Backpacking Equipment

[bwbishop]

While I was backpacking in the Torres Del Paine with my camera, I was constantly having to put it in my backpack and take it back out as the rain storms swept through.

I'm trying to locate a camera case with a chest harness and rain flap.  It's important that the chest harness straps not be too bulky because it needs to be worn underneath my backpacking backpack.  Either that or a way to attach it to the front of my backpacking harness.

I've found different chest harnesses that could be used, but I haven't found a case that comes with a rain flap.

Any suggestions?

Cheers

Brian

[skibum187]

I've used a holster case strapped to my backpack harness for skiing/hiking, etc. that works really well. I simply attached it using tubular webbing and plastic buckles. Easy and fast to get on and off and super adjustable. I would think that having a photo harness plus a backpack would be overkill and very uncomfortable.
I use Kinesis (www.kgear.com) holsters which have water resistant zippers and are made of 500 Denier Cordura. I've used it in pretty heavy snow with no cover and it stayed dry on the inside. Probably wouldn't be the case if it were pouring rain. I'm not sure if they offer a rain cover, but it should be easy to retrofit/make one. (Edit: Looks like they do make a small rain cover for the larger holster packs)

[stever]

i like the Think Tank holsters which include rain covers

[francois]

i like the Think Tank holsters which include rain covers
[a href=\"index.php?act=findpost&pid=195506\"][{POST_SNAPBACK}][/a]

I haven't seen the Think Tank rain covers but if they are like the ones from Lowe Pro AW, they won't cut it for heavy rain. However, I think they should work fine when carried under a waterproof poncho.

[gdanmitchell]

I do a lot of backpacking (most Sierra Nevada, one week and longer trips, often off trail) and I carry one of the Lowepro Topload Zoom bags with the optional chest strap. Mine holds my 5D with the 24-105 mounted (hood reversed) and I can just squeeze my 17-40 in crosswise in the bottom (hood in a pocket).

The bag rides well, though you'll occasionally miss being able to see your feet in rough country. Really. (I put mine in the pack on particularly rough cross-country bits.) The bag has a built-in rain cover.

I don't trust any bag that I'd want to carry in really serious rain, though I suppose you could but the camera/lenses in plastic bags. When things get really bad by camera goes into my pack, and the pack gets a rain cover.

Dan

While I was backpacking in the Torres Del Paine with my camera, I was constantly having to put it in my backpack and take it back out as the rain storms swept through.

I'm trying to locate a camera case with a chest harness and rain flap.  It's important that the chest harness straps not be too bulky because it needs to be worn underneath my backpacking backpack.  Either that or a way to attach it to the front of my backpacking harness.

I've found different chest harnesses that could be used, but I haven't found a case that comes with a rain flap.

Any suggestions?

Cheers

Brian
[a href=\"index.php?act=findpost&pid=195501\"][{POST_SNAPBACK}][/a]

[sean mills]

Hey BWbishop.

I have a trip to Torres Del Pain myself this coming Dec/Jan. I was looking into some of the covers from Kata

http://www.video-direct.com/accessories/ka...ents-cover.html

I haven't checked one out in person yet, but it looks like this would allow you to keep the camera protected while around your neck, and even operated while mounted on a tripod.

Any 'must have' gear you can recommend (aside from bodies and lenses)?
I've been down as far as Esquel, Argentina before, but this will be my first time down in the heart of Patagonia.

[vandevanterSH]

I haven't seen the Think Tank rain covers but if they are like the ones from Lowe Pro AW, they won't cut it for heavy rain. However, I think they should work fine when carried under a waterproof poncho.
[a href=\"index.php?act=findpost&pid=195522\"][{POST_SNAPBACK}][/a]

I just held my well used Lowe Pro AW under a shower, with max flow, for 3 minutes.  All the compartements were totally dry.  I figured that 3 minutes was a reasonalble time to get the case under a poncho if caught in a sudden heavy rain.

I use the Lowe Pro for both my Hasselblad or Nikon D300 in "hostile" environments.

[Hank]

We live and shoot professionally in rain country and have tried lots of solutions.  Best if you're wearing a raincoat is a long carry strap- sufficiently long that the camera hangs at about belt level when you strap it on.  Slip your head and one arm through the strap before putting on your rain coat, then arrange the camera at your side.  If it's in your way at the moment, you can also spin it around behind your back.  All that under the raincoat.  If you're dry, so's your camera.

Short camera straps may be all the fashion rage, but long straps are more practical.  Our favorite is the Tamrac N-45 at 50" long, which also has quick release snaps for easy removal.

If you're not wearing a raincoat, then by all means look for a waterproof cover, but if you use a variety of lenses it's going to be tough to find one size that covers your range without encumbering a lot of unnecessary bulk when you're using short lenses (our experience).  Also watch out for the spot where the camera strap enters the waterproof case.  Talk about a leak point!  Better to get a case with it's own strap than to rely on your camera strap for carry.

[bwbishop]

I'll be honest.  I'm a backpacker first and a photographer second.  I generally just record the things I see when I see them, and I don't wait for the perfect light, etc.  So my gear was just my D80 and a Tamron 28-300.  I had a strap and a padded case I kept in my backpack.

In terms of backpacking gear, make sure you have waterproof everything, and I mean really waterproof, not "it use to be waterproof and I put more Campdry on it."  We would leave camp and it would be 50 degrees.  In 45 minutes it would be raining cats and dogs.  Then within 30 minutes the temperature drops and the wind kicks up to 50 kts and the rain turns to ice missiles.  Then it starts snowing, and within a total span of an hour and a half it's back to 50 degrees.  As I'm sure you've read, they have wind.  Lots of it.  Make sure you're prepared.  I had some gusts in an ice storm that literally blew me off my feet.

The first day we got to the park we hiked up to the Torres lookout and couldn't see crap.  
[attachment=6652:attachment]
Too much snow falling.  Our last day there, we were back at Refugio Torres, and I couldn't let myself leave without seeing them.  We got up at 4am, and ran up the mountain in the dark (9km and about 1500m of elevation) and made it to the top for sunrise at 6:30.
[attachment=6653:attachment]
It was awesome...
[attachment=6654:attachment]

[sean mills]

It was awesome...

No DOUBT! If I could get myself 2 shots with that view, in that light, it would be worth a week of hiking .

I'll be there in December/Jan so I think I'll manage to avoid the ice missiles.  I will probably have a fair deal more gear with me however...  I am looking into anything and everything water proof.

If you had 8 days, would you take your time on the W, or would you run the whole circuit? I've heard the northern part of loop is treacherous and not the type of viewing you get on the south end, or W.


Since this thread is about backpacking gear, does anyone know of any camera backpacks, that have the nifty lens / body organization compartment AND a larger empty compartment for clothes / food? Or am I better off getting a large hiking backpack and forging my own camera compartment inside of it?

Cheers, and again, those 2 shots are great!

Sean.

[lightstand]

Since this thread is about backpacking gear, does anyone know of any camera backpacks, that have the nifty lens / body organization compartment AND a larger empty compartment for clothes / food? Or am I better off getting a large hiking backpack and forging my own camera compartment inside of it?

[a href=\"index.php?act=findpost&pid=196696\"][{POST_SNAPBACK}][/a]

I would look at the Kinesis (www.kgear.com) mentioned before.

As for a waterproof camera container, just a thought, how about finding a small dry bag used for whitewater boating where you can put your camera in it & carabiner it on to the outside of your pack for quick yet guaranteed dry access. Sundog use to make one that fit a camera holster, not sure if they're still around though. Like you said there is a big difference between a rain cover and a "waterproof" bag.

[Josh-H]

Since this thread is about backpacking gear, does anyone know of any camera backpacks, that have the nifty lens / body organization compartment AND a larger empty compartment for clothes / food? Or am I better off getting a large hiking backpack and forging my own camera compartment inside of it?

I have followed this thread with interest as I have recently been through this exercise of choosing a backpack system for my upcoming extended photo shoot to Cradle mountain in Tasmania.

I decided ultimately on the Lowe Pro Nature Trekker II - for the following reasons:

1. Its capable of comfortably holding all my kit:
1DS MKIII with RRS L Bracket, 16-35mm F2.8L, 70-200F2.8L, 1.4X extender, 25mm Macro Tube, 24mm TSE lens, 50mm F1.2L lens assorted sundries, filters etc.
2. It comes with a daypack which connects to the main pack for carrying other supplies like food and water
3. Its got a highly adjustable harness system that is simply the most comfortable I have ever tried.
4. Its virtually waterproof even without its rain proof cover - with it, its for all intent and purposes storm proof. Waterproof zips etc. Just top rate construction all round.

Hope this helps.

[bwbishop]

Our original intention was to do the circuit, but they had daily avalanches in John Gardner pass, so we ended up just doing the "W" twice.  The most dramatic features of the park, the towers and the Horns of Paine, are best viewed from the W.  I don't think you can see them from the north side of the park.  That being said, I wouldn't discount the beauty of that part of the trek.  We did the "W" twice in 6 days, so if you have a week, you could easily do the whole circuit, or just take a LONG time doing the "W."

Hopefully I'll be able to go back one day and do the whole thing.