I have a shiny new rucksack. An impulse buy.Being in the Malvern area, I felt a compulsion to visit Bob and Rose, who we discovered in their Aladdin’s Cave after yesterday’s walk (Bob having joined us for part of the walk).
Weighing in at about 1400 gm the Quest gives me a 600 gm weight saving over the old Karrimor Jaguar rucksack, but it does present some new challenges. That’s because the Quest lacks the Jaguar’s lower compartment (used to store wet tent and waterproofs), and its side pockets (brewing kit in one pocket, accumulated rubbish in the other). The side pocket issue is easily solved, and the Quest has a front pocket that may be suitable for waterproofs, but the Phreerunner or Nallo tent will have to live in the main compartment, so waterproof bags suddenly gain a greater importance.
Postscript - March 2008
I used this rucksack for about 8 days' of 'hutting' backpacking in New Zealand in early 2008. Once I had the comfy hip belt positioned at the correct height the sac was extremely comfy. But no tent was being carried, and a maximum of two days food meant that the weight was fairly low - maybe 10-12 kilos. It seemed taller and thinner than my old Karrimor Jaguar, so after unrolling my karrimat inside the sac, the other items didn't fit as neatly inside it.
It also worked well on a Munro bagging trip in April 2008, apart from being blown away whilst fully laden! See here.
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