Bags and Backpacks

My first multi-day hike was six days on the Wild Coast – Port Edward to Port St Johns. The hike was organised by the YMCA at the University of Natal Durban. The plan was to leave in the mini-busses before dawn and so we all gathered at the YMCA the night before. I arrived with – what I thought – was a state of the art aluminium frame back pack; only to be informed that it wasn’t up to scratch because it didn’t have a hip belt. They were right of course. I rigged a hip belt out of a canvas belt and some foam rubber – but two days into the hike, my hips were shouting blue murder! I was better off however than my friend Keith who had one of the first attempts at an internal frame pack. It just wasn’t up to the load and he suffered greatly. As a result of that experience I bought a BackPacker Boulder for the next hike !
Fortunately pack design has evolved dramatically in the past two decades – and there really isn’t any excuse to be uncomfortable on a hike any more. Unfortunately this evolution has come at a price – the array of pack brands, designs, back sizes, volumes and features has become rather overwhelming and the price tags are considerably higher. So how does one decide what bag to buy? What are the important factors to consider ? This section is intended to provide you with the necessary tools with which to make an informed decision when choosing a back pack.