Convenience V/S Comfort, I always seem to start off chasing convenience and then having to come back to comfort. Years ago it was a Maxpedition Sitka. So convenient! So easy to access! And after carrying it for a year where I slowly added stuff because I still had room, what a pain in the shoulder. Sold it and got a Kifaru Antero, which I still use. Then we planned a trip to Ireland. I wanted something smaller and more convenient for the trip. I would be carrying much less, plus I thought a little less tactical pack would be better. (no knives, no multi tool, no fifteen different ways to start fires, etc.) I looked into it and got what I thought was going to be the perfect bag. A Red Oxx Chica, which is just a extremely small messenger bag. When I received it, I thought it was perfect for the trip. Just 504 cubic inches, it was almost exactly one third the capacity of the Antero. Water bottle, phone charger, small notebook with pen and there was still plenty of room left over for snacks or whatever. I took it out and about several times before the trip to make sure and all seemed good. On our second day in Ireland we ended up walking in excess of 10 miles and I was cursing my new bag that while convenient was not at all comfortable for all day use. On the third day, I found myself in the sporting goods store where I bought a 1500 cubic inch backpack. I stuffed the Chica into the bottom of the backpack and the rest of the trip was much more comfortable. On the positive side I have a new non-tactical backpack to remember our great vacation. Grizz
Yup. It’s pretty hard to find what you are going to like long-term without being able to ground truth it for a while. Probably a lot of packs sitting in closets unused.
I find it is an endless search to try and find the perfect bag that marries convenience and comfort. I’m still in hope that I will one day find it both for a small edc and bigger backpack, but haven’t been successful yet. For the smaller minimal carry bag I keep going back to looking at the uKoala bags, but have not yet bought one. I’m hoping the Evade 2.0 may be the backpack, but it remains to be seen.
I threw convenience out the window ages ago (and my lower back and shoulders thanks me for it). Now it's just strictly backpacks for comfort. The only variables being what capacity of backpack and style depending on the occasion. Not to eschew quick access convenience altogether, but the comfort of hauling your gear around far outweighs the ability to access your 5 knives, 10 firestarters, 6 flashlights, and grass-fed beef jerky sticks instantaneously at any given point in time.
Backpacks for comfort, all the way. I also owned a Sitka, and a Maxped Mongo. Horrible levels of discomfort . I'm considering a small messenger type bag for carrying assessment documents in work, but not elsewhere.
Another one-strap convert here... Never again; unless there's some specific application. Also found that much over 20 liters is a pain for EDC. Guess everyone's sweet spot is different, but 20 is mine.
This was a trip that me and my wife started talking about over thirty years ago. I was sad to leave also. 4 days in Dublin, 1 in Waterford, and 3 in Galway; with day trips to Howth, Kildare, and Inishmore.
500ci is ~8L, which about what I carry (mine's also ~8lbs). I prefer backpacks when getting into double digit liters/pounds but messenger bags below that. For longer hikes, I just rig messenger bags up as dual-strap backpacks - that bridges the comfort gap enough for me.
