My cheap new Amazon Basics photographic rucksack
A couple of days ago, I purchased an “amazon basics” camera+laptop rucksack, for the princely sum of £ £35.49. delivered. Well it just arrived. So time to check it out, and move in. I have to say I’m actually quite impressed. This model also has a built-in laptop carrier too that comfortably holds a 40 cm / 15.6 inch laptop. I like it because it doesn’t look expensive – ideal when travelling. IMHO, it seems every bit as well made as the LowePros and CaseLogics I’ve had before. Yet it’s just a fraction of the price. Time will tell of course. It will be interesting to see what it looks like after five years or so.
Update 2023-03-11
Well, it’s now over six years old and it’s still working almost as new. Today it also gets used as a general storage pack and portable office. Also note I part-hang it via a couple of large stainless steel S hooks through two 19mm M6 stainless eye-bolts. Keeps it upright and prevents it from being knocked off the shelf. And if you look more closely you can see the insides further modified with the use of a few orange velcro cable ties – as well as my lappy poking up at the back.
When full, it is roughly 44 x 35 x 20 cm and fully-loaded weighs a bit under 7kg. This includes, µ4/3 camera, Debian GNU/Linux laptop, universal 5v+12v+19v 10 amp switch mode power supply (very light and powers everything, including my phone and my wife’s laptop with just a single mains lead), encrypted 20 TB hard drive, Lumix 12-32mm vario lens, Lumix 20mm f1.7 prime, Tamron 14-150 mm AF super zoom, makro rings, assorted leads, step-up rings, pens, small metric ruler, Olympus stereo digital recorder, LED ring-flash, small ICOM IC-R20 HF/VHF/UHF comms receiver, spare batteries, headphones, RTL 2832 USB SDR USB stick, perhaps a few Cokin filters. There’s also just enough room for a spare pair of cacks, socks and T-shirt too, if I’m doing an overnight stay.
This means I can set-up office anywhere with a mains supply and half decent internet connection – as well as taking lots of photos when I’m not working. Backpack itself is a cheap and scruffy old “amazon basics” so it doesn’t look like it’s worth nicking. And its insides have been hacked about to accommodate my somewhat unorthodox collection of kit.
Low mass
Everything I carry has been chosen (or specially built) for low mass. The big single switch-mode power supply unit (far left) is built into a lightweight die-cast aluminium case – eliminating cooling fans. This single unit is designed to power a laptop and up to two external 3.5″ hard drives simultaneously. Weighs just 900 grams and works off any mains voltage 90 VAC – 260 VAC. It saves carrying multiple power-cables and needing multiple mains outlets.
Camera is a tiny Lumix DMC-GX7 and all its various lenses and filters are pretty light too. The comms receiver/scanner and sound recorder are both fairly light. Probably the heaviest thing you can see here is the hard disk (far right). These days I carry just one large encrypted 20TB backup HD in an extruded aluminium case (NB the one in the photo is plastic because the aluminium one was mid-backup at the time). Again passive cooling & light weight – or as light as possible using current affordable technology.
Additionally, a collection of adaptors and other lightweight gizmos mean that a small number of cables can serve a wide variety of purposes (stored in the lightweight cable organisers near the top of the bag). Add my pencil case to the pouch at the front and I can set up shop, pretty much anywhere on the planet, providing it has a mains power supply and an internet connection