Camera bag for camping

JPAZ

If only I knew what I was doing.....
CR Pro
Sep 8, 2012
1,164
641
Southwest USA
I have learned a lot from this thread and appreciate everyone's input. I am soon leaving for another trip and after thinking about all the options, decided to stick with what I've used in the past. I have my Loka and my TT holster. I've searched for a good picture of how I arrange things but can't find the best. The photo below shows my straps with clips hanging off the shoulder straps that I suspend my holster off of so the camera is always ready for use. I keep the camera strap loosely around my neck for both safety and ability to use the camera quickly). In this particular photo, the holster is on the waist strap which is another option and which I did for a while while at a rest stop when it was quite hot (Trekking in Mustang in Nepal at about 12K altitude in the midday sun) . The only downside to suspending the holster in front of you is that it can affect a view of your feet. So, if the trail is particularly challenging, I'll swing the holster around to the back of the backpack or put it in the top compartment temporarily. My lenses are in the ICU of the Loka. But, there have been times when I've hung my telephoto zoom on the side of the pack in a Lowepro lens case or put it into the mesh holder (for water bottles) if I think I want quicker access.

None of this is perfect,, but it works for me for now.
 

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Don Haines

Beware of cats with laser eyes!
Jun 4, 2012
8,246
1,939
Canada
Logan said:
you are much better off using a proper backpack and putting your camera gear in it. or strap a small camera back to your backpack. you will not have a good time trying to pack weight in a camera bag. i just put my lenses in their soft cases in the lid of my gregory pack, and hang my camera in a dry-sack (brooks bag) off a shoulder strap, or on a capture clip if its dry out.

you arent going to get a hiking backpack on as carryon

+1

Get a real pack... a true backpacking pack.... No camera gear pack will ever be half as comfortable. If you start hanging sleeping bags, tents, sleeping pads off of your camera backpack you are introducing yourself into a walking hell.... the stuff will be unbalanced and will sway with every step. You will tire yourself out fighting with your load.

Get a monopod that you can use as a hiking pole... you will appreciate it for balance and it saves the knees when going down steep grades / rockhopping.....

Look at lightweight camping gear and leave all the crap gadgets at home... An awful lot of what people carry is useless... you would not believe the kitchen gadgets I have seen abandoned on trails :) All you need for cooking is a small stove (I have an MSR Whisperlite), a small pot (1.5L titanium), a plastic cup, a spoon, a pair of chopsticks, and your swiss army knife... And dehydrate your food! Makes it lighter and easier to cook and burns less fuel... Get a lightweight tent/thermarest/down bag and 1 spare change of quick dry clothes and you are ready to go. If your pack weighs 10 kilos (before camera gear), you have too much stuff.

My favourite pack is still my Coastal Mountains backpack, still going strong after 25 years of use, a Lowepro holster bag for the camera/lens, and a betashell for the second lens.
 
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Dec 17, 2013
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I am even lighter and lazier when cooking. I hold my nose and use an Esbit cube on the Esbit fold-out trivet. I went on a stove buying spree to try some new things this fall. I bought a Caldera Cone (well-designed wind screen/ pot holder) sized for my ~1 L pasta pot, and threw in the alcohol stove as well (yes, I could buy some Fancy Feast and a hole punch...). And, for times when I want to actually cook with regulatable flame (car camping, for instance), a Kovea Spider isopropanol mix stove with remote canister, so the stove sits inside the Caldera Cone being nicely wind-shielded, and the fuel canister sits outside in the cold, maybe upside down. Plus, a cookbook and a how-to-dehydrate book.
 
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Thanks rowancastle. The BetaShell cases are nifty, they have them at my local camera store. I think these would be ideal for an ocean, river or other kind of water/boat based trip. But unfortunately they almost weigh more than some lenses. IMHO, while the BetaShell cases are ultra tough, they are overkill for hiking because they take up a lot of extra space and they are simply too heavy, esp if you need more than one.
 
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Don Haines

Beware of cats with laser eyes!
Jun 4, 2012
8,246
1,939
Canada
RustyTheGeek said:
Thanks rowancastle. The BetaShell cases are nifty, they have them at my local camera store. I think these would be ideal for an ocean, river or other kind of water/boat based trip. But unfortunately they almost weigh more than some lenses. IMHO, while the BetaShell cases are ultra tough, they are overkill for hiking because they take up a lot of extra space and they are simply too heavy, esp if you need more than one.
There are a few sizes that are available in a lightweight model.....
 
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Don Haines said:
RustyTheGeek said:
Thanks rowancastle. The BetaShell cases are nifty, they have them at my local camera store. I think these would be ideal for an ocean, river or other kind of water/boat based trip. But unfortunately they almost weigh more than some lenses. IMHO, while the BetaShell cases are ultra tough, they are overkill for hiking because they take up a lot of extra space and they are simply too heavy, esp if you need more than one.
There are a few sizes that are available in a lightweight model.....

Good to know! I'll check into it. For hiking I am more concerned about water sealing than crush/shock protection. A couple of Ziplocks and/or a good drybag fills that need fine around a basic lightweight soft case or wrap.
 
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NancyP said:
Bjorn, I looked at Mystery Ranch, but all of their current packs are quite heavy, 7 pounds or more, and I am a 115 pound novice backpacker. I have a heavy enough pack (Osprey Ariel 65) at 4.5 pounds. If one uses the "no more than 25% of body weight" as a pack weight limit, I truly should pick as light a pack as I can feel comfortable using. I think I got a good "beginner" pack, and I am going to just stuff wrapped lenses near the J shaped zipper into the main pack compartment. I can hitch a belt-type lens case onto the pack belt. Filters etc can live in the "brain". Tripod lashes onto the back.

You are likely a lot larger than I am, and can reasonably take a beefy pack. The external frame military packs or "hunter's backpacks" for hauling back carcasses are flexible but by necessity too heavy for me. Paradox Pack is the lightest weight of the external packs, and I could carry them, but these are specialty items, hard to find, more or less have to wait for them and order by mail.

Nancy, youare right about the Mystery Ranch being heavy; they are absolutely not perfect for everyone. For the military, they got to be tough.

The point with my post was more to point out that the best option for the camper may be to use light pouches for the camera gear and use them together with a normal rucksack, ANY rucksack that is suitable for your camping needs, and in the case of my K2 expedition I picked the Mystery Ranch Wolfpack, but I have some ten rucksacks to choose from, including one, Norwegian Norrona Para Ranger, which is even larger than the Wolf.

Cheers

Bjorn
 
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Dec 17, 2013
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By the way, here's a handy use for a hiking pole. I use the "Lord V" support approach for handheld macro - grab a pole, one end planted in the ground, plus the camera with one hand, operate camera with the other hand. One reduces the movement possibilities considerably. The camera is focused by rocking the pole back or forward, fine framing achieved by adjusting camera angle by the pole-camera hand. Any stick will do for this maneuver, I have used fishing pole fork holder, monopod with tilt head loose and tripod ring loose, hiking pole, random stick. This method is suited to insects, who may not wait around while you set up a tripod.
 
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dcm

Enjoy the gear you have!
CR Pro
Apr 18, 2013
1,088
846
Colorado, USA
dcm said:
NancyP said:
dcm, that is a nice simple solution. Does it shift and rattle any while walking with it?

Nope, not in my tests. The fit is fairly tight (the M barely fits) and the bags (like rod socks) eliminate any noise or wear from contact with the tube or other items in the tube. The seams at the bottom of the socks and the fold from the velcro closure at the top provide padding between items. Padding on both ends of the tube and the close fit keep it from shifting much, even if you invert the tube. When I attach a camera/lens combo to the pack strap I will likely stuff a sock or ziplock filled with air in the tube to fill the void, even in a vertical orientation. Both horizontal and vertical external attachments are possible with my pack, internal will be vertical.

It's still in the experiment stage. My first hikes are a few weekends away. I'll know better after several miles on the trail and post an update then. It might be a reasonable option for other compact camera systems, but I don't think it will scale up to DSLRs and L series lenses.

The tube worked just fine today inside my 30L pack on a short shakedown hike (6.5 miles, 1500 ft elevation gain). I put it down the center of the pack with gear on both sides, then tightened the compression straps. No noise or movement that I could tell. A couple of thunderstorms passed over with brief downpours. I was able to stow everything pretty quickly and retrieve it after the storm passed. Even made a lens change on the summit just because.

Also tried the Peak Design Capture Pro and Leash for carrying on the trail. I'm pleased with the combo. The Capture Pro on my pack strap handled the M with either lens well. Easy to retrieve when I stopped for a photo op and easy to replace. The leash was nice to help steady the camera, for moving around during the photo op, and as a safety strap. I attached the leash to the clips that came with the Canon strap and think this change will be permanent since the leash is more flexible.
 
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dcm said:
I like your approach NancyP. I've been using Gregory Z30 and Z45 packs for my hiking/fishing/photography trips and recommend this approach to others. The challenge has been how to carry the camera gear in/on the pack.

I'm going to try a new approach on my weekend trips this fall. I carried my M/22 last year and that makes a nice minimum carry, but I missed the wide/telephoto I got carrying my 6D/17-40/70-200f4/1.4x combo. I picked up the EF-M 11-22 earlier this year and recently added the EF-M 55-200. The M combo (1080g) is less than half the 6D combo (2455g). My existing collection of bags and cases didn't fit these well (with a few extra batteries and CPLs). While getting an aluminum tube made for a pair of new fly rods, I decided to try a rod tube for my camera gear. They all slide nicely into a 3" paper mailing tube so I had a 15" long rod tube made, brass caps with an O-ring seal to handle the typical afternoon showers in the Rockies. Weighs less than a pound (400g) while the gear inside weighs more than twice that. My wife stitched up a few bags from some extra lens cleaning cloths to provide protection inside the tube and I added velcro tabs to close them. This looks like the smallest and strongest solution possible with little wasted space. Initial tests look promising, sits nicely in the pack or an outer pocket.
The bags your wife made you look great! I have been looking for something like them for a while if anyone knows where to purchase something similar.

I got one recently with my EZO battery charger and two LP12 batteries for the M and now I use it to carry the M with 22mm mounted - very compact and it protects the surroundings as much as the camera itself when stuffed in a backpack.
 
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