Painfull bag

Sorry yet another what bag topic.
I curently have a tamrac camera backpack that i got for £35 from warehouse express. I find that the weight of my gear rests in the wrong places even with all the straps done up. The bag seams to agrivate my neck and shoulder problems caused from a RTA earlier this year. Its not the weight as i can carry my 65lt rucksack full of gear fine.

So basically i'm after a camera specific (maybe laptop too) bag that spreads weight as well as my hikeing bag.
What can you sugest?
My gear is listed below so i need space for that and some room for expansion.

Thanks for your help

J

Jay,
Which Tamrac have you got at the moment?
Sounds like you want a bag which is bottom heavy so you can keep the weight on your hips.
The Tamrac Adventure 7 http://www.tamrac.com/​5547.htm or LowePro Compudaypack http://cambags.com …o_compudaypack_​frames.htm is maybe the sort of design you should look for.

The equipment you listed would weigh under 10 pounds. How much money are you considering because KATA just came out with an amazing bag, but it's expensive. If you still want to go for a backpack, consider the new KATA bags.

http://www.kata-bags.com …=28&perentId=4&​ProdLine=4

The katas look to be mostly the bog-standard one compartment layout usually packed with body at the top of the bag with lens mounted pointing down. It is this sort of bag that puts pressure on your neck and shoulders. You can always re-arrange your gear to have the body at the bottom but that would be very inconvenient every time you want to get it out for a shot.
Personally I use and would recomend an Orion Trekker II. Quite discrete, easy to access, comfortable, keeps weight on my lower back/hips. Not sure it will hold all the OPs gear though it holds my 30D, 24-70L mounted, 50mm 1.4, 75-300mm, and the usual accessories and also lunch!

Another option would be to get the padded inner from eg an Orion Trekker and put it inside a normal small rucksack. You could then shop about for a bag with a better contoured back.

The issue I have found is that it is far LESS the bag design that makes things comfortable on the shoulder (not a true statement for a backpack, though!) but that the STRAP is the most important thing. So I will not consider any back that has a strap that is not detachable, as I want to be able to put the strap of choice on the bag.

I like the Lowepro Stealth Reporter bags because they have external mounting points for external lens cases...you can put your most frequently used lenses where you can reach them without opening the main bag compartment! Also the SR has provisions for mounting the bag on a padded belt, so that weight is on your hips and much less on the shoulder. And there even is a harness available for the belt, for backpack-like weight distribution. And the Lowepro bag straps are wonderful in their padding and in the antislip surface.