Can anyone suggest a backpack for me please?

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Ozzybound

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Hello all,

I am after suggestions for a new kit bag for an upcoming trip. It needs to be a backpack type, light and sturdy enough to walk with for 8 hours a day.

Ideally, the camera part of it needs to be quite small, as I wont be carrying much kit, but will be taking lots of other things.

It needs to serve two purposes:-

1 - as a carry on for my flight, for which it needs to hold an SLR body, 2 lenses, a compact camera, a 12" laptop, various cables & batteries, travel documents and a jumper & a book.

2 - Once we are away it needs to be used as a trekking bag, in which case it needs to carry one SLR body & one lens and batteries in the camera part and a waterproof, a fleece, gloves, hat, water bottle, notebook, poncho and spare shirt. Ideally the camera should be accessible without too much effort.

Any suggestions?

Thanks.
 
Hi Ozzy - the last couple of queries you've raised have already been covered a couple of times in the forum recently. Suggest you take a look at http://www.talkphotography.co.uk/forums/showthread.php?t=22392 to sart with. There are also another dozen or so on the various lowepro / tamrac / crumpler products. The reviews section is great for tips and hints. :thumbs:
 
I'm looking at a new backpack style bag for the same reasons, so far my choice is coming down to the Lowepro Rover AWII which Techno sell for £71+delivery. It has a bottom compartment for your camera gear and a top compartment for normal everyday stuff, the two compartments can also be merged and used as 1 large bag if need be.

Other options were the tamrac 7 and the larger Lowepro Rover AWII plus, but thats too big to be used as a carry on, having said that I think the Rover may also be too big (8cm too tall according to my airline), but I think I can squash it a little if its not full to capacity.
 
Tamrac 7 is a nice bag - used to get a 30D with 100-400 attached in the middle, plus stuff like 17-40 / 10-22 / alongside.

Put a Gitzo tripod on it though, and it gets heavy all together :D
 
I went to my local camera store on Saturday, but they didnt have any of the Lowepro bags in to try.

I wasnt impressed with the Tamrac packs as they didnt have very much room in the bag part.

Going by the Lowepro website, I think the Compurover may be the way to go for me.
 
I've had a few Lowepro's of various sizes and not one of them has been a bad buy.

rugged and hard wearing and well made.
 
Great stuff - I think a guy at work has a Rover AW2, i'll ask him if he wouldn't mind bringing it in so I can get an idea of the size.
 
Picking this thread back up...

Did you go for the Rover AW2 in the end and were you able to get it on a flight, I see Lowepro now have conflicting info on whether or no this bag can be taken on as carry on luggage. (I'm asking as I'm looking myself at the moment).
 
sepulchre said:
Picking this thread back up...

Did you go for the Rover AW2 in the end and were you able to get it on a flight, I see Lowepro now have conflicting info on whether or no this bag can be taken on as carry on luggage. (I'm asking as I'm looking myself at the moment).
Click to expand...

Hi,

I went for the compurover in the end. The Rover AW2 was just too big according to the specs sheet I found. I dont know where the extra size goes, as the internal area is almost the same on the Compurover - yet the Compurover will fit as carry on, I have measured it and checked against our ticket sizes. You can also remove the waist harness which makes it much smaller.

I am very pleased with it, there is just enough space in the top to carry what I need, and plenty in the camera part.

I'll post some pics if I ever get chance!

I would say it is slightly larger than a 'normal' backpack, whereas the Rover AW2 seemed to be a lot larger.
 
Great info, many thanks. If you get a chance to post a few pics they would be appreciated :thumbs:
 
Here you go buddy, I took some pics last night.

1 - Compurover in comparison with a 'normal' small Berghaus pack.

mini-compare.jpg


2 - Inside the top compartment with my hand for scale. It's actually more spacious inside than it looks on the photo.

mini-inner.jpg


3 - The Camera compartment has a camera area and 4 lens spaces.

mini-camera.jpg


4 - And here's a pic of it on my back for an idea of size. It looks way bigger in the pics, but it's actually very comfortable and does not feel at all bulky. I think the Rover AW2 would have been WAY too big.

mini-onback1.jpg


mini-onback2.jpg


It also has the all weather cover stashed underneath, which is a great feature.

Let me know if you get one, and how you find it.

Cheers.
 
Gr8 set of pics there, thanks for taking the time and effort. :clap:

It looks like a great bag, just need to find it at a good price now, the Rover can be had for £60 after the 20% cash back, but I've only seen the compurover for around the 100 mark. Time to start searching I think!
 
sepulchre said:
Gr8 set of pics there, thanks for taking the time and effort. :clap:

It looks like a great bag, just need to find it at a good price now, the Rover can be had for £60 after the 20% cash back, but I've only seen the compurover for around the 100 mark. Time to start searching I think!
Click to expand...

I've had mine about a month or so now, the best price I got was form my local camera shop - they ordered it in for me and was £129

I sent my cashback off straight away, but have had nothing back yet.
 
I think you got a good deal though picking it up locally for that price. Its still quite a bit more than the rover AWII which to me just looks like the bigger brother of compurover?
 
Weird the overall volume for the two bags is identical, one being 3cm narrower whilst the other is 3cm taller, amazing the rover is no good for carryon. I must take a closer look at this when I get home.
 
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