Choosing a backpack

Backpack – This is the closest companion of the tourist and climber, which is why the backpack must be chosen carefully.

A comfortable backpack makes carrying loads much easier and keeps your back and lower back healthy. Most often, a backpack is taken alone and it is assumed that it will be used in all favorite activities. To do this, we decide – if you most often go on multi-day hikes of medium difficulty, then most often a backpack of 60-80 liters will be enough for you. Many people take large backpacks (100-130 l), but these backpacks are most often filled with all sorts of unnecessary things. Such backpacks are most suitable for difficult hiking or mountain hikes with a high degree of autonomy and in cold conditions. If you are not going to the Tien Shan for 40 days in the near future, you don’t need to buy such a backpack. Moreover, the smaller volume of the backpack will teach you how to pack things correctly.

If you most often go on short 2-3 day hikes, it is better for you to take backpacks of small volume – 45-55 liters, this is often enough to put all the necessary things there and not take too much. Now let’s go over the main points when choosing a backpack.

1) Workmanship.
Reliability has two sides to the coin. Of course, the backpack must be well and competently stitched, thought out and made of high-quality materials. Therefore, it is better to leave the incomprehensible backpacks for five rubles from the transition for trips to the garden to pick up potatoes. It is better to buy backpacks from a well-established company in specialized travel stores. On the other hand, the more reliable the backpack, the heavier it is. Thus, the manufacturer is reinsured against incorrect exploitation by unreasonable users. Therefore, when choosing between reliable and super-reliable, it is better to choose the first, because you are not going to carry an elephant in it? 🙂

2) Functionality and weight of the backpack.
In addition to the quality of the material, the weight of the backpack is also affected by the functionality of the backpack. The optimal weight for a backpack with a volume of 90-100 liters is up to two kilograms. Anything higher is overkill. Super-duper-mega modern developments, super-breathable anatomical back, super-comfortable fit of the belt – this is all from the evil one, a marketing ploy by backpack manufacturers. After all, they need to produce something new? It is these backpacks that have a net weight that can reach up to 4.5 kg! The bag for carrying the load is almost 5 kg! This is too much. The most necessary thing in a backpack is a convenient flap (the top part of the backpack, the “lid” of the backpack), side ties for attaching a rug, rope and other things.
Additional elements that are not at all necessary in the backpack:

• bottom entrance to the backpack. This is used very rarely, but it interferes quite a lot. Plus the extra weight on the zipper and trim.
• The backpack has external pockets. Sometimes it’s convenient, sometimes it’s not. More often than not, just a flap plus one pocket on the backpack itself is enough.

3) Different sizes according to height
Different models of backpacks are designed for people of different heights. And even if in front of you is a backpack with an adjustable back, it is not at all necessary that it will suit you.
A good way to check the correct fit of the backpack: fill the backpack tightly with 10-15 kilograms, put it on, fasten the waist belt tightly. Now remove the straps from your shoulders – the backpack should remain on your belt and be held in place by the waist belt.

4) Types of backpacks
Backpack models are divided into 3 main types: easel, frame and soft. Easel ones are now practically not used. A frame backpack has rigid elements made of aluminum or plastic “built-in” into the back. The convenience lies in the fact that such a backpack is less demanding on packaging than a soft backpack. The disadvantage is most often the weight and price.
Backpack with soft back. These backpacks do not have rigid frame elements. They can be either very large or very small in volume. The main advantages of this design are lower price, minimal weight, and the ability to compactly roll up an empty backpack. To give rigidity to a backpack of this type, you need to pack it correctly, and this is a whole science. One option is to place a rug inside and roll it around the entire circumference of the backpack. A properly packed soft backpack is in no way inferior to frame models.

Conclusions:

• When choosing the type of backpack and its design, it is necessary to take into account its scope of application.
• The backpack should: have sufficient volume, sit as comfortably as possible on your back, and have a minimum dead weight.
• The backpack should be adjusted when fully loaded; this is the only way to evaluate its “behavior” on the back.
• If the backpack is already inconvenient when you buy it, it will be even worse during the hike.

Companies that produce high-quality backpacks: Red fox, Bask, Fram equipment, Deuter (a lot of heavy, super-reliable models), Tatonka (very beautiful, but very heavy and expensive), Komandor, Capricorn, etc.