Ultimate backpack?

[GoodVendettaPhotography]

Hello! I am fortunate enough to be able to quit my job next summer and travel for a year or two so I was wondering if I could get your opinions on some of the best camera bags, with hopefully additional space for a change of clothes and a laptop.

Any advice?

Also, I was hoping to somehow plant/hide some kind of GPS in my bag because, well, I don't mean to sound pessimistic, but I won't be surprised if I'm eventually mugged

Thanks!

 

[privatebydesign]

Everybody will hate the suggestion but it comes from experience. Almost everywhere you go you can use a roller, trains, planes, buses, cities, country etc etc etc, rollers work fine. Places they don't work, extensive walking off the beaten track where you have to carry everything, if the bag is not on your back then a roller works fine in all those places too.

So bearing that in mind I'd recommend any roller with a set of straps that you can use on your back in a push, for 99.9% of people 99.9% of the time it wil work great and save you a lot of fatigue. My favourite is the ThinkTank Airport Takeoff http://www.thinktankphoto.com/products/airport-takeoff-roller-camera-bag.aspx

 

[Coz]

Need more details on the type of camera and lenses you'll be carrying. Also, if you'll be hiking short or long distances or just airports. And if overhead or underseat storage on planes is critical.

I like the F-Stop Kenti.

https://shop.fstopgear.com/us/products/mountain/backpacks/kenti.html#.VP-m4B3D_s0

It will fit two bodies with attached lenses (i.e. 70-200 or 100-400) accessible from the sides. if you have smaller attached lenses, extra lens can be carried next to the body/lens combo. There is a compartment for a 13" laptop (thin ultrabook type) and a roll top compartment that will fit a rain shell plus a light to mid-weight change of clothes. Extremely comfortable to carry and can fit under a plane seat and even the overhead of a small regional jet.

As far as a GPS is concerned, F-Stop is developing KitSentry:
https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/fstop/kitsentry

 

[meson1]

Another suggestion. I was looking at the back packs by these guys: http://numinous-packs.com/ Not photography centric packs; they're more about the security.

I was considering getting one of those and using an ICU from F-Stop to put the camera gear in.

 

[GoodVendettaPhotography]

Thank you for your replies.

This is what I'll be taking:

5d mark III
17mm ts-e
24-70
70-200
100 macro
(3) 600 ex
Tripod
17" laptop
Change of clothes

 

[TheJock]

Since you are planning on getting robbed ( ;D ) why not buy a normal rucksack and fit a camera specific bag inside at the bottom with all your clothes on top!!!
Make sure your dirtiest underwear is on top at all times as this in itself may fend off any potential thief

 

[martti]

Now that's too lucky. Felicitations. Two years fooling around the world...WOW, I am jealous.
Of course it is good to have the right bag. With the ThinkTank stuff it is difficult to go wrong,
I have three TT bags and I use them all. Kata is very rugged as well, built to military specs.

but here's something you did not think about: Take an assistant along. There are thousands of photography 'academies' with tens of thousands of students. They have to finish a Project to get their diploma. They need a Portfolio. A lot of them come from rich families who send their offspring out of their eyes to learn a language or just anything but get bored in bad company back home.

There's your chance! Take an assistant along. He/she/it will carry your ThinkTank, hold the reflector, set the tripod, go to 7/11grab some beers and sandwiches while you are coordinating the project in front of the TV set.
That's what I'd do...how much easier it would be with someone who'd speak Spanish or Portugese or Han and who'd carry all your stuff and PAY FOR IT!
Like, training...

 

[NancyP]

TheJock has the right idea for some situations. Pack should not scream Photo Gear Inside. You might also want to look into various security measures (see LensRentals.com blog) and into insurance.

Are you walking significant distances with the pack? This is sufficient weight to warrant trying out packs with frame suspension. Shop at a good outdoors outfitter and get fitted, try a pack or two for half an hour around the store, bend, walk, go up stairs if available. Then you know how a pack should fit. and what sort of access different packs have. The suggestion to put a padded camera insert into a good-quality regular pack is one that the back-country photographers typically use for multi-day (camp-out) expeditions. F-stop gear makes good photo-specific packs, some of which have aluminum U-frames, which may or may not fit you, and they come in non-standard colors. The advantage of regular packs is that they are sized to fit different bodies. I am a 125 pound woman and have an atypically short torso length at 14.5 to 15", so one-size-fits-all won't work if I want to carry 30+ pounds of photo and camping gear, food, water, and be comfortable on rocky or root-filled singletrack. A 200+ pound guy might be able to tolerate an ill-fitting 30 pound pack.

 

[jd7]

TheJock has the right idea for some situations. Pack should not scream Photo Gear Inside. You might also want to look into various security measures (see LensRentals.com blog) and into insurance.

Are you walking significant distances with the pack? This is sufficient weight to warrant trying out packs with frame suspension. Shop at a good outdoors outfitter and get fitted, try a pack or two for half an hour around the store, bend, walk, go up stairs if available. Then you know how a pack should fit. and what sort of access different packs have. The suggestion to put a padded camera insert into a good-quality regular pack is one that the back-country photographers typically use for multi-day (camp-out) expeditions. F-stop gear makes good photo-specific packs, some of which have aluminum U-frames, which may or may not fit you, and they come in non-standard colors. The advantage of regular packs is that they are sized to fit different bodies. I am a 125 pound woman and have an atypically short torso length at 14.5 to 15", so one-size-fits-all won't work if I want to carry 30+ pounds of photo and camping gear, food, water, and be comfortable on rocky or root-filled singletrack. A 200+ pound guy might be able to tolerate an ill-fitting 30 pound pack.

FWIW I reckon TheJock and NancyP are giving good about getting a good pack which is not photography specific and getting a camera insert or two, if you're going to be backpacking/hiking. (Of course, if you'll be staying with friends or in hotels where you can leave most of your gear most of the time, different considerations apply.)

Has anyone tried the Lowepro Rover Pro bags? The 45l version comes with two camera inserts, which I assume could be used in any pack - so you could use the Rover when you want a photography-focussed pack and also put the camera inserts in a larger pack when travelling for longer periods. I haven't tried the Rover so I'm not talking from experience - but I've read good things about them.

Also, I'd recommend getting a good camera strap - something like a Black Rapid (I have the Sport and like it a lot - have hiked for days while wearing it) or a Peak Design Slide. Especially if you go with the camera insert option (which would mean you couldn't get at your camera gear that quickly), you will want a comfortable way of carrying the camera which allows you to grab it quickly.

 

[charlesa]

Gura Gear for me, hands down. Top notch products.