Powder Review: Arva Reactor Ride Vest Airbag 15+

Cy Whitling
·7 min read

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In a Nutshell

The Arval Reactor Ride Vest is a spacious, feature-rich airbag pack that’s a great companion for lift-assisted backcountry skiing.

  • Stated Capacity: 15 L

  • Pockets: 9

  • Features:

  • Weight:

  • Size Tested: One size fits all

Shop the Area Reactor Ride Vest Airbag 15+

Intro

There’s a reason so many patrollers and other winter professionals choose to ride lifts in a vest instead of a pack. It’s just a more convenient way to carry your gear when you’re splitting time between the chairlift and the backcountry. There’s no need to take your pack off every lap, just load the chair like usual, and then duck out the gates with all your backcountry gear close at hand.

Arva’s Reactor Ride Vest airbag is an updated version of their older Reactor Vest 15, and the version I used also had Arva’s carbon canister, which Arva says is 45% lighter than the steel version. It’s worth noting that Arva has both a network of refill centers and a mail-in refill service for their canisters. This is the first carbon canister from any brand available in the US.

With airbag vests, just like most other packs, it’s the details that really make or break a product, so I was excited to try out the Arva Reactor Ride Vest both in and out of bounds.

Size and Fit

Arva used to offer the Reactor’s predecessor in two sizes, Small and Large, which they said fit people from 110 lbs up to 231 lbs. The new Reactor Ride only comes in one size, but is very adjustable. You can adjust the size with two straps on each side of the torso that tighten the vest around you, as well as with two adjustable shoulder straps. I haven’t seen those in a vest before, but they worked well, and proved to be pretty adjustable.

At 6’1” 205 lbs, I generally wear an XL in ski jackets. The Arva Reactor adjusted to fit me well, with 4” of extra slack in the waist straps, worn over my ski shell and puffy jacket. It also cinched down to fit my partner, who is somewhere between a Small and a Medium in women’s jackets, with plenty of room to go even smaller.

Universal sizing is a bit of a gamble, there’s a good chance that you’re going to leave out a significant number of skiers with it. But, Arva’s use of both a lateral (torso/waist) and vertical (shoulders) adjustment does make it easier to adjust to different body types than some other similar packs.

Features

The Arva Reactor Ride Vest Airbag 15+ is feature-packed. It’s a generous 15L pack, I fit everything I’d usually carry in my 18L backpack in the vest with plenty of room to spare. The main compartment also has an extra zipper so that it can expand for six more liters of capacity. I’d say that the Reactor Ride Vest’s volume might be greater than its load capacity. It’s easy to imagine a world where you cram more stuff into the Ride Vest than it can carry comfortably, which is a nice side to err on.

The avalanche tool pocket is generous enough to fit skins along with your shovel and probe, and has a red zipper. I appreciate that, when I’m switching between packs, especially when they have a lot of zippers like the Ride Vest, it’s nice to be able to immediately know which one opens up my snow safety gear.

The Ride Vest’s ski carry is anchored to the back panel (against the user’s body) of the pack, not the outer portion. This is a small detail that can make a big difference. Some airbag packs are designed so that the top strap of the ski carry is actually pulling open the airbag portion of the pack, which is uncomfortable, and in extreme cases can actually cause the airbag to spill out.

The airbag trigger has a built in safety lock, and is height adjustable. It’s also easy to swap the trigger from one shoulder to the other to favor your strong hand.

I used the Ride Vest without the optional D30 chest inserts, but it’s nice to have the option for a little extra upper body protection.

I really like the Ride Vest’s front pocket layout. All six of the front pockets are easy to access, and big. I was able to store my phone, beacon, snacks, and water up front, while maintaining good beacon/phone separation.

The Reactor’s helmet carry has a lot going on. It uses six straps with a small panel to secure your helmet. It takes longer to deploy than a traditional mesh helmet carry, and doesn’t hold the helmet securely. If you’re planning on hiking with your helmet on the vest a lot, I’d recommend coming up with an alternative.

Performance

If you regularly split time between resort laps, and lift-accessed backcountry, you owe it to yourself to try out a vest. They’re just more convenient. You can load up with all your gear and snacks for the day in the morning, and then ski self-sufficiently without having to take off your pack every time you load the lift. Then, if you do decide to head out of bounds, you’ve got all your avy gear, as well as an airbag, ready to go.

The Arva Reactor Ride Vest is so comfortable and convenient that I can imagine using it every time I ski the resort, regardless of any intentions of heading out of bounds. It keeps my gear organized, and I don’t notice it while skiing at all. Thanks to its capacity and airbag, the Ride Vest isn’t the lowest profile vest on the market at all, and I noticed that while riding chairlifts with more shallow seats, it did push me forward off the lift a little. It wasn’t enough to be uncomfortable, but it’s not quite as secure as riding without a pack.

The Ride Vest does add some warmth, I found that I could ski with a thinner mid layer when using the Ride Vest, and if you’re planning on skinning a lot, the Ride Vest will definitely make you sweat more than a traditional pack. But, if you’re planning on skinning a lot, a bigger pack, with more capacity makes more sense anyway.

Compromises

For in/out of bounds skiing, where you’re doing fast laps back to the chair, the Arva Reactor Ride Vest is wonderful. Sure, it could be a little less bulky to make chairlift rides even more comfortable, but it’s not bad, and any vest is going to push you forward a little.

Where the Ride Vest Airbag does make some compromises is on more human-powered excursions. If you plan on skinning more than a thousand feet of vert per lap, you might want to consider a more traditional pack that runs cooler and has a better helmet carry. This one is just too fiddly and insecure.

What would a perfect day in the Arva Reactor Ride Vest Airbag look like?

You’re lined up for the first tram at the crack of dawn, out the gates immediately chasing first tracks. The first half of the day is a powder frenzy, lap after lap, no time to pause between. But later, it’s time to meet up with friends or family, for some more relaxed skiing inbounds. Luckily there’s no need to head to the car or swap out gear, the Arva Reactor Ride Vest is ready for it all.