8x10 Backpack / Rucksack options

[M.B.]

Hi,
maybee is the Evoc CP 35l a good choice.

[Sweep]

Had a look at the Tenba, Kelty, Fstop Evoc, and MEI but availability in England is very poor.
I did find a retailer for Kelty but they only listed an awning to attach to a car.
I do like the look of the Evoc but, again, availability is non-existent in England.
I could buy most of these, excluding the F64 and MEI, from Amazon but it would mean ordering the lot and sending most back which I don't fancy doing.
It seems the only brands that make a sizeable pack that I can get are Mindshift Firstlight 40L and the Lowepro with their Whistler 450.
I do recognise that the established first choice should be the F64 BPX but this is only available from the USA or the Firstlight only because of a review on YouTube where a guy actually uses it for 10x8 and I can get one.
Not an easy choice now that we don't have real high-street shops anymore but I guess we are all to blame for their demise

[John Kasaian]

Most of the larger army surplus back packs will digest an 8x10 with it's accoutrements. They're generally not the most comfortable nor stylish but they will get you outdoors and for very little coin until something better can be found.

[Sweep]

Thanks for the idea John.
I checked out the UK's premier military surplus outfit and they certainly do some pretty big packs, most in various shades of green, or green and brown, or brown and green etc
www.silvermans.co.uk
In the end I have decided to order the Mindshift online and see what it looks like as this way I can, by law, send it back within 14 days for any reason. It is a lot more than I was hoping to spend but I really needed to make a decision and get something ordered so I can take out my camera.
Once I get it I will post some pics with it loaded.

Thanks ...Sweep

[Greg]

Most of the larger army surplus back packs will digest an 8x10 with it's accoutrements. They're generally not the most comfortable nor stylish but they will get you outdoors and for very little coin until something better can be found.

I agree that they are not the most stylish. As far as being comfortable, used one for years that was designed for carrying 3 or more times the weight of my 8x10 outfit... It rode quite comfortably on my back till I tried on a large DANA backpack that put it to shame... but then the DANA cost me probably 8 times the price of the army surplus backpack. For years I drove around and stored my equipment in plain sight in the back of a compact station wagon. Found a large army surplus cloth case in which I put my newer and 300% better looking DANA in. To a passerby, the surplus cloth case gave no indication that inside were thousands of dollars of LF equipment.

[David Schaller]

Speaking of Dana, I just got a Mystery Ranch daypack, with the three zipper design. If I had the money, I would get a Terraplane in this design, which has the advantage of a panel loader but looks much more durable. Dana's suspension systems and ability to customize the fit are the best I've ever experienced.

[MikeL]

Speaking of Dana, I just got a Mystery Ranch daypack, with the three zipper design. If I had the money, I would get a Terraplane in this design, which has the advantage of a panel loader but looks much more durable. Dana's suspension systems and ability to customize the fit are the best I've ever experienced.

The original Dana Designs Glacier ruined me for other packs. They are worth every penny. My experience with them is why the EVOC 35L was worth it for me for my 8x10. Poor ergonomics and stability take a lot of energy out of you when packing in certain conditions.

[seezee]

There are plenty of good backpacks that will meet your needs I am sure. There will be many posts to follow with great suggestions.

In the meantime, think about adapting a serious trekker's backpack or mountaineering rig to carry your gear. The now out of production "PhotoBackpacker" line of gear used a Kelty Redwing backpack as the base and inserted a Velcro or hook-and-loop board to hold everything together. A DIY project would be to construct your own liuner from hook-and-loop fabric glued to stiffened foam substrate combined with a serious hiking backpack.

It may be that a padded insert that meets your needs is available on e-Bay or Amazon wich saves time and effort.

This approach gives you a backpack that may be more comfortable for serious hiking that will protect and organize your gear but will not advertise that you have thousands of Dollars, Pounds or Euros in photogear packed inside.

Cheers.

In the many similar threads that have come up here over the years, I always see mention of the Kelty Redwing. But I also see many proponents of their external frame packs. Look for one of the older, USA-made versions on FleaBay — the brand-new overseas-manufacured ones are supposedly not as well made.

The external frame packs sell for as little as $30 if you don't mind some stains, more for a pristine one.

Here's a primer on external vs. internal frame packs.

[David Schaller]

The original Dana Designs Glacier ruined me for other packs. They are worth every penny. My experience with them is why the EVOC 35L was worth it for me for my 8x10. Poor ergonomics and stability take a lot of energy out of you when packing in certain conditions.

I use the Dana Designs Bomb Pack for my 4x5 kit, and I am going to try the Mystery Ranch Scree pack instead, for the new three zipper opening system. I took it for a hike yesterday with my medium format camera and two liters of water, and the suspension is great.

[Drew Bedo]

I thought that "Redwing" was a line of Kelty branded backpacks . . .?