Choosing a rucksack

GiraffePencils

GiraffePencils

GiraffePencils

Soldato
Joined
15 Feb 2013
Posts
3,089
Location
Edinburgh
Hello all,

I'm looking for a bit of advice when choosing a rucksack for camping.
I'm soon to go on a camping trip with my son (His first) and as I'll be carrying everything I was looking to get a rucksack.

There's a number of ~£40 ones from the likes of trespass/gooutdoors
But I'd like to go camping with him more in the future so was looking at getting something that'd last.
But there's some insane prices on these it seems, is that just par for the course in this area? are there brands to avoid? (both due to shoddy work or overpriced faff )

and advice would be much appreciated.
 
Always a fan of Osprey packs, have one for cycling with bladder (Escapist 25) and one for commuting (Quasar 28) and both are excellent, well built and comfortable.
 
Will you actually be doing a lot of walking with it? Or is it just to put your stuff in?

I prefer kit bags if I'm not doing a lot of walking - although you can sill wear carry them like a rucksack.
 
Last edited by a moderator:
I have a Berghaus. I does the job. osprey look like pro walker bags. If you are into that kind of thing the they look good.

I have seen a few Vans rucksacks in shops and like the pattern/colours.

Depends if you want looks or function.
 
Thanks for the responses!
@Amigafan I'll be walking a fair bit, I'm usually a kit bag person for holidays, but was planning on getting something for longer trips.

Osprey seems highly regarded, so are they worth their premium? because they're easily the highest priced I've seen!

There might be a bit of a barrier as I've never had to be the one carrying everything, so to date bags have been the cheapest I can find. But I'm wanting to get something to last :)
 
Osprey aren't great for proper long distance hiking with 15kg+ which you'll reach if you're bringing tent + food for two and a water bladder.

My friends got their 65L bags and the shoulder straps caused some serious pain, granted they were tools and overpacked their bags hideously so that didn't help.

I'd recommend the Lowe-Alpine 35-45L bag:
http://www.gooutdoors.co.uk/lowe-alpine-airzone-pro-35-45-rucksack-p269841

You can shop around or use price match to get it cheaper, I got mine for £70 with a price match.

Osprey are budget bags, they're good budget bags, I use a day-pack style 30L for commuting/trips to the family etc but for actual hiking you need to consider it an investment unless you want some serious back/shoulder pain with a heavy pack.
 
You really get what you pay for when it comes to rucksacks and many of these packs are expensive for good reason.

You need to find a balance between pack weight, price, load limits (not all capacities are designed to carry the same weight...look at this carefully as you'd be surprised how much it differs) and robustness. How much importance you place on each thing will quickly give you a range of packs to look at. Expect to make compromises depending on what you personally think is important. It's hard for me to recommend a pack as there are so many different packs for different tasks.

I personally think Lowe Alpine and Osprey offer good consumer level packs and both brands have good back systems and the new Osprey AG back system is very nice indeed. They're not incredibly lightweight or robust so could be considered a middle ground. When I need to carry large capacities (greater than 80L)/extra heavy loads in challenging conditions or with equipment then I use Karrimor SF (not to be confused with Karrimor) however wouldn't dream of using the same pack for long distance hiking. Think carefully about how much bulk and weight you'll realistically be carrying as you will regret buying something that isn't suitable.
 
DJ_Switch said:
Think carefully about how much bulk and weight you'll realistically be carrying as you will regret buying something that isn't suitable.
Click to expand...

How that weight is packed and distributed can make more difference than the brand as well.

TBH I've been using mil-tec patrol bags recently - wouldn't dream of using them for serious stuff but for the odd week away camping a year they are robust enough and comfortable enough for that - though if you are doing serious distance I'm not sure how comfortable they'd be and while reasonable robust the wouldn't stand upto long term sustained usage like that. (Though not sure they do ones big enough if you want to pack a tent and sleeping bag, etc. as well as a good selection of clothing).
 
Last edited:
hmmm
Sounds like I need to gather everything together and weigh it, take measurements
and go somewhere I can try them on.
I have a terrible tendency to buy things ott for my needs :p
 
I should also mention that one of the reasons I bought the 45L Lowe Alpine is so I couldn't overload myself on long hikes. If you find that you need more room than that then you know you're carrying too much.

People do 6 month hikes of the PCT with a 45L pack, albeit with pitstops for food every 4-5 days.
 
Another vote for Osprey, their packs are amazing! I have one for cycling (a Raptor 14) and one for camping (a Talon 33) and they're tough but great to carry. I recently crammed a load of stuff into the 33 and it's solid!

You don't mention how big you need the bag to be, but I bought my Talon from https://www.tauntonleisure.com/ and their range is quite decent. They price match as well. I got mine price matched to £72 a few months ago against the price that Blacks were doing it for.
 
I don't really know about size.
my usual approach of biggest is best doesn't seem to be the best approach in the world of rucksacks,
it seems the 40-50l is the best to go for, but I'll need to see how much stuff I wanted to take all adds up to.
 
I've been using Montane packs for the last few years and have three sizes for different things. I'm usually the one that carries everything too, so either rack and rope or tent/gear etc (heavy loads) and I've always found them comfortable, even over long distances. They are light and reasonably hard wearing and without any gimmicky features. I found Osprey packs had too many featues I didn't need!

The missus has got a few Deuter packs and I really rate these too, if I didn't have Montane bags, I'd use Deuter. They seem a bit more bomb proof than my Montane bags.

GiraffePencils said:
it seems the 40-50l is the best to go for, but I'll need to see how much stuff I wanted to take all adds up to.
Click to expand...

I've never needed anything over my 40l pack!
 
Darg said:
I should also mention that one of the reasons I bought the 45L Lowe Alpine is so I couldn't overload myself on long hikes. If you find that you need more room than that then you know you're carrying too much.

People do 6 month hikes of the PCT with a 45L pack, albeit with pitstops for food every 4-5 days.
Click to expand...

Whilst that is completely true they also need to spend a small fortune on ultralight kit to go with it I.e. Cuben fibre shelters etc and also take the absolute bare minimum....nothing like what we take with us when starting out or especially when we're going somewhere with our kids. I can take 65l when going myself but have taken 130L when doing Dad duties on camping trips.lol
 
A lightweight tent and sleeping bag are enough to drop everything down to 45L size for just yourself, that was a 2 person tent so you'd have to add another sleeping bag, I also had enough food for 4 days and then some. Nothing particularly fancy, I just used one 650ml "mytimug" for cooking and tea, stove and gas. Then just clothes, again enough for 4-5 days which hopefully you won't need that much of.

My sleeping bag is an old cheap job that takes up a third of the room in my pack on it's own, a lighter summer one would help massively.
 
Darg said:
Osprey aren't great for proper long distance hiking with 15kg+ which you'll reach if you're bringing tent + food for two and a water bladder.

My friends got their 65L bags and the shoulder straps caused some serious pain, granted they were tools and overpacked their bags hideously so that didn't help.

I'd recommend the Lowe-Alpine 35-45L bag:
http://www.gooutdoors.co.uk/lowe-alpine-airzone-pro-35-45-rucksack-p269841

You can shop around or use price match to get it cheaper, I got mine for £70 with a price match.

Osprey are budget bags, they're good budget bags, I use a day-pack style 30L for commuting/trips to the family etc but for actual hiking you need to consider it an investment unless you want some serious back/shoulder pain with a heavy pack.
Click to expand...

Just thought I'd point out that this is the old version of the Airzone pro, although as far as I can tell there literally is no difference in features between it and the new one.

I bought the new one recently for a smidge under £80 from ultimate outdoors, however as of yet I haven't actually used it, but I do plan to on Thursday (striding edge) if weather permits. Seems to feature several useful things and is generally a well thought out design though in my non expert opinion. I do think you get what you pay for to a large extent with rucksacks.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top Bottom