Rucksack and Tripod Upgrade

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Okay, I have a 450D, Tokina 11-16 lens and 70-200 F4/L.
I also have various filters, Lowepro Flipside 300 and Redsnapper 284 with ballhead.

I've started going hiking with it and the tripod is fine when walking on flat ground, but going uphill it does become a struggle. I also have my rucksack pretty much full.

The tripod I have now weigs 1970G with no ball head attached.

I would like advice on tripod and rucksack upgrade

1- Rucksack:
I have no idea if this exists but I would like a rucksack that can take my stuff - even if I have to leave one lens at home I will be happy. But room for accessories and space for some clothing such as trousers and perhaps a shirt as well. I want to go hiking with it and take waterproof clothing.
Also a bonus would be to have tripod and water bottle/flask pouches on the side and back like the Flipside 300 has.

Flipside 300 can carry everything, but the clothing space. I do have a Gelert rain cover too.

Tripod - I do require a lighter tripod that is off course very sturdy and carbon fibre. Obviously since I am over 6 foot tall it would have to be as tall as possible. Region to spend £200ish on tripod. I like the Manfrotto ones with the middle section coming out to a horizontal level.

Again, tripod I have is 1970G and require something lighter.

Cheers!
 
Soldato
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Check out the Benro range of tripods, they make one called the C-258 carbon one which is about 1.4kg and just slightly over budget at £215 from the bay. I have the slightly older and thicker legged c-357, it's an amazing tripod, it's basically a clone of the Gitzo tripods from a couple of years ago with pretty much equally good build quality. The rumour was they where setup to make Gitzo tripods then the deal fell through but they carried on and made them anyway :p
 
Soldato
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For the tripod my advice would be to blow your budget and go for a Gitzo/RRS combo. But that would be way beyond your budget so ignore that advice.

Anyway, when it comes to the rucksack it depends on how serious you are with your hiking? After trying loads of bags I have determined that most of them are good for protecting your camera, but pretty rubbish at being a rucksack for hiking. After hunting around I have however found what I think may be the ideal solution; F-Stop Gear bags; http://fstopgear.com/ I have pre-ordered the new F-Stop Loka which should suit your need perfectly. They are designed for serious hiking/skiing/snowboarding/rock climbing etc so are built to very high standards with some very nice features. Expensive, but I suspect they will be worth it. Hopefully mine will arrive withing a week or two. :)
 
Caporegime
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For the tripod my advice would be to blow your budget and go for a Gitzo/RRS combo. But that would be way beyond your budget so ignore that advice.

Anyway, when it comes to the rucksack it depends on how serious you are with your hiking? After trying loads of bags I have determined that most of them are good for protecting your camera, but pretty rubbish at being a rucksack for hiking. After hunting around I have however found what I think may be the ideal solution; F-Stop Gear bags; http://fstopgear.com/ I have pre-ordered the new F-Stop Loka which should suit your need perfectly. They are designed for serious hiking/skiing/snowboarding/rock climbing etc so are built to very high standards with some very nice features. Expensive, but I suspect they will be worth it. Hopefully mine will arrive withing a week or two. :)

Those backpacks look great, just what I need.
I am fairly serious mountaineer and like you shuddered at the thought of using all these photography backpacks for anything more than a stroll in the park. The support and stability on my back is paramount since I will often strap a pair of skis to it and do some class 5 mixed climbing at 4000m, having ski tips swaying about above a 600m shear rock face is not something I want to happen. Even just for day hiking I need something comfortable for 8 hours.

Still, I don't like to buy a backpack without loading it with 15-20kgs first.
 

OG

OG

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I picked up a Dakin Sequence backpack a few months ago. Although I probably don't do any majorly serious hiking I have done enough to come to the conclusion this bag is awesome! I can happy carry 1 body, 4 lenses and a flash in the compartment. There are special straps that are stowed away that allow you to attach a trip to the front of the bag. Then there is enough room in the other pockets for other essentials like water and clothing. Can even fit a 15inch laptop in the front pocket!

Lots of adjustments can be made to the straps so you can get a nice comfy fit to suit your needs. Then to top it off, just remove the camera storage compartment and you have got yourself a decent rucksack that can easily fit enough stuff in for a weekend away etc. Those F-stop bags do however look awesome... definitely check out some of the dakine bags though :)
 
Soldato
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D.P, the F-Stop bags (certainly the Tilopa and Satori) are designed to have skis strapped to them, so should be ideal for your needs. If you look at the photos and videos you can see how well they are suited for back-country skiing (So want to go skiing now!) I agree that I would like to test them fully loaded but that is unfortunately going to be pretty hard as they only sell them in the US and Japan I think.

Yeah I have heard the Dakine Sequence is a good option, but once you read all the reviews, loads of the users have tried the Dakine bags, but then gone over to the F-Stop bags. It was hard to find anyone saying anything bad about the F-Stop bags which is quite promising. As I say I should receive mine soonish so will let people know how I get on. :)
 
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I think the F stop bags maybe a little out of my price range.

Tamrac Adventure 10 looks good, but not sure if it has tripod holder with it. I also carry a 1 litre flask with me.

I just need a bit more space than my Flipside 300 to put a pair of waterproof pants and maybe a shirt. If Flipside had a few more inches then it would be perfect. Not to sure on the Lowepro alternatives such as the Vertex or Pro Trekkr range.
 
Soldato
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I had a Tamrac Expidition 6 and it was an awful bag, the straps where very un-supportive but the worest bit was they reinforced the base of the bag with a bit of hard plastic, when you loaded it up with a few lenses and camera this plastic would press right through the padding and dig in to your lower spine :o

I picked up a lowepro compu trekker plus aw to replace it and it's been really good, the strap system is adjustable so you can make it support a fair old weight, it has a warerproof cover built in to protect it and it's big enough to fit a lot of kit.
 
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I wouldn't use the laptop compartment for a laptop. Would I be able to fit a pair of waterproof trousers in there?

Also does it have a tripod support option on the side or rear of the backpack.

On my Flipside 300 it does have a tripod holder on the rear and a bottle pouch on the side. I'd like to retain those features if possible.
 
Soldato
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I haven't put a laptop in it either, the rear pocket is almost the full size of the bag with padding on both sides, should be able to fit anything thin in there. There's a tripod support on the rear and that's about it, I think you'd need to buy those extension bit's to hold water bottles on the outside. It's a fairly basic bag really.
 
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