winter daypack recommendations please

I am looking for a do-all winter daypack that has the capacity to

1: carry camera gear (several lenses: a wide, a fast prime, and a 70-200, a body, various filters and stuff)
2: has the ability to carry a tripod and possibly lash skis or snowshoes
3: has the capacity to carry long winter dayhike gear (food, water, backup clothing, etc.).

Currently I am using a DaKine photo pack, but find the suspension lacking, the lack of non-photo storage frustrating, and the weight prohibitive. I am climbing several thousand steep feet on a hike on either skis or snowshoes. I am looking for something light and agile, but also able to carry a tripod and non-camera gear.

Does such a thing exist? Thank in advance for any help.

Scott, I too had a difficult time finding just the right pack for winter hiking/photos. Perhaps the best way to handle the situation is to find a photo backpack to handle your fragile gear and then stow it inside a regular winter backpack. I'm not aware of any backpack made for photo gear that will also carry winter hiking gear and vice versa. Gotta be flexible. Light and agile whilst carrying photo gear AND winter survival gear is pretty hard to do. Alternatively, go to B&H, buy a well padded lens case for each lens and camera and stow them in the pack. I've been doing that for several years. Also carry my camera w/18 - 200 lens in a well padded camera bag on my winter pack hip belt so it's always available (and carry spare battery in a zip loc bag in an inside pocket of my winter shell). This set up may not be shock proof while sking, but it works for me when snowshoeing.

Thanks Don, that's pretty much the conclusion I've come to too. I was wondering if others had gone that route and found packs that work well, especially for carrying tripods and gear.

Scott, LowePro makes a wide variety of backpacks that are very comfortable, with lumbar support, suspension harness and designs that were developed for the backpacking-only crowd. In particular they have a series called DriZone, which are suitable for travel by kayak or canoe. They are extremely waterproof, and offer lots of compartments for all kinds of things. They also feature a tripod carrier, and their DryZone Rover even has accommodation for a hydration system. Their Trekker series have buckles that allow the attachment of their low-profile Trekker Daypack onto the front of the camera bag. It can also be used alone, since it has shoulder straps. They are certainly worth a look.

I have been on a quest to find a pack as you describe and I have come to the conclusion that none exists at this time. So what I did is take the padded case out of my Dryzone Rover and had a pack designed around it. You can also find an off the shelf pack that can fit a prefab case nicely. In fact the padded case from the Rover fits perfectly into the Osprey Kestrel 32. You need to play around with different combinations of pack and case to find what you are looking for. Its just hard to believe that noone has figured out how to make a photo pack with a real suspension yet.

Scott, I have the same pack with the same frustrations as you do. I too have thought about making a hybrid pack, or using the removable photo case from the dakine and inserting it into a real Backpacking pack, But here is my problem. I love how easy it is to access the camera. Sometimes you are in a very precarious position and do not have the ability to take multiple items out of the pack to get to the camera. The rear access is not only convenient but too much of a necessity to give up.

There is a well know mountain photog here at Mt baker and I know he has a custom pack. Next time I run into him I'll ask him more specifically about it.

Thanks for the replys everyone. I'm hearing that there is just not a good solution, geared toward photographers. Guess I'll sclep my tripod to the local gear hound store and try on some winter packs. I had a pack geared towards ice climbers a couple years ago that had tubes built in to hold ice tools securly. Something like that might work well for a pod.

As a compromise I have been using the Kelty Redwing pack for a number of years. Not the lightest pack around, but it's usually available for less than $100 and can be had in a large size for someone 6'5" such as myself. The design changes from year to year. The side pockets will stow a medium tele or a number of smaller lenses stacked. I've forgotten who, but someone even makes dividers and stuff to adapt the pack to 4X5 camera. Check the net.

Ryan said:

Scott, I have the same pack with the same frustrations as you do. I too have thought about making a hybrid pack, or using the removable photo case from the dakine and inserting it into a real Backpacking pack, But here is my problem. I love how easy it is to access the camera. Sometimes you are in a very precarious position and do not have the ability to take multiple items out of the pack to get to the camera. The rear access is not only convenient but too much of a necessity to give up.

There is a well know mountain photog here at Mt baker and I know he has a custom pack. Next time I run into him I'll ask him more specifically about it.

Hey Ryan

Try out the Mystery Ranch packs, specifically the Big Sky, Snow Pea or Snap Dragon. They have a Y-shaped zipper that makes things much easier. And for suspension, etc, nothing (except maybe a McHale) comes close.

Cheers

Carl