Your favorite hip packs for camping?

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NeedItCheaper

Joined
Jun 17, 2012
Messages
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I don't know what I want. About a month ago I started playing with an old Maxpedition Fatty Pocket Organizer. The goal was to build a little survival kit for hiking. Something that would take a serious edge off of misery if I got lost and had to wait until morning to get enough light to find my way out. Although I'm relatively happy with what's in it, I don't like the organizer. Now I'm on a search for a nice hip pack. What's your favorite hip pack for hiking? Must be 1.15 liters or bigger. Again, I don't know what I want, so any fresh ideas are welcome.

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NeedItCheaper said:
I don't know what I want. About a month ago I started playing with an old Maxpedition Fatty Pocket Organizer. The goal was to build a little survival kit for hiking. Something that would take a serious edge off of misery if I got lost and had to wait until morning to get enough light to find my way out. Although I'm relatively happy with what's in it, I don't like the organizer. Now I'm on a search for a nice hip pack. What's your favorite hip pack for hiking? Must be 1.15 liters or bigger. Again, I don't know what I want, so any fresh ideas are welcome.

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I’m a huge fan of carrying enough to take the edge off an unplanned night out. One option if you prefer not to carry a backpack is the Helinox sling bag (7 liters volume, zippered water bottle compartment, another zippered phone/wallet compartment). I stick a small foam pad in there to cushion the back (or sit on) and still have room for stuff. If you don’t like the logo on the bag, you can cover it up with duct tape ;)
 
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NeedItCheaper said:
I don't know what I want. About a month ago I started playing with an old Maxpedition Fatty Pocket Organizer. The goal was to build a little survival kit for hiking. Something that would take a serious edge off of misery if I got lost and had to wait until morning to get enough light to find my way out. Although I'm relatively happy with what's in it, I don't like the organizer. Now I'm on a search for a nice hip pack. What's your favorite hip pack for hiking? Must be 1.15 liters or bigger. Again, I don't know what I want, so any fresh ideas are welcome.

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Thinking a bit out of the box here, this is another option https://www.aspiring.co.nz/product/aspiring-bolt-bucket-8l-mesh-bottom/ available in 11 different colors, with or without mesh bottom, very burly material. You can clip it to your belt with a carabiner, run a belt through the 2 belt loops on the bag (slightly under 2" wide slots) or carry it on a shoulder strap (not included). They also make a smaller version (I have both). Note listed prices are in NZD (price ~ 37 USD)
 
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Simms Dry Creek Z Hip Pack

The Simms Dry Creek Z Hip Pack is an ideal solution for ample gear on the go. Part of the Dry Creek Z series which is our best selling waterproof bags and packs.
www.madriveroutfitters.com
waterproof zipper
i have an older version of this pack which has 2 buckles underneath spaced just right to lash a silky gomtaro pro-sentei 300 saw underneath for shelter construction or fire-building https://silkysaws.com/silky-gomtaro-300-pro-sentei-hand-saw/
 
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As to which pack, I don't have any recommendations. But as someone who has gone through many many waist packs, I can say that with bigger packs you take more stuff. Once the pack reaches a certain weight, it tends to bounce and throw its weight around, affecting your balance and just generally making things awkward. You wouldn't want to be rock-hopping across a creek. If I can't take a smallish waist pack, I take a small daypack instead.
 
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I find that hip packs tend to need to be tight on the waist with any real weight in them (water) so if that's fine, I think osprey does one. If you are a water-bladder person, then any of the slightly larger bladder carriers can do a pocket's worth of survival gear pretty easy. Shoulder packs are good if you are religious about weight management, I've got a Maxped jumbo and remora that have done turns as EDCs and are still very useful. My "oh shit" pack is a Ribz chest pack, as I can wear it no matter what my other pack situation is, and I can have that on all the time with at least some of the major 10 (fire, first aid, signaling and minimal shelter) It's probably three or four times the total capacity of the fatty, but if you keep it slim it does well. The other option would be to do a sort of SAS kit, instead of using a mess tin, using a pot sized for a 1L bottle carrier, and packing that full of your kit, or similarly a kidney cup and just belt carry that. Plenty of good carriers on the market for that.
 
The other question, which I ponder every time I go out, is how much emergency overnight gear do i want to carry? While I would like to imagine that all I would need is a knife, or a tarp or poncho or space blanket, to set up a minimalist shelter, the truth is that I probably wouldn’t get a wink of sleep all night unless I were zipped up in a one-person tent or bivy sack with at least a thin foam pad underneath for insulation. Shelter takes priority over everything else, even water, for me. This rules out a hip pack for me. But everyone has a different comfort level.
 
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tinfoil hat timmy said:
I had a Mountainsmith hip pack that punched above its weight.

It was very organized and was very high value. it lasted many years longer than I expected it to.
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Rupestris said:
I still use my Mountainsmith Tour lumbar pack. It sees more use as my DSLR camera bag these days.

It might be a bit big at 9L but they offer smaller models like the Drift at 5L and the Vibe at 1.6L.
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I'll follow the recommendations here for Mountainsmith. I have a Tour (edit) Day and it's seen quite a few miles on the trail. If you end up overpacking it and it gets weighty, they have an optional shoulder harness that comes in handy. Emergency gear, extra layer or two, water, bear spray, etc. all fit easily. Also has a pretty effective compression system when you don't need all of the capacity.

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Also have a smaller Osprey Seral that includes hydration. Once you've got the bladder in there though, there's not a lot of extra room. Can carry some stuff, but you need to think minimally ;)

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Edit - My Mountainsmith is the Day, not the Tour. 13L vs 9L.
 
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Osprey has one I use for mtb when I don’t need too much.
I like a chest rig (people hill) or proper backpack
 
Helikon-Tex makes some good quality rump sacks/waist packs/hip bags/fanny packs/WHATEVER you want to call them. The Possum (small) and the Bandicoot (large). They're good enough that they've had a few copycats pop up. They also make a good chest pack called the Numbat, I think.
 
I use a camera sling, which isn't a hip bag, but close.
It's not too small, and not too big.
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Mountainsmith Drift is my favorite. Big enough but not too big. Shoulder strap helps with weight and sag, and make it easy to unbuckle the waist strap and swing in front for quick access. I have the original version, its been on many trips, vacations and walks down the trails. Also works well as a motorcycle bag. I also have the old Maxpedition Devil Dog, which I also like for many of the same reasons, its just a little large for most of my needs. Too bad they are long discontinued.
 
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