Young Pup Hike 3: Day 2

Breakfeast: Bread, Cheese and cactus thea

Departure: 8.50 am

Target: Blankenberge

Arrival at Target: Didn't got there

Dinner: cakes and water

Supper: At home

Woke up at 8 am. First I putted the kettle on and and start to break up my tent. Had some breakfeast and got going.

Halfway the next city i got a phone for a job the next day.

So Instead of going to Blankenberge, I went to the train station and got to Home. ( eveything for a job, wright?)

So my vacation was shortened quite a bit but I'm happy with this first job offer.

Mostly My back and shoulders hurt. The pain in my shoulders is mostly because I have the wrong size of backpack. I am gonna buy a new one.

Maybe it wil be the Abisko from Fjällräven. Or maybe the Deuter I wrote about some earlier this year. We'll see.

I will plan a bigger trip So finally I can do decent trip. But I have work :-D

Wolves have no king,

Dries

Going to the shop...

I went today to the shop asking for some info about:

Backpacks:
I already decide i'm gonna choose between a Deuter or a Macpac.

If I choose Deuter, it will be the Aircontact PRO 60+15 :




Specifications:

Weight: 3200 g

Volume: 60+15 l + 10 l (sidepockets)

Size: 84 cm / 36 cm / 28 cm (H/B/T)

Material: Ballistic / HexLite 210 / Duratex

• Top part is detachable so it can be used as a small backpack.
  
• Front Zipper (i'm really messy, so that's nice).
• Grey strips at the front helps me loading material at the front.
• One downpoint is that it has a lot of straps and clicks. Looks messy.
• Side pockets that can be used for somekind of Camelbak.
  

I really like this one because it has a front zipper.
I actually wanted the 55+15 L size but the guy from the shop told me it is better to have a bit bigger for wintertrekking for wich you need bigger backpacks. (more stuff and clothes) Also the two grey "strips" at the front helps me binding material up there (sleeping pads).



The Macpac winner is the Cascade 75 FL.

Specifications:

Size: S2, S3, S4
Harness: Liberator™
Capacity: 7 5, 80, 85lt
Weight: 3.15, 3.30, 3.45kg
Fabric: AzTec®
Colour: Dusky Blue, Cardinal, Black

• Real nice design BUT, no front zipper.
• They say it's real waterproof, actually a friend of mine has one and say it is indeed extremely waterproof.
• An elastic at the front also allows me to load a sleeping pad at the front.
• Less straps so looks less messy
  

Now comes another question to my mind: Is it Really necessary to have a "big" backpack.
I now have a 55/65 l Wilsa outdoor backpack:
It's nice but:

• No Front zipper
• Useless and even irritating big sidepockets
• It has a few small holls in it
• No adjustable back system.
• Very bad design
• And (I think) not good size for me. It sits quite high on my back.

I never tried it out for serious hikes ( + 5 days) . So I better try to pack it up for like a 14 day hike and see or everything fits in it.

I also could buy a small backpack from like 40-45 liter. Then I should buy all the lightest gear and that whould cost me a lot but really light ha?
But than it wouldn't be able for some wintertrekking. They also told me that with height ( i'm like 1,87 meter high) it is better to have a bigger backpack. Also when I wanna go on wintercamping i whould need a pulka. (hmmm I like this idea). We will see.


Dries