My Pack: South America
Update: I did not go with the original setup described before my trip to South America. I became frustrated during my final packing and made some changes late in the evening on the night before I left. What follows is the amended version.
One of the biggest things a traveller worries about is their pack. A common question on the travel forums is “Which pack should I buy?” and with good reason. Sometimes it seems that there are so many options to choose from and no easy way to decide what is best for you. It helps to see what others are using, so keep reading to see what I’m currently packing when I hit the road for more than a couple of weeks.
The pack itself is a 45L F-Stop Tilopa. Designed as a camera pack with adventure sports photographers in mind, it translates very well to a travel pack once the large ICU is swapped out for a smaller one. Camera gear stays safe, leaving plenty room for the rest of my travel gear. Some may get nervous at the thought of having roughly 25L of space left once the camera gear is dealt with, but with a bit of planning, everything you need for a month away will fit just fine. After a few longer trips now, I’ve learned what I can and can not get away with in various climates. The small ICU is an odd enough size compared to the bag, that it just isn’t an efficient use of space, and makes it very difficult to pack clothes and other necessities inside the bag. Without the ICU, I could easily afford to just toss my warmer and bulkier clothing in and out of this pack without having to carefully arrange every last bit. My strobe and GorillaPod spent most of their time in this main pack.
Along with the Tilopa, I will be using an F-Stop Mala. A more traditional top-loading camera bag, this allows me quick access to all my gear when I need it. With a bit of extra high-density foam along the bottom of the main compartment, I was able to store my chargers and cables while still allowing the D300 and 18-300mm to sit flush with the top of the bag. A pair of light gloves, a guidebook, notebook, pens, random tickets and papers, and other junk can be stashed in the clear top pocket or larger front pocket.
Post Trip Update: What did I learn?
While I’m immensely happy with my other clothing and gear choices, I would not go with this bag setup again. Part of this has to do with my frustration at the Tilopa zipper and how the weatherproof zipper covers stretched and caused the top zipper to stick and become nearly impossibly to close without a struggle. It also didn’t help that the bag just wasn’t that comfortable when loaded. The back panel seemed to buckle in a way that I’ve never experienced before. The main benefit of the bag was its compact design and the large opening of the back panel.
The Tilopa worked quite well for what it should do, but I personally do not want to ever again carry a shoulder bag everywhere I go for 5 weeks. I was not staying in the most expensive and secure of guest houses at all times and–having had a pack stolen in the past–rarely felt safe leaving all my camera gear in the room. This meant hauling the heavy bag everywhere. The hip belt does a lot to reduce the strain on your shoulder, but at the end of the day, it’s just not the most comfortable option. It also becomes difficult to carry a water bottle and jacket without adding yet another pack to the setup.
What would I do next time?
My next plan is to find a camera specific backpack and a medium-small duffel bag. I want three things of my camera bag: quick access to camera, comfort when carrying all day long, and enough extra space to fit extra items. Every time I had to travel with both bags, I found myself carrying my clothing on my back and my camera on my shoulder. I’d rather have a light, rugged, easy to open duffel bag over my shoulder, and my camera on my back.
The details of What’s In The Bag:
(click the image to see the HUGE version! Hit the Back button in your browser to return here.)
Camera
Nikon D300 (with battery grip)
Nikon 18-200mm f:3.5-5.6
Nikon 50mm f:1.4
Nikon SB-800 speedlight
Elinchrom El-Skyport transmitter and universal receiver
Skyport charger
D300 battery charger
1 Sandisk 8 GB Extreme III CF cards
2 Sandisk 8 GB Ultra II CF cards
2 D300 Battery
OnSight Clear Window bag
Joby Gorillapod SLR-Zoom
Manfrotto 486RC2 compact ball head
Computer
10.1″ Acer Aspire One D250
WD My Passport Essential 500 GB external drive
SanDisk card reader
SanDisk 1 GB thumb drive
2 E106-Adapter Plug
power cable(s)
Clothing (packed and worn)
Arc’teryx Theta AR waterproof shell (XCR Gore-Tex)
MEC Northern Lite pullover (synthetic fill, water resistant)
Patagonia Roving Pants (nylon)
Mission Playground jeans (organic cotton)
MEC surf shorts
MEC merino wool t-shirt
2 MEC Cotton T-Shirts
Hurley button-up long sleeve
Patagonia wool sweater
2 Patagonia Boxers (organic cotton)
1 MEC Silkweight Boxers (synthetic)
3 Wigwam socks
Patagonia Boaris shoes
Reef Dr. Simmons sandals
OnSight Mesh Tube bag (clothes packed in here)
6L OnSight Vapor storage sack (dirty socks, etc)
Toiletries
Toothbrush, Kiss My Face toothpase (travel size)
60 ml body wash
Small assortment of bandages
Ibuprofen, Cipro, Diamox.
OnSight Clear Window bag
Miscellaneous
Moleskine Notebook, pocket Notebook & Fisher Space Pen
Passport/Wallet/Documents
Novel (one at a time, traded along the way)
Petzl Tikka headlamp
Earplugs, Sleep mask, Inflatable neck pillow
Plastic water bottle (purchased at destination)
That’s it, that’s all! More images of the pack in action will be added to this post upon my return from Chile and Peru sometime in mid-August.
At least you know to leave the Apple at home and bring a real computer :) muahaha!
June 14th, 2009 at 11:43 pmwhat about a universal power adapter to charger all the electronics ?
June 22nd, 2009 at 11:02 pmMany electronics available in North America can already handle input of 100-240V. Chile and Peru fall inside these (100, and 220V are found) so my chargers and cables will all work just fine. I’ll be taking the necessary piece from the Lewis N. Clark International Adapter plug kit. 2 of them actually.
June 22nd, 2009 at 11:12 pmOh man, this is literally exactly what I have planned for upcoming world travels, and i mean down to the camera gear almost exact. How did you find having the Tilopa as you main pack, enough room for clothes etc? I’m a bit up in the air as to if i should take a lightstand/umbrella for some on the go stroibst work. how did you find the gorillapod zoom slr? Would you suggest going the bit extra for the focus?
Thanks heaps, your blog is awesome!.
September 21st, 2009 at 5:00 am[...] when compared to the benefits of the Gorillapod, and the GP did spend most of its time in my backpack, rather than in my camera [...]
September 21st, 2009 at 8:47 amHey Tim, as you can see by the now edited post above, the whole setup didn’t work exactly as planned. The shoulder camera bag is entirely a personal preference, and I love it for day use, but not during extended travel. The Tilopa also worked well enough, but there are many less expensive bags out there that can do the same job of carrying your non-technical gear. I’ve written up a short post on my experience with the Gorillapod that you can read here.
September 21st, 2009 at 8:47 amThanks for quick reply. Looks like I’ll have to reconsider the bag situation now based on your results. It’s fantastic to hear from someone who’s actually been there done that. I’m just not sure what camera bag to organize now. The backpack shouldn’t be a problem.
September 21st, 2009 at 7:29 pmHi Mark,
Craig from the bootsnall forums. Appreciate you pointing me here. Question since I see you carry a lot of technology while traveling: What do you generally take with you everywhere, and what do you leave at the hostels?
January 12th, 2010 at 3:19 pmI haven’t spent a lot of time in dormitory hostels, and really prefer to have my own room if I can help it. After hearing my fair share of thieving hotel staff stories, I am wary of leaving things in any budget room.
Typically, the netbook stayed in the room and the camera gear and external hard drive came with me. I’m about to spend ten weeks surfing in Costa Rica and I’ll be leaving my iPod, netbook, and point and shoot camera in the room for several hours twice each day that I go out to surf.
My general rule, is that if you can’t live with having it stolen, then you have to keep it in sight at all times. The rest of the time you have to be ready to part with it should the worst occur. Having insurance can help too, I believe home owners or renters (in Canada, anyways) covers theft while travelling.
January 12th, 2010 at 10:23 pm