UKC

I’m looking for a rucksack that will squeeze the most out of airline hand luggage allocation - 55cm by 40cm by 20cm if you are lucky enough to fly with R**n a*r - or about 45 litres.

I'm a rock-climber and the bag needs to be adequately comfortable carrying kit up to Ceuse or Cloggy so it does need to be a rucksack but it doesn’t require a jazzy suspension. I'm not an Alpinist and I don’t want ice-axe loops, crampon holders, an extendable lid, or compression straps. I wont be climbing with the bag on my back and I don’t aspire to be fast or light. The ideal bag will be well-made from heavyweight materials and be as tough as old boots.

Suggestions?

In reply to flaneur:

You will encounter GREAT difficulty persuading airport security to allow you to board with rope, karabiners, quickdraws etc.

In reply to flaneur:
You will not manage to get ropes and hardware in under the weight limits.

If you decide just to pack cabin friendly stuff, I got a decent Lowe Alpine sac, designed to be hand baggage or rucksac that seems well made. They may still make something similar.

Ross

In reply to flaneur: Easyjet will now only guarantee baggage with dimensions no bigger than 50 x 40 x 20 will be allowed on board as hand luggage. Depending on specific flights a bag 55 x 40 x 20 MAY now have to go in the hold.

In reply to Blue Straggler:

I don't intent to attempt to carry on my climbing gear in hand luggage.

I'm looking for a bag to carry my laptop/smelly T-shirts/sleeping bag on the plane which can be used as a climbing rucksac once out of Kos/Barcelona/Nice airport.


In reply to Gridnorth:

I'll take my chances with easyjet. They wont charge any extra if the bag has to be transfered to the hold and since my climbing hardwear will be in the hold bag (see above) waiting for two bags rather than one shouldn't be a be a major problem.

In reply to flaneur:

We often take larger bags than this on as hand luggage, but leave them half empty and squish them down using the straps before we get on board so that they do fit the dimensions specified. So you can basically get whichever size and shape of bag you want, as long as it is squishy.

In reply to flaneur:
Alpkit Gourdon 30 is fantastic handluggage, fine for carrying gear to bottom of crag too. Since it has no straps, buckles, smooth fabric, slides easily into overhead storage thingy.

However, I also think you'll struggle getting climbing gear into cabin!!!

Stuart

In reply to Ross McGibbon:

The Lowe thing looks good for hand-luggage but doesn't look like it would survive for long as a cragging sac.


tim:

Good point about squishing. There is a limit though. Up to 50 litres then?


Stuart:

That's more like it. Could be bigger perhaps, as per tim's suggestion?

In reply to flaneur: http://www.ewetsuits.com/acatalog/walkers-drybag-rucksack.html

In reply to flaneur:

Sorry, I made an assumption there.

In that case, just about anything will be fine.

In reply to flaneur: Personally I use the Montane Medusa 32 for my day pack/mountain pack.

It's simple and tough with minimal faff. The Montane Torque 40 might be a better option if you want something larger.

Not sure why you don't want compression straps, but you could cut them off I suppose.

As I say, simple design, functional, yet tough.

In reply to flaneur: I had no problem returning to Edinburgh from Geneva with a Lowe Alpine Alpine Attack 35 stuffed with ropes, carabiners and rock protection as hand luggage. I was flying EasyJet, it is, however, entirely up to airport security what they let you carry and nothing to do with the airline. I have heard similar stories of people being stopped for various idiotic reasons such as "you could use a carabiner asa knuckleduster", etc.

In reply to flaneur: A Crux AK47 fits in Easyjet requirements.

In reply to flaneur:

Duncs takes one that is 50 + 10 litres. He's taken it as hand luggage loads of times, but straps it all up before checking in and checks it in the sizers that they provide...

In reply to flaneur:
I got a moon aerial pack exactly for this purpose, you can roll down the top and use side compression straps to get it comfortably within the ryanair metal test cage. I did take out the metal back stiffener for the flight to crete, but this wasn't necessary.
Makes a very useful climbing sack, zip up the middle lets you get the bottom stuff without unpacking everything, stand it upright and you can shove everything in quickly at the end of the day and get off.

In reply to flaneur:
For many years now I have placed all my climbing gear in my hold luggage (suitcase or large wheelie rucksack) and always got it in under weight for the trip, even with Ryanwhatsit. For my hand luggage I take my 50+10 litre Low Alpine sack with aluminium stays removed (never found them to be much good anyway). I then fold the empty sack in on itself so that it fits under the lid of the sack, this still leaves enough room to fit a few things in the main body of the sack (books, etc.) and a few other things in the lid (passport, tickets). I use the compression straps to tie it all together and tuck away any dangly bits and the waist strap. This way the bag fits easily into one of those Ryanwhatsit bag size things. I also have a small foldaway daysack which I put into my main luggage so that I don't have to carry a big (or folded) sack around when not climbing.

In reply to flaneur: DMM have a new range of bags - one is called the "Flight" and what you say makes it sound almost like you're doing some guerilla marketing for them! Not on the website yet, but they are meant to be coming soon. It's on one of the Outdoors shows videos but I'm not sure which one - they all looked sensible and well thought out though.

vimeo.com/70234054 the flight is at about 7 mins in.

In reply to Duncan Bourne:
If you are after any more tips here is a helpful guide.

https://fbcdn-sphotos-g-a.akamaihd.net/hphotos-ak-frc1/296588_1015137328576...

In reply to Duncan Bourne: That is brilliant.

In reply to flaneur:

I have taken a 55 L Karrimor onto Easyjet as hold luggage, albeit squashed up.

In reply to TobyA:

Ha ha. No connection with DMM, though it's been suggested before: http://www.ukclimbing.com/forums/t.php?t=493301&v=1#x6745128
I'm not surprised someone else is thinking similarly. Potential customer feedback: a bit fussy for my taste but very much along the right lines. That shade of green is vile (cheque in the usual way please guys).

Thanks for the other suggestions (and packing tips!); the Moon pack also looks promising. Any others?

In reply to flaneur: I like the jolly colours but being red/green colour blind means I tend to favour child's crayon-type block colours! The little one for carrying up routes looks good as well, use a pack for that sort of thing a lot the other week so have been thinking about what you want and don't want for a climbing pack.

In reply to flaneur: Try the Decathlon range. Quechua or something like that. I use a 35 (I know that is smaller than what you are after) which has never been questioned on a plane because it looks much smaller than everyone elses when it isn't fully packed.

In reply to flaneur:

Not sure, but if it is small enough, BlueIce Octopus might be pretty much spot on for ya.

http://www.blueice.com/products/en/home/13-octopus.html

In reply to HeMa:

That looks to be a very neat design and could be perfect but since the details offer almost no useful information about how big it is it is hard to tell.

Volume 80 m rope + necessary gear
Who writes this nonsense?!

Though this wont bother most people, the colour is very 2013 and will look horribly dated in 10 years time. I like bright coloured clothing, items that will wear out in a few years, but I expect a pack to last decades and prefer something more neutral.

In reply to flaneur:
Easy, lowe alpine crag attack 42

Used it for this purpose and was perfect. Didnt cram it full, because had hold luggage for metalwork anyway, but had a motorcycle helmet and soft odds and sods in it. Just took back piece out and when compressed empty space with straps, looks innocuous and fit in gauge (albeit 25cm, but can underfill and squish)

Is also a brilliant crag pack - comfy, appropriate size (feels a lot more than 3L smaller than bergaus arete 45, don't know which is off) simple, sturdy, neutral colours available, cheaper than alternatives.

Has taken a bit of abuse and looks the same, half the people I climb with have ended up with them, can't really go wrong trying for money, often in sale.

In reply to flaneur:

Drop them an email, I'm sure they'll give you the needed info.

In reply to HeMa:

Oh, and Simond do a similar (most likely smaller) sack...
http://www.simond.com/en/cat/BackpacksBags/prd/40L_Backpack

Might be able to get 'em from Decathlon.

In reply to flaneur:

That pretty much fits with anything from the Aiguille range:

http://www.aiguillealpine.co.uk/shop/4/77/index.htm

In reply to flaneur: My son has taken this Golite Jam 50l on a few flights;
http://www.golite.com/Jam-50L-Pack-Unisex-P46812.aspx
and I use a Cilogear 30l worksack ;http://www.cilogear.com/30lws.html which has been taken on numerous flights no problem. The Golite has been jammed with clothes and managed to squash into the luggage checker. The cilogear is only 30l but I can fit all the gear I need in it and has a rope strap which goes under the lid, which is removable so you can strip it down while climbing.