what Rucksack

[Welshwizard]

which brand of rucksack for comfort and weather beating and how do you decide size ,i,m looking for a w/e carry all at the moment but hoping to do some longer walks next year , i,m no youngster and suffer with arthritus in knees and hands ,used to do a lot of day walking around my home ground - Abergavenny , covered Black mountains , Beacons etc distances of anything from
8 miles to 20 for day walks and used Karrimor but this was over 20 years ago not done walks of any length since my Arthritus got worse but having bought a new dog last year been gradually increasing my walks and distance so want to start with longer day
and w/e to work up to something longer but bearing in mind due to my arth. and mobility don,t want to overstress the weight I,m
carrying .

 

[sandbender]

The Crux packs work for me, lots of info and other ideas on this earlier thread.

 

[Welshwizard]

had a read through that but It has,nt helped a lot , I,m not even sure what kind of weight I will be capable of carrying so I,m assuming buy a bag for capacity required
but build weight up gradually to see If I can manage it ?

 

[Bigfoot]

Whatever you choose (and especially if you go for anything bigger than 35/40 litres) make sure it has a decent hip belt, so that the bulk of the weight is taken on your hips instead of your shoulders.

 

[Ex member - Bilgerat]

Whatever you choose (and especially if you go for anything bigger than 35/40 litres) make sure it has a decent hip belt, so that the bulk of the weight is taken on your hips instead of your shoulders.

Osprey packs are really good fer this.....

 

[Welshwizard]

Osprey packs are really good fer this.....

wow they are expensive £90 for 38lt one ,anywhere better price for them , I see they do a military version too , is that better or better going for Civilian ones ?

 

[Ex member - Bilgerat]

wow they are expensive £90 for 38lt one ,anywhere better price for them , I see they do a military version too , is that better or better going for Civilian ones ?

They are about the best fer load transfer. (Tho some people will dispute that). For a recent short expedition I tried about a dozen or so Rucksacks including Army Bergen's.... Not one came close to the Osprey packs... The moment I put one on (With a reasonable weight in) The difference was almost un-real.... It felt I'd forgotten to put the load in........

A lot of active Military personnel Junk their issued Bergens for Civilian Models.... Issue ones are made to a cost (sometimes as cheap as possible).

Best rucksack purchase I have made....

I chose the Aether 70...... This also has the function of transforming the top part of the sack into a belt sack... Leaving the main rucksack back at base...

And has a base opening and divider so you can get yer sleeping bag out easily.....

I did the usual thing laid all my kit out and then removed half..... Still managed to almost fill up the 70 Litres tho.....

I really like the smaller day-sacks as well... Same great load transference....

Not too sure of what you mean by a Military model? Have you a link to that?

Might be a standard model in Olive green????

 

[Ex member - Bilgerat]

An Osprey Stratos, Talon or Kestrel...Will be a very good technical pack... Well worth the money....

Look on Amazon and e-bay and put it in google... There may be a discounted one available....

 

[The Lord Poncho]

A lot of active Military personnel Junk their issued Bergens for Civilian Models.... Issue ones are made to a cost (sometimes as cheap as possible).

Actually, very very few do. In fact, the one thing that is actually uniform amongst a unit is the bergens. In my unit i know of only one person who has a non issue bergen (an old Berghaus). The reason is simple- they are extremely tough, large, and work with beltkit. Most civi takes on military bergens- e.g. Lowe Alpine, Karrimor sabre etc. ride too low down (i.e. they have a waist belt that actually works!) to allow belt kit to be worn. What this means of course, conversely, is that a military issue bergen generally is not that comfortable to wear without belt kit. I do find the issue bergen very tough and cavernous, and quite like the simplicity of it. For civvi stuff though i much prefer my Sabre.

On daysacks though (i can't say what the current situation is on ops), in the UK 90% of military tend to use their own private purchase items, or customise the issue daysack by removing the side pockets so it doesn't foul the arms and goes under the lid of the bergen easier (very few past basic training uses the bergen jet packs/side pockets as a day sack).

 

[Welshwizard]

http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/280736094737?ssPageName=STRK:MEBIDX:IT&_trksid=p3984.m1426.l2649
link .

 

[Ex member - Bilgerat]

http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/280736094737?ssPageName=STRK:MEBIDX:IT&_trksid=p3984.m1426.l2649
link .

Not seen a Osprey Pack like that..... It reads "Osprey Style"...

You would need to try any Rucksack on before buying.... (Even tho you might not buy from the place you try one on).....

 

[The Lord Poncho]

http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/280736094737?ssPageName=STRK:MEBIDX:IT&_trksid=p3984.m1426.l2649
link .

That's the current issue daysack- in the now outdated Desert DPM. Replaced by an identical version in MTP. Made by PRI (i.e. Karrimor Sabre).

Its got zips for the bergen side pockets, but no waist belt at all. Not a bad daysack.... similar to this: http://www.karrimorsf.com/index.php/load-carriage/predator-patrol-45.html

The only thing it has in common with Osprey (i.e. the type of body armour) is the rows of PALS webbing (also known as MOLLE) to affix pouches if thats your thing.

 

[blacktimberwolf]

If you have mobility problems then forget military bags, they will be heavy even when empty.(not always that comfortable either)
Once you have a better idea of what you want, it may be a good idea to look on eb-y for a second hand one, there are some bargains to be made, especially at this time of year as people sell their ruckys they bought for their summer hols.

 

[Welshwizard]

Thanks everybody Its given me food for thought anyway .

 

[EdS]

if you want a good combination of comfort, freedom of movement and load carrying capacity have a look at some of the ski touring sacks - Haglofs, Black Diamond