I will soon be traveling to New Zealand again. While on the last trips I had a rental car only for a couple of days – if at all –, this time I will have one available to me for the whole six weeks. I only plan to do one longer walk, the four-day Milford Track, and maybe another two-day hike. Carrying camera equipment together with everything else you need for four days requires some thought. One-day hikes, however, are not much simpler in that respect. The questions that need to be addressed are just different ones. This post is only about the solution I currently prefer for day hikes.

Weight on a day hike is not much of a problem. The walks I will be doing will probably be up to nine hours long and will be in the mountains of the Southern Alps where – as always and anywhere in the mountains – the weather can change quickly. Regarding rain, the question usually is not “whether”, but rather “when” and “how hard”, though when you are setting out on a really good day, there is a good chance that everything will stay dry all day. There is no food available on these walks; you can get water from the streams though in most areas purification is recommended.

This means that I want to take some water along; personally, I don’t need too much water even on warm days while I am walking, as long as I can “refuel” in the evening or on the next day. For a full day, I like to take at least 1.5 liters of water with me, preferably 2 to 3. I usually also take along some sandwiches (with cheese and Marmite, e.g.), an apple or some other fruit, muesli bars and – if it’s not too warm – a chocolate bar. I also pack clothing adequate for the weather – leaving room in the backpack in case I want to take something off after a cold morning turns into a warm day, and also packing everything I need should a beautiful morning turn into a thunderstorm in the mountains in the afternoon. And, of course, a health kit would be in the pack. Plus my photography equipment.

Obviously, most photo backpacks aren’t really suited for this kind of activity. The two major concerns being the room for all the non-photo stuff as described and the way the harness is built. There are photo backpacks out there that offer enough space and also a harness that is comfortable for the loads to be carried while allowing air to circulate between you and the pack. However, none of the ones I found was quite what I was looking for – which is why I came up with my own solution.

The backpack I am using is an ordinary daypack by the German manufacturer Deuter, the particular model being called ACT Trail 24. (Update: The linked page shows a newer version of that model but still quite similar.) The back doesn’t have a mesh but is still very breathable. It has a zippered pocket on one side, and a stretch pocket on the other, two small pockets in the top lid, an included rain cover, a pocket for a hydration system and a main compartment that can be accessed from the top or the front. It is large enough for the kind of walks I am planning. Yet, the photo gear needs to go in there somehow.

My photo gear will basically consist of a Canon EOS 6D with three lenses: an EF 24mm f/2.8 IS USM, an EF 35mm f/2 IS USM and an EF 70-200mm f/4L IS USM plus some small stuff. Occasionally, I might also take along a monopod. As described in another article here, the camera will be in my hand most of the day while I am walking. One of the lenses, probably the 35mm most of the time, will be attached to it. The other lenses with their lens hoods need to go into the main compartment and will need some protection. Also, the camera and that third lens will need to go inside in certain situations, in particular in heavy rain, when the terrain gets really rough or when wading through rivers.

For each lens, I carry a LowePro Lens Case in the appropriate size (the one linked here is a newer model of a different size). Two of them will hold the two unused lenses, offering more than good protection when I just throw them into the backpack. Usually, I will also carry a Street & Field Pouch 50 AW, also by LowePro. This is no longer available but similar to the current S&F Utility Bag 100 AW. This bag can serve two different needs: I either use it to put all of the small stuff inside or to put the camera inside – without attached lens, however. This is where the third lens case comes into play. More often than not, I will just throw the camera into the backpack, maybe semi-wrapping it in a sweater or whatever soft there is in the backpack. In that case, I can just leave the third lens case at home or in the car.

This is the ultimate modular solution for me: I only take exactly those cases along that I need, resulting in minimum weight and also minimum room needed in the backpack, because the lens cases only take up marginally more room than the lenses themselves and they form no big package so that there are no unusable spaces in the backpack. You might argue that there was a problem with all the stuff flying around loosely within the backpack. However, due to the small size of the backpack that problem doesn’t exist for me. (And, in fact, even with my large backpack for multi-day tramps I use the same solution and haven’t found this to be a problem.)

The one thing still missing in this description is the monopod. That will be inserted head down into the stretch pocket and held with one of the compression straps. Often, I will not take a monopod along but rather rely on finding some rock or tree to rest my camera on or use the backpack itself as a kind over-sized bean bag.