- Time of past OR future Camino
- Enjoying the camino since 2009
Some of you will know how I have struggled to find the right pack over the years, and many of you might be struggling with it now, feeling more and more stressed as your departure date comes ever nearer. You have my sympathies, I know all about it - I once bought my camino pack blind when it came out one week before the flight! (Pure dumb luck, absolutely not a recommended approach.) However, today I aim to make (some of) you smile at or with me.
I have an Osprey Tempest 30L which I love, not just because it is comfortable, lightweight and fits all my gear, but also because it is unapologetically pink! which brightens my day from morning to noisy night in the albergues. And it is small enough to go as hand luggage on a flight, unlike the above mentioned previously perfect pack. Buuuut it is a one size which doesn't necessarily fit all and is certainly made for smaller folk than I. It does have a hipbelt, but for the food loving peregrina the padded bits hardly touch the sides - literally. If it gets a little bit too heavy it starts putting weight on my shoulders, which are sore at the best of times because I type for a living. So I started looking for other packs. (You know all about that so I will skip the details.)
I also had to look for a different pack for my husband, whose larger size Talon 33L (yep, we had his and hers backpacks) is a little too short for him so he tends to keep his hands under it behind his back trying to lift it off the shoulders, making his damaged shoulder hurt even more. (If you do it too, your pack is not adjusted right or right for you!) I bought him the larger 44L with a rigid frame and so far, so good. I then went to list his black 33L for sale. I just thought I'd try it first, since it is basically a slightly larger version of my pink 30L, so I crammed it full of stuff ... and ooh, much better hip belt, I felt the difference straight away, and oh, look, swappable straps, what if I put the pink webbing straps on the black pack, as they were oddly longer (?) ... but the shoulder straps were too long and the pole stowing bungee ended up under my arm ... hmmm ...
Cue a flurry of straps in and out of buckles, a series of scratchy velcro noise, and hey presto - a black Talon 33 bag with a Tempest lady friendly harness and pink straps on the front! Winner!
Now the only thing missing was a name. Yes, your pack should be your best friend and therefore needs to have a name. They were previously known as Rosa (as in pink) and Fletcher (as in fletcha = arrow in Spanish), but I couldn't call it Retcher, nor Flosa, nor Talest, and definitely not Tempon!
In the end, since it is a Bit Of Both, I have called it Bob
Feel free to tell us about your customisations and/or silly pack names ...
I have an Osprey Tempest 30L which I love, not just because it is comfortable, lightweight and fits all my gear, but also because it is unapologetically pink! which brightens my day from morning to noisy night in the albergues. And it is small enough to go as hand luggage on a flight, unlike the above mentioned previously perfect pack. Buuuut it is a one size which doesn't necessarily fit all and is certainly made for smaller folk than I. It does have a hipbelt, but for the food loving peregrina the padded bits hardly touch the sides - literally. If it gets a little bit too heavy it starts putting weight on my shoulders, which are sore at the best of times because I type for a living. So I started looking for other packs. (You know all about that so I will skip the details.)
I also had to look for a different pack for my husband, whose larger size Talon 33L (yep, we had his and hers backpacks) is a little too short for him so he tends to keep his hands under it behind his back trying to lift it off the shoulders, making his damaged shoulder hurt even more. (If you do it too, your pack is not adjusted right or right for you!) I bought him the larger 44L with a rigid frame and so far, so good. I then went to list his black 33L for sale. I just thought I'd try it first, since it is basically a slightly larger version of my pink 30L, so I crammed it full of stuff ... and ooh, much better hip belt, I felt the difference straight away, and oh, look, swappable straps, what if I put the pink webbing straps on the black pack, as they were oddly longer (?) ... but the shoulder straps were too long and the pole stowing bungee ended up under my arm ... hmmm ...
Cue a flurry of straps in and out of buckles, a series of scratchy velcro noise, and hey presto - a black Talon 33 bag with a Tempest lady friendly harness and pink straps on the front! Winner!
Now the only thing missing was a name. Yes, your pack should be your best friend and therefore needs to have a name. They were previously known as Rosa (as in pink) and Fletcher (as in fletcha = arrow in Spanish), but I couldn't call it Retcher, nor Flosa, nor Talest, and definitely not Tempon!
In the end, since it is a Bit Of Both, I have called it Bob
Feel free to tell us about your customisations and/or silly pack names ...
My pack is black with teal trim. You can see it in my profile pic. The pole straps on the side are also teal. So when I added the bungee cord to the back I chose teal. I'm still working the amount of tension that I want so I don't have a cord lock on the end. Now I just need to add my APOC patch and find an American flag small enough (and not iron on) to fit on the side.
Otherwise please let me know , I´m still a newbie trying to learn all things here...) The pack is lightwieght, sits perfect on my back, came with a intergrated raincover. The pack has an external frame with net closest to my back. I don´t know how many liters it is, but it´s a good size, I can take it as my carry-on hand luggage on planes. I have had it for a few years now, right now it stands beside my bed with a sleepingbag, equipment and some clothes. Have I modified my pack? Of course! I have som yellow rope on the front that I use to hang things from (raingear, laundry 
etc), and in front of the rope i have a pouch/bag made of net that I attached with carabindes (for snacks, my spork and a mug). Not the prettiest, but it´s practical. I haven´t really given my pack a name, but when I think about it I allways refer to it as Ryggan. Ryggan is short for the Swedish word Ryggsäck(-en), same as Pack instead of Backpack or Rug instead of Rugsack. 
i brake my pack when I´m modifying it. I have had other sacks before (Haglöfs and Lundhags) and most suprisingly I like this one as much as them ( I did some mods to them too). Ryggan has been with me on many hikings and some longer pilgrimage here at home. So to you all out there, don´t be afraid of trying something out of the box. 
