Can anyone give me advice re a good, suitable rucksack for winter/summer walking and scrambling etc in Scotland.Looking around 40L + size. Hope you can help.

Karrimoor Boma is bloody awesome, have used mine for all of the above. It's really good scrambling due to the tough fabric but this is at the slight expensive of weight !

Mountain Equipment Dru , probably more of a climbers pack but I only use it for walking.I've only used it a couple of times but have had no problems although I do sometimes miss having side pockets.I think there are 35 /45/ 55L versions.

Haglofs Climber 50 is superb, Tough fabric, hydration pack pouch, aperture and guides, waist belt includes gear rack, rope compression system, floating lid, helmet cut out in lid etc etc etc. Used it all this summer on scrambles and climbs, and it's been great - a bit pricey but you pay for the best:)

I like my Macpac Pursuit. Mine's an old one and apparently 50L (although it looks smaller), but I think they now do them in a range of smaller sizes too. Mine's stable and robust, and I find it comfy.

I've been made up with my Osprey Eclipse 42. A bit on the heavy side (2kg, so could be, what, 1/2 a kg heavier than some others?) but comfy as hell. Compression is by side panels rather than straps so it's very stable in the summer when there's not as much stuff in it, and then it unfolds in the winter to fit all my cold weather gear inside.

I'd buy one again tomorrow, and there's often some in the sales.

One problem for scrambling is that main access inside is by unzipping the back rather than through the top so that might be a problem for you.

FWIW, Try before you buy. I got the 60L Osprey Crescent online and got the wrong size so have had to bend the Alu struts something rotten. Foolish me.

The ME packs seem very well respected although I have no experience of these.

The only thing to be watchful of is durability. If you're only likely to be walking most of the time then this isn't such a problem, but if you're serious about the scrambling, then look for a tough fabric. ME guarantee their sacks

A couple of others I'd look at are the MacPac Pursuit series and The Crux AK series.

All MacPac sacks are well built and the Pursuit series are very similar to the ME Dru/Solstice/Diamond in both weight and price, but if you're interested in weight saving, try a Crux AK37 or AK47. Barely a kilogram in weight and made from the toughest material I've seen (some Kevlar/Cordura concoction) their simple design and harness makes them light but slightly less able to carry heavier lots. This, however shouldn't be a probelem in a 40ltr sack. The kitchen sink would never fit anyway!

Osprey!

I've just sold my Macpac packs - I was so blown away when I tried the Osprey packs that I had to switch.

www.ospreypacks.com

Snow and rock have some half price:

http://www.snowandrock.com/shop/activity/sale/hiking/products/MOSAG.htm

All the best,

Colin

I used an old style Pursuit for a while but was never happy with it when it carried weight,

I too am blown away by Osprey; I took a 75 litre Crescent away to the Pyrenees with me this summer and came back and bought smaller 36 litre plus Eclipse sack as well.

This may be a better bet than the 40 litre It is still big enough for almost everything, has a far better weight carrying belt and back system than the pursuit.

These are great packs.

Hi Andy,

I bought exactly the same as you! Fantastic packs - also found the Daylite Excessory on Ebay which upgrades the Crescent 75L to 88L. I always camp wild and high when I head into the hills/mountains, so that bit of extra capacity comes in very handy for multi-day trips with no place to restock.

I was using a Macpac Ascent until I got the Crescent and did a comparison - same load packed the same way, and when I tried the Crescent after the Ascent I was truly amazed.

Macpac are still very good packs though.

Macpac Tekapo 45+
Tough
Good 2-3 dayer

Thing I like about the bigger Ospreys is the wee 'pods' that clip onto them so you can, as Colin says, carry more stuff, but also use them as separate (small) daypacks leaving most of the gear in the tent and get up to the summit with waterproofs and sarnies in the pod.

But that's not the question. Sorry for digressing.

I've got some great advice here. Many Thanks

You're welcome - hope you find a pack that suits you - let us know what you get.

All the best.

This winter I'll be using a Golite Jam 45l sack. It only weighs 620 grams! It seems well featured though with ice axe loops, pockets and hydration compatibility. you definately need a liner with it though.

A lot of the above are climbing sacks, which can be a bit unforgiving for summer use and general hillwalking.

Osprey ones are pretty confortable for all round use, but I personally find all those straps a bit faffy (I've recently sold a cers).

The Tekao looks good, but it is heavy.

Chris Townsend (in tgo) recently voted a North face Terra 40 as his best buy for a 40+ litre sack for all round use.

The new GoLite sacks are also worth a look, although they are quite expensive (check out Jon's review)

I've never found the Osprey straps a real problem, not once I've made the effort to understand how they work!

I use my Eclipse 36 for nearly everything now. It is a very comfortable and adaptable pack. WHen it isn't carrying much weight the compression straps can really pull in the pack giving it a much smaller profile.

I use my Crescent also when I am wild camping up high. The detachable day pack and the convertible lid/bumbag really are very useful and I've used both to good effect.

Andy - to be honest I would happily recommend the Ceres for those who use a hydration system. I don’t, however, and with no outside pockets, I found that I had to undo both lid straps, the rope press, the draw chord aperture and – if the pack was half full – at least one compression strap just to access my water bottle.

In addition, although I’m tall I couldn’t get the large-size harness to fit my back closely (the perils of buying a pack online) – and the Ceres doesn’t have the Rolls Royce hip belt of the Eclipse.

My ideal sack for scrambling would allow good freedom of movement, would allow me to get my head back to look up and would be tough yet light.
I'm using a GoLite Jam at the moment which has surprisingly good freedom of movement and look-up. This is aided by the low weight. At 600ish grammes it's half the weight of some sacks and that's like carrying a light duvet jacket for 'free'.

You may be interested in this letter about the Jam's big brother, the Gust. http://www.ardblairsports.com/Gust%20Sack%20Testimonial.htm

Andy Howell .. what happened to the ULA pack you were so keen on?