The Atom Packs Notch is a 40L ultralight backpack with EcoPack (EP40) weighing 29.6 oz. It’s a stylish pack with an internal frame that’s great for fast-and-light overnight trips or day hiking. The Notch is a roll-top pack with the typical layout of an ultralight backpack consisting of two side bottle pockets, a front mesh pocket, and a bottom mesh pocket for storing snacks, hats, gloves, or snack wrappers. While the pack is unisex, it comes with female-friendly S-shaped shoulder straps with stretch pockets to hold small bottles, electronics, a smartphone, or sunglasses. A removable hipbelt is also provided.
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- Weight: 29.6 oz (840g)
- Volume: 40 liters total: 35L main, 5L external pockets
- Type: Internal Frame (Plastic Sheet and 1 frame stay)
- Gender: Unisex
- S-shaped Shoulder Straps: Yes
- Access: Roll-top
- Hip belt: Removable
- Load-lifters: No
- Pockets: 6 (2 open shoulder strap pockets, 2 side, 1 front, 1 on bottom)
- Hip-Belt Pockets: No add-on available)
- Seam-taped: No
- Bear Canister Compatibility: BV450 fits horizontally, BV475 and BV500 are best carried on top
- Materials: Ecopak EPX200, 210d Robic Extreema, Dyneema Mesh, 500D Textured Nylon
- maximum recommended load: 15 kg (33 lbs)
- Price: $270
Atom Packs is a British ultralight backpack manufacturer located in the UK’s Lake District National Park, quickly becoming a premier cottage backpack manufacturer in Europe. They make affordable custom and ready-made ultralight backpacks with EcoPak, a highly durable, waterproof, and PFC-free fabric made from recycled polyester. I reviewed their “Mo” backpack, since renamed the Prospector, a few years ago and was impressed then by the quality and thoughtfulness of the design and manufacture. They ship packs internationally, so you can buy them if you reside in the USA or other countries.
Notch Backpack Storage and Organization
The Atom Packs Notch 40 (ready-made model) is a stylish roll-top pack that looks really cool in black Ecopak with light blue and orange highlights. (Atom offers this pack in a wide range of custom colors, too.) However, the interior is white, so you can see what’s inside.
While the pack fabric is waterproof, the seams are not sealed, so I’d still recommend lining the inside with a plastic bag. The main compartment is not hydration-compatible, and there is no place to hang a hydration system inside.
The Notch has two side water bottle pockets that can fit two SmartWater bottles or one 1L Nalgene bottle. The bottles are reachable when wearing the pack. The side pockets have an elastic cord/cordlock combo to secure the bottles along the top and drain holes in the bottom to remove moisture. The pockets are made with “Robic Extrema”, just Robic nylon with High-Density Polyethylene Fibers (HDPE) fibers running through it and easy to patch with Tenacious Tape if you hole it.
The ends of the roll-top can be buckled to the sides of the pack with long webbing straps or together on top of the main compartment. If buckled on top, you can loop the side webbing straps around the front of the pack for added compression or to attach gear like snowshoes or a foam pad. The top of the roll-top has two plastic snaps to hold the top closed before rolling. I’m surprised more backpack manufacturers don’t use these snaps. They don’t catch on clothing like velcro, and they provide a good “roll” without having to insert a stiffener.
The Notch also has a bottom stretch pocket on the base of the pack, which has become popular on lower volume thru-hiking packs in the past two years. Many people use it to stash a day’s worth of snacks and food or hats and gloves so they can be reached while you’re walking without having to stop. One end of the pocket is open, while the other has a small trash hole where you can stuff candy and snack wrappers for later disposal. The bottom pocket is made with Dyneema Mesh and nylon 6.6, which is pretty durable, but I’d still expect this to be a wear point in the long term. If you hike in Bear Country, I’d think twice about stuffing food into it unless you plan to store the pack next to your bear canister at some distance from your shelter at night.
The front stretch pocket can hold 5L of items but is not included in the 40L volume of the rest of the backpack. There are also seven fabric loops sewn into the seams of the front pocket which Atom has threaded with elastic cord. I’ve left it in place for illustration, but I usually remove cords like them as soon as I get a pack that has them. I hike off-trail a lot, and you don’t want elastic cords hanging off a pack for that kind of thing.
Backpack Frame and Suspension
The thing that makes The Notch backpack a great carry are the internal frame, the hip belt, and the fact that the pack is slightly narrow (10.5″ wide at the base), like a climbing backpack. All that makes it super comfortable to carry, with a hipbelt that doesn’t slip.
The Notch frame is a shaped plastic sheet with a center aluminum stay which comes pre-bent but can be modified if you need something a little different. Both terminate in the center of the pack, behind a modest lumbar pad on the hip belt. Both frame components are removable, but there’s little reason to. In addition, the back of the pack behind the shoulder straps is padded with 8mm closed cell foam and covered with 500D textured nylon, which has a softshell look and feels good against your back.
The hip belt has a single center buckle with two tiers of webbing straps so you can tighten it to match the shape of your hips, enabling a customized fit for both men and women. The hip belt is 4″ wide, backed with spacer mesh, and lightly padded, with a modest lumbar pad in the back which helps keep the pack in place on the hip girdle. The hip belt is replaceable if you need a different size and is held in place by velcro behind the lumbar pad. The Notch does not come with hip belt pockets, but Atom Packs sells them as an optional add-on. They slip over the hip belt and are held in place by front and back webbing loops.
The shoulder straps are S-shaped, so they’ll work for men and women, curving around the sensitive bits They’re also lightly padded and backed with spacer mesh. Both straps have daisy chains sewn on the front, but they’re both covered with sewn-on and non-removable stretch mesh pockets sized for a Smartphone or snack bar. Despite this, you can still access the daisy chains under them and move the sternum strap up or down. The elastic mesh of the pockets will hold onto your phone even if you bend over but doesn’t provide any moisture protection in the rain. The pockets are too small to hold water bottles however.
External Attachment Points and Compression
I’ve already touched on several external attachment points, including the webbing loops and elastic cord surrounding the front stretch pocket and the shoulder strap daisy chains. The Notch also has a top Y strap which is suitable for securing a foam pad or bear canister to the top of the main compartment. An ice axe loop and a bungee cord also secure the shaft.
In addition to the top compression provided by the roll top’s side straps, The Notch with a single tier of side compression straps made with webbing instead of the ridiculous cords provided by other pack manufacturers. They provide much better compression and are good for securing long items along the side of the pack. While the webbing straps are long enough to secure a NEMO Switchback foam pad against the side of the pack, they’re adjusted using slide buckles rather than side-release (squeeze) buckles, which would be my preference because it’s easier to secure bulky items with them.
Recommendation
Atom Pack’s Notch 40 is available as a stock model with a set of standard features or as a custom build with your choice of colors and other options. I think the stock all-black model reviewed here is stunning in its appearance and functionality. The pack carries wonderfully due mainly to its stiff frame and narrow dimensions, highly adjustable hip belt, and easily accessible pockets, which are reachable while you’re in motion.
Disclosure: Atom packs donated a backpack for review.
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