Lange Racer Bag

The Lange Racer Bag is a full race-day pack — 80 liters, zippered internal boot compartments, a helmet pouch and a fleece-lined goggle pocket. Lange builds it for the World Cup circuit. It makes the most sense for the skier whose ski boots, helmet, goggles and layers all move together, in one trip, on one back.

The numbers, from Lange's 26/27 catalog: 80 liters, 490 x 280 x 700 mm, 1.9 kg empty. The body is rugged 600D polyester with PVC. Ski boots go into zippered compartments in the sides, keeping them out of the main volume; the helmet gets its own pouch, and the goggles a fleece-lined pocket. The main compartment opens from the top, the front or the back. That matters: you can reach the bottom of a loaded 80-liter bag without tipping it out onto the snow. Carrying is backpack-style: padded anatomical shoulder straps, with sternum and waist straps to stop the load swinging.

Who should skip it. If your ski day is a short walk from the parking lot with boots and a helmet, this is more bag than you need. It is 1.9 kg empty, and 80 liters you will be tempted to fill.

Choosing between the Lange bags: the Racer Bag and the Racer Bag Small carry the same documented feature set — boot compartments, helmet pouch, fleece-lined goggle pocket, the same 600D build — and differ in size and weight. This one is 80 liters and 1.9 kg; the Small is 75 liters and 1.3 kg in a shorter, squarer shape. The Compact Boot Bag is a 35-liter top-loader that Lange describes as a starting gate warm-up bag, and its description does not specify an internal boot compartment. If the boot compartments are why you are buying, buy this one or the Small.