camera rucksack/backpack

hi all - looking for advice/guidance

looking for a camo/olive green rucksack/backpack to hold the following equipment as -

1no canon 5d + battery pack
1no canon 1d3
1no 400mm 2.8 lens
2-3 smaller lenses
1no 1.4x convertor
1no 2x convertor
1no tripod
cleaning bits/pieces
spare batteries/pack
memory cards etc
water bottle/food ?

water-proof ?
comfortable, good shoulder straps

any ideas

i was interested in andy rouse cobra, but is now not being produced ?
viper is very big

look forward to hearing from you all with suggestions

jeff acreman

Have you looked over the Loweproline? I think they have everything you are looking for but the camo.

I'd second Jim's suggestion. Their larger packs are very good for travelling with about the amount of equipment you have. I have a similar amount of equipment and it all fits nicely inside my Lowepro.

I have a smaller Lowepro which has worked fine. Having said that I have a larger Mountainsmith pack that I really love. While I bought it to have a little more room and carry more in it (read heavier) it seems to carry more comfortably. I don't have a lens as large as the 400 f2.8 but I'm sure they have a pack that would handle what you have.

Bruce

Do you need to fly with that bag and gear?

Other than that, I'll add another vote to the Lowepro. I have 4 of their bags, including two backpacks, and they all get good use. The two packpacks need some time to set up properly but well worth the effort.

If you have access to a camera store with a couple of different manufacturers, spend some time there with the bags. The backpacks can be a bit personal of a selection.

I'll put a vote in here to consider the Think Tank line of packs. Comfy, carry a lot depending on what size, of course. And they make a lot of accessory bags, holsters, etc., that can easily attached/detached to the pack to carry more/less. Designed for airline carry on, and at least one can hold the 400. But alas only one color-- black. I found a rucksack at an Army-Navy surplus store that serves well, too. They definitely have camo items! Not camera specific but works with some ingenuity at protecting the gear within. Hope you find what you're looking for.

I'm not a backpack person, but I read on another forum where someone was doing something interesting. Instead of buying a photo backpack with the dividers and everything, he bought a good regular backpack. He put his lenses and camera into foam pouches to protect them. The upshot was he had a backpack that didn't signal expensive camera gear inside, was able to use one pack for everything, and it was smaller/lighter than a regular photo pack.


Kent in SD

What do you mean by "1no?"

I have just started using an Osprey lightweight backpack (www.ospreypacks.com) instead of my Tamrack photo backpack. It is much more comfortable to wear and has plenty of room to pack extra clothes/food/water/tripod/etc. Most photo backpacks are designed for just carrying your camera gear and maybe a laptop. My Tamrack has pouches that can be added for water, but still limited space for a jacket and food, and on long hikes it feels like I'm carrying around a bowling ball in a bag. Don't get me wrong I love the Tamrack for keeping my gear organized and storing it for long periods of time, but on long hikes I want something more comfortable to wear.

I have a 300mm lens, a DLSR body and two smaller lenses + accessories. I have a padded pouch for the 300mm and keep the DSLR body and other lenses in a very small Tamrack DSLR bag that fits nicely in the backpack. It's also less obvious that I am carrying around thousands of dollars worth of equipment on my back. Just some ideas.

I use a regular mountainsmith hiking backpack and put my gear into lens pouches and my camera into a mountainsmith beacon pouch. Allows me to pack other gear and layers and snacks easily