The Stratos 65 Litre Rucksack

Previously when we've been camping, we've struggled to pack our clothes in a useful way.  With limited room in the car because of the tent and camping equipment it's essential we pack clothing for the three of us in the most space effective way and taking a rucksack or bag each is not ideal.  It also results in having to find floor space in the bedroom pods for 3 separate bags.

We were sent the Stratos rucksack from Trespass to try out and it's solved our problem.  This thing is HUGE!  With it's whopping 65 litre capacity it can easily fit in clothing for a 3 night camp for the 3 of us, and it's handy pockets and compartments mean that things like toiletries are easy to locate - a huge bonus when you're fumbling around in the tent at dusk.

We've found at some camp sites you can't park right by your pitch, so having everything all in one bag makes transporting it from the car much easier and saves making lots of trips.

It's also going to be ideal this summer for day-long hikes, meaning we can take our waterproofs, first aid kit, a change of clothes, water, maps and lunch out with us all in one bag.  As a keen outdoor swimmer, the Old Man often takes towels, goggles and a hot flask out with us too and there's plenty of room for everything.  The pockets are really useful when out on hikes, the mesh external pockets hold our drinks keeping them easily accessible, and we can keep other essentials easy to reach in the numerous zipped sections.

Even when fully loaded, its comfortable to carry due to it's supportive and padded back system and padded shoulder straps.  The large padded sections in the small of the back prevent it rubbing and are a great feature - although Ruby thinks it makes it look a bit like a Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtle!

The waist and chest straps help with the support and keep everything safe and secure.

The rucksack comes in a choice of colours - black like we chose, or a vibrant sunflower yellow with flint grey or pea pod green with flint grey which are much more stand-out colours and from a safety perspective much easier to spot if out hiking or in a crowd.

Although the rucksack isn't waterproof, it does come complete with it's own rain cover, tucked away in one of the pockets, and it can be popped on quickly and easily in the event of a sudden downpour - I think this is going to be very handy on our trips to the Welsh mountains!

The fabric is very strong and feels like it's going to be super durable - I hope this is going to be a rucksack that lasts us for years and sees many adventures with us.

My only negative is that although there's some adjustment in the straps, it does still sit up very high on the back, but I guess that's just because it's such a large capacity backpack.  Overall we're really impressed with it.

Disclosure:

We were sent to Stratos 65 litre rucksack for the purposes of this review.  All opinions are my own.