One day against years, though, so the Talon keeps the benefit of the doubt.

Organisation. The Talon, clearly. The big lid pocket plus the hidden section under it, the harness pocket, the Stow-on-the-Go pole system: Osprey have had decades to refine this and it shows. The Pinnacle has its own trekking pole attachment with bungee and a light attachment point, and answers on storage with a wide-opening main compartment and easier access to the big stuff.

Build and backing. The Pinnacle, on paper. 840D ballistic reinforcement, an included rain cover (the Talon's is a separate purchase), a 5-year warranty and lifetime repairs. The Talon is around £130 to the Pinnacle's £160, and Osprey's own All Mighty Guarantee is no small thing, but the Pinnacle is built like it expects a harder life.

If you want maximum organisation and a few more litres for the same sort of money, the Talon 33 remains an easy recommendation. If you want the tougher build and the freer carry, the Pinnacle is the more interesting pack, and that is not something I expected to write about a rucksack from a brand best known for its clothing.

The Pinnacle 42L, and how the sizes split

The 42L is the overnight and multi-day option at £190. Same fabrics and same thinking, with a floating top lid, detachable sleeping pad straps, under-lid cinching straps and a 14kg load rating at 1.7kg, plus 75mm of back adjustment. I have not handled the 42, so that is spec, not experience, but the sizing split is sensible: 28 for day walks, 42 for multi-day.

The rest of ThruDark's pack range

The Pinnacle is the hiking pack, but it sits in a small range of backpacks now, each built for a different job. The Phantom 25L (£130) is the everyday carry and commuter pack, and there is a bigger Phantom 40L (£180) for travel and weekends. Then there is the Orbital 30L (£190), a Dyneema reinforced climbing and mountaineering pack with RECCO rescue reflector technology built in. I have no mountaineering plans that justify it, but it looks great, and that is a dangerous combination.

My wife has a handbag for every occasion, and I used to wonder how that happens. Looking at this range, I finally understand. These are the men's versions, and I can make a case for owning every one of them.

Price, warranty and where to buy

The Pinnacle 28 is £160, which puts it in the premium day-pack bracket alongside the established names. Judge it on what that buys: a Robic 210D Hex main fabric with 840D ballistic reinforcement, a rain cover in the box, YKK zips throughout, and the 5 Year Overwatch Warranty with lifetime repairs behind it. Everything else I own from ThruDark has earned its price over years of use, and the Pinnacle is built to the same standard.

ThruDark sell the Pinnacle direct from their own site.

Should you buy it?

After one full day, the ThruDark Pinnacle 28 is the most comfortable first outing I have had with a new pack: secure on the back with the straps done up or loose, properly ventilated on a hard climb, and heavily built for a 1.2kg day pack. Judge it on two things: the carry and the build. The looks you get for free, and they are a genuine point in its favour. At £160 with a rain cover included and the 5 Year Overwatch Warranty with lifetime repairs behind it, both are comfortably delivered.

This is an early-impressions review, and I will update it once the Pinnacle has done heavier loads and a proper wet Dorset winter day. On the evidence so far, the Pinnacle is not a side project from a clothing brand. It is a serious piece of kit.

ThruDark Pinnacle 28 FAQs