I hike a lot, and this bag seems perfect. Quick side entry, adequate room for my gear, top compartment for snack, waist and chest belt (awesome when hiking) They have 3 sizes, sm, med and large.. Cant decide which size to go with so Medium seems like a happy medium (no pun intended)
Seems like a good deal as well, plus I don't want to spend 300 bucks on a bag!
Gear I would carry with me would include... D7k w/ battery grip... Tamron 70-300, 35 1.8g, nikon 18-105 and sb-600
The waist belt, based on the images, is just a nylon strap which makes it useless as far as taking weight off your shoulders. There appears to be a wide end of the strap which probably is not helpful. Padding on the shoulder straps does not overcome this flaw.
I'd would not purchase this pack for hiking.
I don't have that one but I do have a lowerpro that's Basicly the same idea .
Its a decent bag BUT I don't really get on with it .
My biggest distrust of it is that its too easy to forget to do up the side zip . Its happened to me once . The result was not as bad as it could have been but I slung the bag over my shoulder to move on to the next place . Side zip not done up enough and the camera and lens fell out . Lucky that its landing was soft and there was no damage done . But it could have easily hit rock/concrete/water and totalled the camera and lens .
Also its fine to use the side entry if what you want is on the camera (which usually due to shape/size of the bag is likely to be a 70-200 if you have one) but if you want anything else then you will have to take the bag off anyway .
Well the waist belt is mainly just for keep the bag snug to my back, instead of flopping around like a normal backpack would if I had to jog for a couple seconds. I would most likely keep my 70-300 on there since I will be mainly using it for my trip to FL.
I have a Dakine sequence 200. Well made, and lots of support with the chest and waist strap. I just wish it were a little bigger. The 250 wasn't out, or I would have bought it instead.
It has traveled to Wyoming, Montana, Idaho, all around Maine and New Hampshire, and was my working backpack for a winter of shooting Video for a reality show promo on Ice Fishing, so even a couple blizzards and days of rather cold temps.
Nickyb21 wrote:
Well the waist belt is mainly just for keep the bag snug to my back, instead of flopping around like a normal backpack would if I had to jog for a couple seconds. I would most likely keep my 70-300 on there since I will be mainly using it for my trip to FL.
Depends on your preferences and price range, of course. If you ever need a better pack, realize that the main purpose of the shoulder straps is to keep the bag snug against your back, not hold it up. The purpose of your waist belt it to hold the pack up. This avoids shoulder fatigue which is unnecessary and happens easily with all but the lightest loads.
True, I guess I'm not seriously hiking with this bag, and when I do, I'll only take my body and 1-2 lenses. My hikes usually last a couple of hours but I usually carry a couple of water bottles and a bowl for my dog.
My main purpose is the side entry, I have 2 backpacks that I take along my hikes and are just fine. When I want to take a quick shot, I have to take my bag off and unload most of my crap, doing this with a dog is a pain in the a#$.
