Rucksack for 9yo

My eldest is off for a weekend with the cubs, and I am looking for a decent rucksack for him, that will also be useful for heading off with me.

All he needs to carry is personal stuff, but his sleeping bag is rather bulky, and I doubt he would manage anything technical with a compression sack by himself.

Any Suggestions? I have seen the Deuter Fox and the Vaude Hidalgo.

Thanks,
Paul.

Hi, Paul,

I have been fitting my kids out with 'backpacking' packs for years now and the main problem I have found is finding a pack with the correct back length. How big is your boy? Some 9yr olds are almost adult (or at least small womens size). Measure his back length - the Golite site has instructions on how.
I don't know the packs you highlighted but they both have adjustable back lengths so might fit the bill. Comfort and fit are all important, so you need try them out. I'd order both and be prepared to return them if they don't fit. A bit of postage cost is worth it to get a comfortable fit, and at home you can load the them up and take your time to make a proper judgement. The design of the pockets etc. is much less important - I would only say the simpler the design the better - less to go wrong/dangle and get caught on something etc.

I have used mostly Golite (ladies small pack length) to get the right packs for my kids (-now 11 and 14 but both small). The kids say they are very comfy and I'd agree (-as a small female I have all the same issues!). Unfortunately Golite have just altered all their designs (ugh!!!!) and made it difficult to buy their gear in UK so that isn't a viable option for you. I did find one particularly useful small pack in our local army surplus store so hunting around in unlikely places can pay off.

It can be a frustrating hunt. Good luck.

For the cub camp, he won't be carrying anything far and a rucksack is not best - we have always just used the biggest holdall we have; the big opening makes finding stuff during the camp and packing (particularly at the end of the camp) easier. The bag we use is a Decathlon barrel shaped one which, for the camp this week swallowed a Fat Airic, synthetic sleeping bag, pillow and 4 days clothing, with ease.

For backpacking, how much are you going to expect him to carry? At that age, I would have thought not a lot, so you don't need anything too sophisticated. I would go for simple and light.

Thanks for the pointers - I'll measure him up. The awkward thing with judging his height as a 9yo go is that he is one of the tallest in his year at school, but also the oldest boy.

The women's pack suggestion is one made the other week when we were in Ambleside, but I didn't want to waste too much of the time in the lakes wandering round shops.

P.

Thanks Damian - the holdall option while being bloomin' obvious now pointed out hadn't occurred.

I am not going to expect him to carry much - bag, mat and a few clothes.

I think I have a large holdall in the loft. Takes the urgency off looking for something for him.

Paul.

My boy has done lots of Scout camps this spring and as Damien said carrying stuff has not been on the agenda. I replied assuming he would have a 'carry'.

I have made up his bedding in a roll, so no stuffing awkward stuff sacks, and put that in a wide mouth holdall type bag. Then his clothes and bits and pieces go in a small back pack.- easy to find and organised. It means he can manage all his gear on his own without help. His bedding roll is a bivvy bag/sleeping bag cover over his sleeping bag - keeps it clean and dry + CC mat. The other boys in his tent will just walk all over his stuff and the bivvy bag has saved on a lot of sleeping bag cleaning (and worse).

Again, Thanks. I like the idea of a readybed like method, but without any inflation. I was looking towards a CC mat for simplicity anyway. Just need to get one!

P.

Yes, you need some way of keeping stuff dry. Cubs are often bad at "tent discipline", and fields can be muddy.  

I'm a scout leader and helped out at a cub and scout camp a few weeks ago. Most of the kids had rucksacks and I noticed that many of them struggled to pack them away at the end. Those with holdall-type bags found it much easier to put things away. If you're not carrying the bag very far, a duffel bag is probably a better choice as it's easier to pack things and find items that you need.

They were also encouraged to pack their sleeping gear as a bed roll, where the mat and sleeping bag are all rolled up together. This makes it easier to set it up and should be easier to pack away. (Stuff sacks are tricky for younger children in my experience) However, the bed rolls are quite bulky and it can be harder to transport them in one piece. 

The use of a bivvy bag is a good suggestion from cathyjc - many of the cubs were a little careless in keeping things dry and clean. (Not deliberately, but just through lack of experience).

I got the Deuter climber for my son when he was 10 and he loves it, also looked at the fox but he prefered the climber pack. Very comfortable even when loaded or so he say's. Still uses it now and he's 12 going on 13.

In. addition, a bin bag for wet kit at the end of camp.

One observation, bedding rolls are quite a popular solution, however I've seen many parents make them like swiss rolls , where the waterproof layer misses the sides. This tends to fail.

They can work quite well, and I have used them with my kids, bungy cords and builders tarps cut down work OK. They have the advantage that you roll the kip mat and sleeping bag together, so don't use stuffsacs, which some kids struggle with.


A survival bag and bungies also works for a bedding roll.

Hi Paul,

if you do decide to go down the rucksack route i got my 9yr old one from decathalon-

http://www.decathlon.co.uk/arpenaz-20-green-rucksack-id_8172773.html (sorry wont do links in Opera)

it's not specifically for kids but all the straps had enough adjustment even for my slim daughter.

She wants to come wild camping with me so has been carrying her sleeping bag, spare clothes etc around on day walks and claims it's really comfy.

Our lad uses one of the Lowe Alpine marathan sacs.  He's 10 & it does as a daysac & I don't expect him to carrry a lot when backpacking.  He has a ME holdall for schools trips etc which would include cub/scout camps if we were that way inclined.

Something about packweight and kids below 16 years old. Try keep their load (especially when you start out with them) under the 10% of their body weight. Otherwise it quickly becomes no fun for them.

 When they have to carry their loads of a distance more tha 2-3 km a holdall with no proper carry system, like a normal backpack should have, is way out of scope. 

About fitting backpacks with kids that should carry some gear and such. Look for a backpack with a proper hipbelt able to transfer the weight to the hips instead of shoulders. That said make sure the back length is long enough. Load lifters should run from shoulderstrap upwards to the top of the back of the backpack. Not horizontal and certainly not downward! Thos backpacks have a too short backlength which makes that the weight is not properly transferred to the hips. The weight is then resting more (to almost 100%) on the shoulders which is not good for comfort and fun.

Take care and select the gear of your kids as if your selecting it for yourself. Don't go for cheap non-fitting or not working solutions simply because they will grow out of it quickly. It's a recipe for failure.