What type of travel rucksack should you buy?

OK so you need to buy a travel rucksack but there are some considerations when buying a travel rucksack. The important point is the question - what are you going to use it for? At this point it can get detailed and it is nice not to get bogged down in this sort of detail and therefore I have some tips in this article. Hope it is useful

Your travel rucksack needs to be fit for purpose. Is it going to be used for hiking and rambling or travelling? You need to know as you need to understand how waterproof and strong it needs to be especially if you are going hiking with your travel rucksack. Taking a travel rucksack on holidays and just using it for travelling is not so much an issue

Make sure that the travel rucksack is nice and comfortable. Nowadays most travel rucksacks are very comfortable compared to rucksacks years ago. The good travel rucksacks now have a breathing system to allow some air to your back and help to stop you sweating. In addition the straps are now adjustable to fit not only your shoulders but adjustable so you can wear the travel rucksack high or low on your back. This is quite useful.

Most travel rucksacks which are large (not a day sack) now come with the all important belt. Your hips should take more of the weight instead of your shoulders as this is the strongest part of your body. So make sure that a belt is included. Take a look at the picture here

Get a good waterproof travel rucksack. A good feature is a rain cover complete with a zip away bag cover. So that when it does start to rain (which you need to be prepared for) then you unzip your rucksack rain cover and cover the rucksack for rain protection. Again a useful feature. However some hikers do say that a handy top pocket is wasted by the rain cover. I suppose it is a personal trade off – pocket or cover? What is your choice?

What I do is keep my contents of the travel rucksack dry by using a plastic bag in the travel rucksack. Therefore I use this for waterproofing and shy away from the waterproof cover. However some people like it so I have included it.
Another great feature is a unique movable bio system which means as you bend or twist, the pack remains upright. This means that the centre of gravity remains the same reducing the risk of falling or loosing your balance – good feature.

I personally like a large number of pockets. Pockets make it easy to store and retrieve the smaller but things like map, compass, emergency whistle, pocket knife etc.

Have a great hike or travel well and enjoy your travel rucksack as its all part of the fun.