Camera Backpack Recommendations

[Tucson T4R]

My Clik Elite pack arrived today. First impression is that it is very well constructed and should provide years of service.

Working on the jigsaw puzzle of how to organize the photo equipment compartment. They provide plenty of Velcro dividers to set it up any way you want but since it's deeper than most camera bags I'll have to play with it a bit before I settle on what works best for me.

There is plenty of room in the upper compartment for enough personal gear to support overnight outings. Probably a little large for most day hikes but I did want one large enough to give me the option of overnight use when needed.

I'll provide more detailed feedback after I have chance next week to take it out hiking.

 

[john101477]

My Clik Elite pack arrived today. First impression is that it is very well constructed and should provide years of service.

Working on the jigsaw puzzle of how to organize the photo equipment compartment. They provide plenty of Velcro dividers to set it up any way you want but since it's deeper than most camera bags I'll have to play with it a bit before I settle on what works best for me.

There is plenty of room in the upper compartment for enough personal gear to support overnight outings. Probably a little large for most day hikes but I did want one large enough to give me the option of overnight use when needed.

I'll provide more detailed feedback after I have chance next week to take it out hiking.

pics of it loaded would be appreciated. considering it for longer outings

 

[Tucson T4R]

pics of it loaded would be appreciated. considering it for longer outings

Here ya be......

The overall pack:

Front View:

Packed Camera compartment with Canon 50D body with 17-55 2.8 attached, 70-200 2.8 lens on lower left, Kenko tubes center above, 10-22 lens and 1.4 teleconverter upper right, and Speedflash lower right. The kenko Tubes, 10-22 lens and 1.4 teleconverter compartments have the black velcro covers on them to hold them back into the compartment. There is still room for another lens in the upper left but I ran out of equipment. LOL

Note: there is room for the 50D with 70-200 attached but it would have to be horizontal and that made the rest of the equipment too difficult to get to so I opted to configure for 17-55 attached and the 70-200 separate.

Front accessory compartment for CF cards, batteries, cables, charger, remote shutter trigger, filters and cleaning supplies:

Hope that helps.

The upper pack frame extends to twice the height of the pack frame and has a standard 1/4" screw mount. I plan to install a ball mount on that for my camera and leave my Tripod behind.

 

[john101477]

Looks like a great minimalist overnight pack. definitely has potential. without going to their website, I assume there is a slot for a camelback. A one man tent might be the tough part but if you attached something resembling a tripod holder that would fit a small tent with a strap half way up (this would be nicer than a tarp)... sleeping bag is gonna go right above the camera location, a jetboil or msr stove, some freeze dried food and a small first aid kit in the top along with your small basic outdoor necessities. does it look like the top and bottom compartments would be waterproof against each other, hate to have water drizzle down from a broken bottle or something.
Am I missing something here?

 

[Tucson T4R]

Looks like a great minimalist overnight pack. definitely has potential. without going to their website, I assume there is a slot for a camelback. A one man tent might be the tough part but if you attached something resembling a tripod holder that would fit a small tent with a strap half way up (this would be nicer than a tarp)... sleeping bag is gonna go right above the camera location, a jetboil or msr stove, some freeze dried food and a small first aid kit in the top along with your small basic outdoor necessities. does it look like the top and bottom compartments would be waterproof against each other, hate to have water drizzle down from a broken bottle or something.
Am I missing something here?

You have it about right from what I can see. The upper to lower compartments are not water proof though so you would have to be careful with that. Although any leakage would only be able to go down along the very outside edges and would not drip directly on the camera equipment below. I'm not personally worried about this since I have never had any water leakage mishaps in my previous backpacking experience. The upper compartment does have a dedicated pouch sleeve that holds up to a 70oz Camelback.

I would say I can get my bag and a good supply of gear and food in the upper compartment and I can strap on my 2 man tent and pad together on the top of the pack. I would just have to replace the small straps that came with it to longer ones to accommodate the tent and pad.

 

[john101477]

You have it about right from what I can see. The upper to lower compartments are not water proof though so you would have to be careful with that. Although any leakage would only be able to go down along the very outside edges and would not drip directly on the camera equipment below. I'm not personally worried about this since I have never had any water leakage mishaps in my previous backpacking experience. The upper compartment does have a dedicated pouch sleeve that holds up to a 70oz Camelback.

I would say I can get my bag and a good supply of gear and food in the upper compartment and I can strap on my 2 man tent and pad together on the top of the pack. I would just have to replace the small straps that came with it to longer ones to accommodate the tent and pad.

not sure how long your tent system is but if you have it cross ways (atleast in the woods) it might drive ya nuts. I tried that for a bit one day and finally had to repack to get the tent inside. got hung up on brush and sorts of stuff like that. how will the stand work on side hill type stuff? I really think this pack might solve my problem with a few minor changes and a sewing machine. looks good, I was looking at the black one but I hate buying black for outdoor stuff, almost as bad as buying white lol. oh forgot to ask, do you feel the frame while wearing the pack? loaded and cinched up?

 

[Tucson T4R]

not sure how long your tent system is but if you have it cross ways (atleast in the woods) it might drive ya nuts. I tried that for a bit one day and finally had to repack to get the tent inside. got hung up on brush and sorts of stuff like that. how will the stand work on side hill type stuff? I really think this pack might solve my problem with a few minor changes and a sewing machine. looks good, I was looking at the black one but I hate buying black for outdoor stuff, almost as bad as buying white lol. oh forgot to ask, do you feel the frame while wearing the pack? loaded and cinched up?

My MSR two man tent packs down to a pretty short size and I have carried it that way on my more serious Osprey pack with no problems. Although I have to say most of my trips are not bushwacking through thick foliage. :sombrero:

The lower stand legs are separately adjustable by about 8" so you can compensate for side angle pretty well.

I agree, I thought about the black but then decided this was better option. It's actually a combo of grey and light olive green. I like it.

The harness and waist belt are well designed and padded. I'll reserve judgment until I have some trail miles with it but just testing it out around the house it feels great with 90% of the weight on your hips where it should be.

 

[john101477]

sounds sweet Brad, I am envious My tent is not big either, I think the legs fold down to 18 -20 inches, which on top can be a burden. you know i was thinking with the frame setup you said it adjusts, you might be able to set your sleeping bag under the pack between the frame. As long as it is not to far down it might make room for other stuff and make an over night pack into a 3 day hike.

 

[Tucson T4R]

sounds sweet Brad, I am envious My tent is not big either, I think the legs fold down to 18 -20 inches, which on top can be a burden. you know i was thinking with the frame setup you said it adjusts, you might be able to set your sleeping bag under the pack between the frame. As long as it is not to far down it might make room for other stuff and make an over night pack into a 3 day hike.

I was hoping that would be an option but when they put the Hiker pack on this frame they removed the lower straps. :-( If they had lower straps you could certainly move the legs out of the way to utilize that option. Oh well, nothing is perfect I guess. You could always add some lower strap on points if that is needed.

 

[john101477]

lookin forward to a full review, pretty nice setup.

 

[Photog]

Brad,
What type of sleeping pad are you using?

Having done some ultralight packing of my own, I can make a few suggestions on packing.

Get some type of rain cover for the bag.

Use the water bladder, and you won't need extra bottles on the outside of your pack. This allows you to place the tent in the outside pocket and snug it down with the pack strap. Same goes for the sleeping pad on the other side of the bag. If you are worried that they might fall out, sew a small strip of nylon (like a belt loop) on the tent bag, and run the pack strap through that loop, before you tighten it all down (same for sleeping pad on the other side). If the tent hops out of the pouch, the strap through the loop will keep you from loosing it.

Depending on your choice of sleeping pads, you can use it to line the inside of the back pack, with all your clothes/food/first-aid, tucked inside the bucket shaped space made by the sleeping pad.

I try to minimize exterior stuff, hanging on the pack. But when I have to put something on the outside, I try to mount it vertically.

Lastly, you may not need all your camera gear, for backpacking. Put a piece of tape on each piece of gear, and as you use them, remove the tape. After a few pack trips, the pieces of gear with tape still in place, can be left at home. This works for camping gear also.

 

[Tucson T4R]

lookin forward to a full review, pretty nice setup.

Yeah, now I just have to load it up, put it on my back and GET OUT THERE! :elkgrin:

 

[Tucson T4R]

Brad,
What type of sleeping pad are you using?

Having done some ultralight packing of my own, I can make a few suggestions on packing.

Get some type of rain cover for the bag.

Use the water bladder, and you won't need extra bottles on the outside of your pack. This allows you to place the tent in the outside pocket and snug it down with the pack strap. Same goes for the sleeping pad on the other side of the bag. If you are worried that they might fall out, sew a small strip of nylon (like a belt loop) on the tent bag, and run the pack strap through that loop, before you tighten it all down (same for sleeping pad on the other side).

Depending on your choice of sleeping pads, you can use it to line the inside of the back pack, with all your clothes/food/first-aid, tucked inside the bucket shaped space made by the sleeping pad.

I try to minimize exterior stuff, hanging on the pack. But when I have to put something on the outside, I try to mount it vertically.

Lastly, you may not need all your camera gear, for backpacking. Put a piece of tape on each piece of gear, and as you use them, remove the tape. After a few pack trips, the pieces of gear with tape still in place, can be left at home.

Good points Brian. I agree I don't need to take all the camera gear. I'll play with it a bit and see what I can pare down. Obviously there is no need to pack the battery charger since that will only be used back at the base camp anyway. At least I can leave the tripod behind with this set up.

Plus if I talk my beefcake son into joining me, I can get him to carry the tent and all the cooking gear to lighten poor ol Dad's load.

I use a Thermarest pad when backpacking. The first few trips will probably just be full day hikes anyway. Maybe next summer I'll go overnight through Ariviapa canyon for a good overnight test run.

 

[Tucson T4R]

Brian,

I missed your comment on the rain cover. One sweet feature this pack has is an attached full rain cover that is hidden in a pocket on the bottom of the pack. when needed, just pull it out and wrap the full pack with it for full protection.

Pretty well thought out by the Clik Elite boys. :victory:

 

[Lost Canadian]

At least I can leave the tripod behind with this set up.

Are you sure you would want to do that? I can't imaging a bag with a ball head being anywhere near as flexible as a good tripod.

For instance, if I were using a bag like the way you describe, for the shots below I would have had to submerge or sit the bag down in water. Even if you're only working in dry climates, I can't imagine a bag being very good for anything but straight up and down, flat land shots. Seriously, don't leave the tripod out, you may regret it.

The bag looks nice by the way.