Question for Hikers/Climbers with EOS Gear

[spaceman]

How do you folks pack your gear? I have a couple of Lowepro backpacks (Mini trekker, Rover II AW) that I use for short hikes in good weather, but I hike above treeline, and also do winter hikes, so I need to carry a good size backpack with quite a bit of gear, not including my camera gear. Any of you put your photo gear in smaller camera bags, then into a backpack, or do you just bring along a P&S? I'd really like to use my 300D and lenses on some of these hikes, but I'm not sure if I want to lug it all around. Any suggestions, or suggestions for a decent Canon P&S? Thanks

Alan

[friscomgm]

I hiked to the bottom of the Grand Canyon and back up with my 300D around my neck. Well - I actually put it away for much of the hike up.

This was in the middle of July in 115 degree heat as well.

I'd recommend taking a small camera bag and stuffing inside a larger pack, depending on how difficult/long a hike you will be doing.

But seriously for most of the hikes the camera is around my neck lol...

[robertwgross]

I have a big Lowepro bag and also a shoulder bag, but I find them completely impractical for a serious outdoor trip. Instead, I load up my normal backpack with my normal backpacking gear. Then, at the top, I add two large waist packs that are stuffed with spare lenses, film camera, and all that. The tripod gets stuffed inside the winter pack or else outside on the summer pack. Finally, the digital camera is slung over my head and shoulder in a camera holster. I'll keep the wide-range zoom on the camera, so I can shoot anything like wildlife that pops up in a hurry, but the specialized lenses (very wide or very long) will have to be dug out of the waist packs.

The reason for the waist packs is that once I get to camp and set down the heavy load, I'll probably need to go roaming about for the real photography, and I can cinch on either one or both waist packs for roaming.

The camera holster seems pretty indestructible, and I've used it for winter camping, X-C skiing, and summer climbs. In the event of very wet weather, I keep a large plastic bag inside the holster, so it can protect the camera even more, if necessary.

On my last trip a little over one week ago, the load came up to about 27 pounds plus 15 pounds of camera gear. For winter, I would cut that down by 5-10 pounds.

---Bob Gross---