Alternative to Sabre 45?

[BumblingAlong]

Love my Sabre 45L but I sometimes wonder if I should or even could migrate away from army surplus.

Which non-surplus rucksack would you recommend in lieu of the Sabre range

 

[Springchicken]

Maybe a Savotta Kantamus 40? They're expensive, certainly, but are very well designed and made. Although a little smaller on paper, the pack holds an extraordinary amount: I used one (with a couple of side pockets) on the Southern Uplands Way this summer. It carried everything I needed for the two weeks on the trail and was a pretty comfortable carry, too.

Just a thought.

 

[Chris]

Maybe a Savotta Kantamus 40? They're expensive, certainly, but are very well designed and made. Although a little smaller on paper, the pack holds an extraordinary amount: I used one (with a couple of side pockets) on the Southern Uplands Way this summer. It carried everything I needed for the two weeks on the trail and was a pretty comfortable carry, too.

Just a thought.

They seem like great bags, tempted to swap out my Kantamus 60 for one. Not sure if they’d be considered any less ‘military surplus’ than a Sabre 45, though.

 

[Springchicken]

They seem like great bags, tempted to swap out my Kantamus 60 for one. Not sure if they’d be considered any less ‘military surplus’ than a Sabre 45, though.

That's true if you opt for a green or camo one; the black version takes you a step away from anything too military, though.

 

[Van-Wild]

Check out Platatac. I have a 50ish ltr rucksack from the brand and its the perfect rucksack for me in warmer months or for shorter day trips. It has a very similar layout to the Ray Mears Leaf Cutter rucksack, only smaller in capacity. I like to have external pouches for gear I want easy access to. Platatac have a huge range of packs, primarily for military use but their entire range comes in both camouflage, and olive drab or coyote colours.

The pack I have is here, only mine is in the coyote colour.

 

[Broch]

But, the Sabre 45 is available in black too - for its price and its practicality, it takes some beating IMO.

 

[Dan00001]

What about older karrimor? Like a Karrimor Hot Earth (40L). I would say it's not too dissimilar to the Sabre 45 (I also own a Sabre 45). It doesn't have zips for side pouches, but it does have mounting points where I think side pouches could probably be fitted, if required. I have moved from side pouches to the more alpine style backpacks, I find it atheistically more pleasing and more comfortable.

 

[Squidders]

I had a sabre 45 for ages and sold it only to try many other quality packs and eventually return to the sabre.

Turns out that for years I had been tuning my kit and my packing to fit my sabre 45 so when I replaced it with other packs, nothing could be where, in my subconscious, it should be.

That said I loved lowe alpine and osprey packs.