daveb
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Post by daveb on Feb 12, 2016 11:16:46 GMT -8
I know I will be carrying a tent and gear for at least a 4-7 day hike. I'm just not sure on what size to look at?
REI measured me at a large 21-22" torso...so.
My main enjoyment is photography and I will be hauling a full frame camera and a couple of lens as well.
Thanks in advance.
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markskor
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Mammoth Lakes & Tuolumne Meadows...living the dream
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Post by markskor on Feb 12, 2016 11:34:57 GMT -8
Do you have all the rest of your kit already?
Before buying any pack, get everything else first...sleeping bag, tent, pad, kitchen, fleece, camera gear, etc., and take it all down to REI and see whether all will go inside whatever pack you like/can afford, and more importantly, if the then loaded backpack will fit you comfortably...fit and gear mass will dictate how large a pack is needed.
BTW, the measurement taken was not pack size but how long the suspension on the backpack you will need.
Personally, I carry a medium size 60 liter in the Sierra, and go out typically for 10 days at a time but it has taken me years to assemble what I really need to haul...older/heavier gear has been replaced to save weight...read $$$.
Additionally, here in the Sierra, a bear can is oft required too and that takes up even more pack room.
Where are you planning to hike? Altitude? Season?
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Westy
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Post by Westy on Feb 12, 2016 11:49:57 GMT -8
Personally, I carry a medium size 60 liter in the Sierra, and go out typically for 10 days at a time but it has taken me years to assemble what I really need to haul... Pretty much mimic marksor. Have two backpacks 50 & 55 liter. Have found 10 days doable no problem, however like MK, have reduced bulk overtime. Formerly had a 70 liter pack, but never used it to its maximum capacity. The suggestion regarding collecting your gear and doing a demo stuff session is good advice. I think you will find the average capacity for most backpackers is 65 liters. |
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daveb
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Post by daveb on Feb 12, 2016 11:51:02 GMT -8
Mark, Westy, this all started with wanting to shoot the Grand Teton from the West and get an evening sunset on the mountains. I needed to be there for the evening and pretty much decided to spend the night there. That was a couple of years ago, since then I have a good friend moving to Crested Butte, Co and wants me to visit as often as I can to see the country and the trials up there. My girl friend's son is stationed at Fort Carson, Co. so we're expected to spend time there. After two years of visiting the Tetons, Yellowstone and the surrounding area I've been bitten by the hiking bug. The more I talk about my new obsession the more invites I get. A couple of my gym rat friends just asked if I wanted to go with their group to on a grand canyon hike and another wanting to see Big Bend in Texas.
At the moment we plan on getting back up to the Tetons in the late summer or autumn. I love it up there in September for the wildlife and foliage photography. I'll be in the Crested Butte area first for this summer.
The only trail experience I have so far from my military days but that was 25 years ago, since then I've spent allot of time camping in tents but always packed in with a vehicle.
Your advice on knowing what's going in the bag first makes perfect sense. Thanks Man!
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Deleted
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Post by Deleted on Feb 12, 2016 11:53:33 GMT -8
If you have all your gear, what does it weigh? With camera equipment, without camera equipment?
Take it to REI put it in a pack and see how well it fits into a pack. Use a weighted bag to represent some food.
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Post by High Sierra Fan on Feb 12, 2016 12:38:09 GMT -8
What's your choice of tripod and ballhead? FWIW I tend to carry that stuff external to and so not relevant with my backpack (well maybe one lens internally if I'm carrying macro things): other than I strap my tripod to a side compression strap set with it's feet in an external wand pocket, so the weight figures but not the volume...
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daveb
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Post by daveb on Feb 12, 2016 12:53:13 GMT -8
I don't have my tripod with me here in the studio today but it's a fairly inexpensive carbon manfrotto that is pretty light. Basic head, nothing special. I do the same thing, strap it to the side of my Think Tank back pack for short outings where I might need use of my other lens. I'm shooting with a nikon d810 and I like to carry my 16-35mm lens attached for the scenic view shots. I've been lugging my 70-200 nikkor with a 1.4 teleconverter for wildlife shots but that's really adding some weight to the pack and I'm thinking for extended time on the trail I'm going to get the 28-300 f/3.5-5.6 for a general walk around lens. I keep getting caught needing to change lens when on the trails and walking up on wildlife that I want to capture.
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Post by High Sierra Fan on Feb 12, 2016 13:09:14 GMT -8
Yeah I leave that 28-300 on as my grab shot lens on a d800 I hang off some OpTech straps coming off my pack harness. Or stuck in a Lowe top loader similarly suspended. The extra reach has relegated my beloved 24-120 to the shelf and I just shoot wider with a 20, faster with a 1.4 50
Unfortunately as I'm tall and hate lots of bending I use a Gitzo CF 1348 with a Kirk head same as around town. Or a little Slik 800g for two weeks out where the food replaces art and I just sit on the ground to use it.
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daveb
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Post by daveb on Feb 12, 2016 13:24:47 GMT -8
My manfrotto is fairly tall but I'm at the 6'4" mark myself so I feel your pain.
I'd like to see some of your photography from your 28-300 and d800 combination if you ever get a chance to show me. I bought a 200-500mm sigma a while back but I never liked the results and the "sweet spot" was so small, really only around the 300mm mark and around 8-12 fstop. ...come to think of it, that sigma might just be the thing paying for my tent.
Even when I lug the Think Tank with extra lens in it, I usually keep my camera on my black rapid strap. Tends to wear me down after a while since there's nothing light or small about a 800 series camera....but I love what they can do!
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franco
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Post by franco on Feb 12, 2016 13:27:23 GMT -8
get everything else first...sleeping bag, tent, pad, kitchen, fleece, camera gear, etc.
often , as part of the etc, people forget just how much space (and weight) food and water can be .
Reminds of a thread where a guy was so proud of how everything fitted into his tiny 30l or something pack and for 3 pages of comments everyone gashed over how clever it was till I came along pointing out that there was no food inside that very bloated pack...
Many smaller packs, say sub 50L, are also not that good with heavier loads and cameras are very heavy, so check that part too.
(not what the pack or others can carry but with it how comfortable it is to you with the total weight)
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Post by High Sierra Fan on Feb 12, 2016 13:33:22 GMT -8
"light or small"
lol, yeah I made the huge mistake of picking my case up while on a scale and that 7.5 pounds had me looking twice at my iPhone 6s Plus.....
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Post by JRinGeorgia on Feb 12, 2016 13:37:09 GMT -8
Torso size is separate from capacity and load-bearing comfort.
Not only consider volume for food and water as Franco pointed out but also potentially how you have to carry it, specifically if you will be in areas that require a bear canister (or where it's a good idea anyway).
But yeah -- get everything else first, take to a place like REI and load up some packs to determine what volume you'll need.
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tigger
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Post by tigger on Feb 12, 2016 13:50:18 GMT -8
I recommend gettin' neked first before going to REI and try on packs. You'll be guaranteed to get help quickly and they'll be offering all sorts of freebies for you to try on. You might get lucky and get a full set of gear along with your pack.
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rebeccad
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Post by rebeccad on Feb 12, 2016 20:34:28 GMT -8
Dang, Tigger is one helpful guy!
I use a 60L pack, but it would be a challenge getting a bear can into it. It can be done, just a royal pain in the arse. My husband's 70L is over-large for most needs, but handles the bear can when needed.
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markskor
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Mammoth Lakes & Tuolumne Meadows...living the dream
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Post by markskor on Feb 13, 2016 8:47:06 GMT -8
"I use a 60L pack, but it would be a challenge getting a bear can into it. It can be done, just a royal pain in the arse." - rebeccad
Assembling your gear, knowing what to bring along...what not to bring...not really a royal arse pain but also not something easily gleaned all at one time. There are lots of experienced hikers here, and their wisdom did not arrive from one quick trip to REI.
As mentioned, when looking for that first backpack, (what size is best?), good advice says to take all your gear - what you think you will need - down to REI... and alas, there discover the grim reality. Many new backpackers, (including those 25 years removed from the military), will either go into "sticker shock" at this point trying desperately to reduce all their gear into a 60 liter volume backpack, - (most discover it doesn't fit) - and/or invariably over-buy/ select a 70+ liter pack and then discover their "all up" trail weight is somewhere north of 50 pounds. For a 10 day trip, strive for maybe 12 - 15 pounds of gear and (18 - 20 pounds of) food...30 - 35 pounds total...max. How?
Gear evolves. Getting that loaded bear can and all older gear (synthetic sleeping bag and 5-pound tent) needed for a long week trip into a smaller backpack can be expensive and exactly "how" is a trail-learned experience...much trial and error. Do not be discouraged...we all passed through this stage.
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