How To Choose A Backpack For Travelling Europe

Posted by Rachael Thomas in Travel | Comments Off

Planning an epic Europe backpacking adventure? Awesome! I’ve done it and I loved every second of it. However, there is a fair bit of planning and organizing that goes into a trip like that. I won’t cover off every aspect of that (then the article would be 5000 words!), but I’m going to talk about one of the extremely important aspects: choosing your backpack.

Your backpack is super important, it’s the thing you’re going to use and carry every single day of your trip, so you want to be a good one and of high quality (I assume). So what should you be looking for when you’re searching for a pack? What are the best things to have in a backpack? Let me take you through some of the common questions and give you some personal advice.

Thinking About Size

Of course your first thought is probably, “Give me the biggest and the best, thanks!”. That’s all well and good, and if you’re planning on backpacking for 12 months through winter and want to bring your own tent, a huge 75-80 litre backpack might be just the thing for you.

But more likely you’re heading off to Europe for 2-3 months during the summer. You definitely do NOT need a 75-80 litre pack, aim for around the 60 litre mark. You don’t want to over pack, and 60 litres should be more then enough.

If you’re a smaller girl, I would go for even less, and get a 40 – 50 litre pack.

Getting Quality Materials

The materials used are very important. You want one made of a durable and strong canvas type material. A material that won’t scratch and is even a little bit waterproof. You’ll also want to purchase a brand from a company that is happy to offer you a lifetime guarantee for the pack – then you can be assured they’re satisfied with the quality of their own product.

Buying The Pack

Going into a dedicated backpacking store is your best bet. These stores OFTEN have super massive discount sales; I’m talking 50 – 75 % off the RRP prices. So don’t ever pay full retail price for a backpack.
You also want to get into a store so you can try the pack on and learn CORRECTLY how to adjust it to your back. If you don’t do this, you’ll end up with sore shoulders and a aching back, let me tell you. It’s vital that you figure out how to wear the pack correctly. The shop assistant should easily be able to help you with that.

Here is a tip if you’re really on a tight budget, choose a pack you love from the store and then tell them you’re going to ‘think about it’. Then head home and buy the exact brand and model on the Internet for a much lower price. Bear in mind you’re not supporting the store at all in anyway, but that’s a discussion for another time – that’s just an easy tip to lower the price.

The Little Extras

Whenever you’re buying a pack there are a few extras you should look out for. You want one with heaps of small pockets and compartments inside it – this is definitely the way to go from my own experiences.

You’ll also want on that allows you to attach a smaller daypack to that back of it. These are great once you’ve checked into your hostel, you can grab the day pack and then head out exploring (and still have somewhere to put your water bottle, books etc).

Well those are all my tips on how to choose yourself a good backpack, I hope they come in handy!

For more information, feel free to check out ActiveBackpacker.com – it’s my website all about backpacking and travelling. I provide heaps of information from my own personal experiences and should definitely be able to help you out if you’re about to head off for the very first time.