p.1 #1 · Review of Clik Elite's Pro Elite Backpack Two Thumbs Up!
I recently purchased the Pro Elite Backpack from Clik Elite. I have been in the market for a pack that can hold all of my gear, is VERY durable and holds my lenses secure for a couple years now and I have not been able to find what I was looking for until now. I wanted to give my thoughts on this very high quality pack.
My first impressions of the pack are very good. It has excellent padding and uses in intuitive combination of compartments that makes it easy to organize the gear however is more efficient for my work flow. The pack is constructed with high denier nylons as well as a lot of ballistic nylons. With all my gear in the pack it is VERY heavy - which is to be expected. This pack loaded to the hilt may not be ideal for long hikes, but it is definitely my choice for taking all of my gear from small to moderate distances. It will also work excellently for just carrying my gear around everyday. There is NOTHING about this pack that looks cheap or like corners were cut. It screams high quality.
The pack is fairly large,but I expected this in a "comprehensive" gear pack. On my back it is about as large as my torso from neck to the bottom of my back and as wide as my torso from armpit to armpit.
The pack holds everything I expected it to with room to spare. In the main compartment area I have:
40D with battery grip with 24-70 2.8L attached+lens hood reversed
EF 70-200 2.8L IS
EF 50mm 2.4 macro with life size converter
EF 85mm 1.8
EFS 10-24mm + Lens Hood
Promaster 28-200
Canon 10D body
There is room for a couple more lenses if I reconfigured the dividers. The slots are versatile and hold the lenses in even if the pack is on a 90 degree to the ground. You can position the dividers to "snug" the lenses so they do not move at all. All the fabric is very soft.
The compartment under the rear one is another large compartment, that is a little slimmer, that has a very soft slot for what looks like a moderately sized laptop and accessories like cables and mice...
The top of the pack has a compartment that opens up exposing a place for flat items like memory cards, business cards, etc. The "lid" folds out and is self contained by another zipper. I have a light meter, an angle finder, cables and an incident meter.
There are two identical larger compartment with the same "molded lids" as on the top. These expose three mesh pockets as well as a large separately zippered area. There is ample room to store many accessories. I have two 420 EX flashes and a reflector kit in one side and a 520 EX and ST-E2 on the other side which fit with room to spare.
The harnessing system is very good. Albeit, my pack weighs a ton with all my gear in it. The pack yoke is adjustable and there is a sternum strap, shoulder tension adjusters, hip belt with multiple adjusters. The ends of all the nylon straps there is a velcro tab that allows the straps to be rolled up and stored in a roll so they don't flap around and get in the way. This is a very nice detail.
The zippers are all heavy duty and appear that they last many years. The main compartment zippers and heads are larger than all the others - which is great since these will see the most use.
I didn't realize this feature was included when I bought the pack, but there is a DWR nylon rain-fly integrated in a slot in the bottom of the pack. You just pull it out and it covers the pack nicely. A rubberized stretch edge keeps it snugly in place. This is simply awesome. Everyone I have shown this feature to responds with oohhs and ahhs.
I also bought the small chest pack to haul my Canon SX10 around in. The pack is a little wider than thick so it is a tight fit, but this is good since you don't want your camera bouncing around inside the compartment. This pack can directly attach to the front of the Pro Elite. The thought and attention to detail in these packs is extremely nice.
Overall I really have to give a hand to the designers at Clik Elite. It's amazing how you really don't know what you have been missing using low quality equipment until you experience something truly superior. The Pro Elite, Small Chest Pack and Large Pouches do not disappoint. Thanks guys!!!
p.1 #4 · Review of Clik Elite's Pro Elite Backpack Two Thumbs Up!
Sorry, that is one part I didn't mention. I does indeed have a large heavy duty pocket at the base of the inside of one of the side compartments. The side compartment rotates away from the body toward the front of the pack with two nylon straps. The base pocket fits two of the legs securely and you secure the tripod by cinching the side pocket back toward the pack. This photo shows my full size heavy Manfrotto in place. In reality I would probably be packing my aluminum one not this one - but this tripod was handy.
p.1 #5 · Review of Clik Elite's Pro Elite Backpack Two Thumbs Up!
Timm wrote:
Sure doesn't look like there's much of anything in the way of tripod carry. This seems to be a very common problem with camera backpacks.
Are there D-rings or daisy chains on the shoulder straps for hanging a non-Clik chestpack or holster?
There is a heavy duty loop on the shoulder straps about in the center vertically that looks like you could attach just about anything to it with additional nylon straps... The plastic connectors do look proprietary or at least non-standard. I also just noticed the sternum strap can be adjusted about 6" vertically along a slider on the shoulder straps.
p.1 #6 · Review of Clik Elite's Pro Elite Backpack Two Thumbs Up!
I also took a picture with the separately purchased chest pack in place with the attachment points built into the ProElite. This chest pack is their smallest, they have others that are SLR oriented with room for a mounted lens on a body.
p.1 #8 · Review of Clik Elite's Pro Elite Backpack Two Thumbs Up!
Thanks for clearing up my questions. Now if I could just try one on... the nearest camera store that might have something like this in stock is 300 miles away. This does look much better than anything I own, but my ultimate solution will probably be modifying a large backpacking daypack or day-and-a-halfer to carry camera gear in addition to the stuff one should carry for comfort and safety when miles from a trailhead.
