Bag for travelling

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I need a practical bag for when i go travelling for 9months - 1 year. I was thinking a 50 litre bag will be enough as i dont want to be taking something that is stupidly heavy.

I will be packing a few tshirts, couple pair of jean, a few electrical bits and general travel stuff.

So far ive come up with the berghaus freeflow 50 and thats about it. I want it to be comfy, have zippers that can be lockable and preferably be water/shower proof

Looking at spending no more than about £70


cheers
 
army camping bags are best for this sort of thing usualy

forgot to mention, i wont be taking a sleeping bag as hostels dont allow them now (unless coated to permethrin or something)

Will just be taking a mosquito net to hang around where i sleep and a travel pillow
 
50 litres is pretty big, don't think you'd come close to filling it with the things you've listed. If you're staying in hostels you shouldn't need that much stuff.

And anyway, do you really need 2 pairs of jeans with you? Quite a heavy thing to be carrying, perhaps just 1 pair of jeans and 1 pair of shorts?

The bag itself doesn't need to be water/shower proof imo, just get some drybags.
 
My sister got this thing that made everything vaccuum packed when she went, so it made it all really tiny.
 
My sister got this thing that made everything vaccuum packed when she went, so it made it all really tiny.

I think those things need a vacuum cleaner to suck out all the air tho.

To OP: head down to your local millets, blacks, or any other camping shop and have a browse and try some bags on as well, as for the length of time you are travelling, its worthwhile to get a comfortable bag.

another tip, line the inside of the bag with bin liner, it keeps the rain out and eveything stays dry.
 
get a decent rucksack that fits properly and you know will last the distance. Get a waterproof liner bag thingymajig that you put your clothes in. There is nothing worse than trekking through a rainforest to then try to dry off and find all your kit is wet through. Having the ability to hang stuff off your bag is very very useful if your on the move. it's too much bother to keep opening your pack everytime u need paper wor/drink/money so straps and hooks are a godsend.

What kind of places are you going to? for a years worth of travelling i can see you going to both hot and cold climates so maybe look into splitting your pack into 2. one for cold, other for hot.

the most important thing for travelling and nubmer 1 rules befor you leave:

TAKE HALF AS MANY CLOTHES AND TWICE THE MONEY.
 
thanks the north face duffle bag looks quite good. Does it have the hooks etc mentioned?

Im (probably) going to the following places

Asia (thailand, maybe vietnam, maybe china)
Japan
Fiji
New Zealand
Oz
Canada
US (LA-New York by land)

working as much as possible, will have about 4k to spend after getting ticket (hopefully)
 
will i also be ok taking the bag as hand luggage? Id rather have everything on me.

My only concern would be taking electrical stuff and liquids like toothpaste if i take it all as hand luggage
 
You won't be able to take a bag that size as hand luggage. You'll probably want a smaller, separate bag that attaches or will fit inside the bigger bag so you can separate them on occasions such as flying.
 
not a chance with hand luggage as your pack will probally weight somewhere enar 15kilo. Don't worry about liquids if you properly pack your bag.
Take a small rucksack aswell if you're taking large (anything bigger than a camera. ie laptop) electrical equipment. You can wear this on your front as its a lot safer and also gives you better balance if it has reasonable weight.
 
Yeh, just thought, i best take my backpack for day trips when im there. Can put camera, documents etc in that then use it for water or whatever else when there
 
How are you intending to travel and move around while you are in situ? If you will mainly be staying in places for relatively extended periods of time but taking a fair bit of kit then a more solid suitcase style of bag might be in order as they are easier to pack and live out of, wheels rapidly become useful if you will be moving about relatively flat areas for distances. The Da Kine Split Roller has a large load capacity (~100l) but is still pretty easy to heft around, has wheels and you can if you want just take the upper or lower segment for around half the capacity.

However it sounds like you might not be doing that since you have a fair number of countries with a relatively short space of time there. In which case a rucksack would be a better option, £70 might be a little bit on the cheap side for a really good quality bag but look for something with good shoulder straps and lumbar support with waist strap as well as some form of frame (internal is probably better here) as it helps it to keep its shape and will also mean that the bag isn't resting quite so heavily on your back. Bags with plenty of zips are handy for access but that does also work the same way for thieves so you could either get locks on all zips or use a liner for the rucksack and lock the most important zips. I'm not too sure what you should be looking at in your budget but Berghaus, Hagloffs (my choice and seems capable of withstanding anything short of a small scale nuclear war), Karrimor and The North Face all do options that are worth investigating.

Duffel bags I'm not quite so keen on, this is mainly personal choice but they aren't as easy to move with as a rucksack nor as organised as a suitcase plus they don't have wheels. They are however cheaper than both since they are simpler and they are probably easier to pack with a 'cram-it-in' style.
 
forgot to mention, i wont be taking a sleeping bag as hostels dont allow them now (unless coated to permethrin or something)
Everyone seems to take sleeping bag liners to hostels. It's what i did. You dont want to be sleeping in some dodgy hostel in what are probably the same sheets as the same people for the last few weeks ;)
Yeh, just thought, i best take my backpack for day trips when im there. Can put camera, documents etc in that then use it for water or whatever else when there
Definately take a day-bag.
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Remember to take some number padlocks for locking up your bags in hostels (and possibly your day-bag as you're walking around cities).
 
Ive been into town today and tried a few on. The north face dufflebag wasnt comfy when on my back. I tried a freeflow 50 then went to a nevisport store where a very helpful guy told me the freeflow and other types or big back systems were really just a gimmick.

I spoke with him for over 20minutes and he suggested getting a 50 litre bag. I tried on one with biofit or something and it was comfy but was 60+10 litres and too big

Ive just ordered this http://www.theoutdoorshop.com/Outdoor/ProductDetails.aspx?language=en-GB&product=27736

Biofit back and 45+8 should be enough but not too small as im taking my 20litre backpack too. Bonus as i also ski, so will hopefully be used in the future, or in canada if we ski. It came to £52.75 inc delivery

Thanks for all the info guys (and girls?) and a big thanks to Mr Nevisport store man in Leeds (who could have easily had a tonne off me in there)

edit - For his good customer service ill prob be getting my jacket from nevisport as they have some decent lightweight jackets in sale at the moment
 
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