Hiking Bag Help

I currently have a Kata 3n1-20 which I really like but is not comfortable for walking very long and is running out of room after some new gear purchases.

I have plans for trips to Yosemite, Sedona, AZ, and the boundry waters in northern Minnesota this year. I plan on doing some hiking, especially in Yosemite and AZ. I have been looking at some bigger bags to hold my gear and some water/snacks. I have also been looking for something with some waist support but am wondering if its actually needed?

With the weight of of all my gear and supporting accessories + tripod on my back I was thinking a nice waist strap would be good but Im wondering if just some nice thick paddded straps would be enough.

I am seeing alot of bags that would hold my gear tripod and computer (for travel not hikes) but do not have waist straps othe than a thin strap. Any advice on hiking with gear on your back? Proably all less than 10 mile hikes, easy pace.

do you really need all your gears on your back for a hike?

I might narrow it down once I know where I am going for a hike but it also would double as transportation for getting to wherever Im going.

I could easily see using everything but maybe the 85 1.8 on a single hike.

Have you considered the Lowepro Rover AW II? It is a great backpack with excellent support for day hikes of any length. Your gear, minus the 85 1.8, would definitely fill up the bottom compartment, but you'd still have room for lunch, water, and a windbreaker in the upper compartment. It also has a great tripod carrier on the outside.

Not that there's anything wrong with hauling a lot of gear, but I tend to shy away from taking that many lenses if I'm planning on hiking 7-10 miles. Once you start taking 3 lenses, the weight starts to really add up.

Bryan

I tend not to carry my gear in a bag when I am hiking. Instead, I carry two cameras and two lenses on an OPTECH Dual Harness and carry additional accessories such as an extra lens, flash and the various nitty-gritties such as CF cards and batteries in my photo vest.

IMO, the advantage of this system is that the equipment weight is divided across my shoulders and I don't often carry equipment that I don't need. Carrying everything you own but, the kitchen sink is, to me quite amateurish.

The one item which I will not stint on carrying is water! When I was a combat cameraman in Vietnam, I would often carry less food so I could carry more water. I found that I could easily make do for a couple of days on one pack of long range patrol rations per day plus some hard candy for the sugar content. But, I could not survive without water. Of course, I was a pretty lean-mean young guy at the time.

Consider the Lowepro Naturetrekker ii I can fit everything in my sig in it except my 3D and walk all day.. with my tripod strapped on. It has amazingly comfortable waist straps and the straps are height adjustable to fit your torso length so the waist straps AND the shoulder straps sit in the right place. The front pocket holds food and a camelback bladder..