Choosing a Style of Backpack
When travelling the world, your backpack will be your best friend. But, choose the wrong pack, and it could end up being your worst enemy. There are many things to consider when picking out a backpack.
Top-Loading Backpacks
- Top loading packs are typically used for hiking, backpacking or other technical trips, not regular travelling. They’re more narrow and long (which is good for keeping your items centered on your back when hiking), and they are usually quite big at 70L or so. For a world traveller, it’s difficult to pack your items into a cylinder, as nothing you pack will be that shape!
- Top loading packs only open at the top. This is fine when you’re on a camping or backcountry expedition, and all of the items in your bag will be used every night to set up camp. But, for regular travel, it’s annoying having to dig through your bag, or empty everything out, just to find some socks that you stashed at the very bottom! Not to mention, it’s dark inside the bag and you can’t see what you’re after. With a top loading backpack, you have to pack in layers – this can be frustrating.
- These types of packs normally have lots of straps hanging off of them – which are used to strap in a tent, ice picks, trekking poles, a sleeping pad, etc. The straps can’t be zipped away, leaving them exposed and easily damaged when put through airport security conveyor belts, or when tossed around by airport staff.
As you can see, there aren’t really too many pros to travelling with a top-loading backpack, unless you are going on a proper hiking / camping trip, in which case, there are many.
Comments
Post a Comment