Looking for a Backpack... Read Me!

[Scott Rosenberg]

hey guys... just wanted to let you know about a great backpack i recently purchased. i am a backpacker, and as such, have been very disappointed by all the photo backpacks i tried. my lowepro super trekker aw was the closest thing i could find in a photo pack with decent suspension, but this bag is ridiculously heavy for it's capacity.

after a long search, i found a great pack at a great price. for those of you who don't backpack, dana designs makes some of the best packs available; their suspension is second to none.

i came across a GREAT deal on a dana pack. it's the New World at northern mountain supply. this bag usually sells for $200, but they have last year's model on closeout right now for $60

i ordered one, but wanted to wait until it arrived before making judgements. well, let me tell you, this is one great back. it's considered a technical day pack, small enough to be used as a carry-on for airline travel (a huge consideration for me) but unlike most small packs, the new world has a full-blown suspension system.

i went to home depot and picked up a few gardening pads (used to neal onto), cut one to fit the back panel and one to go across the bottom, and for less than $65 i've got a pack small enough to be carried onto even international flights with more than enough room for my entire 4x5 technika system.

here's a link to the pack if you're interested: http://www.northernmountain.com/NMSMain.asp?Option=Detail&ID=DANDES+New+World%2C+02&Dept=BB&Cat=BB0&SubCat='BB01'&ClearLast=Yes

[Ted Harris]

Scott ... it looks like a really great deal indeed but one question .. what about size? They show only smalls available? How tall are you and what about the waist belt? I am an average sized guy at 5'10" with a 38" waist is it gonna fit????? Or did they have larger sizes when you ordered?

[Scott Rosenberg]

ted...

i had to call northern mountain directly to get one of the larger packs. the new world comes in two sizes; smaller and larger.

i am 6'4" with a 31" waist and ordered the larger pack with medium waist belt. that's the beauty of dana bags, you can customize it somewhat when you order it to fit your body type.

more important then your overall height is your torso length, basically the distance from your 7th vertebra to your hip crest... since i'm all legs, at 6'4" i could have comfortably fit into either the smaller or larger bags.

there's a lot of information about sizing the packs on the dana website. goto the following link, then select 'pack sizing'. http://www.danadesign.com/packs/

alternatively, you could follow this link: http://www.northernmountain.com/catalog/packs/ddpacksizing.html

hope this helps, scott

[Ted Harris]

Thanks Scott,



I called both Northern Mountain (have ordered lots from them before) and Dana Designs. Good thing I called Dana, this particular pack has quite a range (as you noted) in the 'smaller' size ... from 15.5 to 19 in the torso which is a pretty wide range so the smaller is fine for me. I did have Northern mountain switch out the belt. For others who are interested if Northern Mountain runs out of the other size belts, which is unlikely sine it is a standard belt for Dana packs) you can switch out the belt with Dana direct.



Ted