u/RevolutionaryAnt9337

A further test in the daypack switch, the Kahakka stayed outside in the rain all day. Compartment stayed all fine and dry 😎🤘

So this one’s a bit more niche - there’s a work life with its own bags (Aer, tomtoc, toshi and brand new Fyro) and there’s a deployment life where I am switching away from 5.11 and testing a Savotta Kahakka 25l setup as daybag and the attachable Askare 8l fanny/sling for Management on site (earthquake deployments / urban search and rescue work).

The daypack has all we need for 24h work/survival, but that is not carried all the time. Typically, it will stay in a truck or at the equipment staging. For management, there would be a laptop going in country but that stays in the base so there is room for an assessment bag (monocular, marking equioment, comms etc). The idea is to bundle all that stuff into its own bag, hence this sling.

Had the opportunity to test the Askare management component for one week at a festival (work never stops) and that worked really well. It is a particularly good fit for the macbook neo with a padding sleeve (called pro elife), plus iPad pro 11 with fold and magic keyboard plus ancilliary stuff. Overall weight is about 4,5 kilo.

It worked really well and the Savotta bag is super rugged yet malleable.

Not a question, not a report :) I‘ve prepaid and ordered the Fyro Citta 18l in sage. To be delivered to a friend in the US, since shipping to Europe is a no-go. I have a TP3, CPP2 that both rock, but felt like the citta would fit the tab for an overnighter work travel, it‘s not aer for a change and Aaron deserves benefit before doubt

Anyway, having to wait for half a year sure is quite a sacrifice and i do hope it is worth it!

Hi everybody, I deploy internationally to earthquakes. Moving on from 5.11, I have settled on the Kahakka 25 as day pack and the Askare for management / assessment stuff/ field tech (tablet etc) which is a great and promising project. They would be attached combined whilst on the move to and from the zone, but separate in the zone such as between Base of ops and collapse sites.

I‘ve never found a good solution for the helmet other than simply having it dangling off the backpack and that is annoying. We work with light protective helmets, so weight is not really an issue.

Thankful for any good ideas on how to solve this with this particular combination!

Nothing beats a real Munich Biergarten in Summer. Grilled Mackerel, potato salad, Weissbier (wheat beer), plus a home made Greek salad. Genuine Biergartens historically allow you to bring your own food as long as you consume their beer.

True Munich biergartens such as Hofbräukeller cropped up on the banks of the river isar with chestnut trees giving shade to the storage caves beneath. Now is the season!

For the heck of it, I took the Tomtoc Navigator 9l as my travel bag for an overnight work trip MUC-DUB, about two hours outside Dublin with travel by bus and train in country. With a good and warm weather forecast I didn‘t have to worry about rain gear which would have killed this setup.

Focus is obviously on work, with the neo for office stuff and the ipad pro 11“ and controller for the Unreal applications we program. This is actually the main use for the tomtoc, moving with the neo and ipad between home and office. For that, it is a really good sling ( I ditched the aer travel sling) for short uses. Continuous use is not so great with the lopsided strain on shoulders and back.

The tech pouches by Tasmanian Tiger are a continuous optimization process. Not a fan of big pouches, two smaller ones make for optimizes packing. For this trip, I left out the larger powerbank as well as the combined apple watch / magsafe charger. Getting there.

For clothes, a small bellroy pouch will take a branded work polo, extra base layer t-shirt (just in case it does get fresh) and extra briefs. No packing cubes. As this might have to come out of the bag at the meeting. Mid/top layer is a Patagonia long sleeve. The dopp kit is barebones, using a plastic Lufthansa giveaway. Note the home made mini deodorant 😊

Ancilliary stuff includes an umbrella (because Ireland), glasses, Manta Sleeping mask, emergency pouch ( meds, surgical gloves, whistle etc), and a few more items.

The tomtoc works well (especially after blacking out the logo) and makes onebagging even more fun. Would be nice if it had a bottle holder.

Bag itself is packed quite tight with a book and long sleeve. This will likely be a one off, but I think it has taught me I can go down to 16-18l for a 2-4 night trip, for which my CPP2 24l is too large. Looking at the 18l Fyro Citta.

Time to say goodbye

Working out of a hotel in Chile for a few days

So I deployed to the earthquake in Venezuela with my field loadout, 5.11 Rush 72 (rethinking that one, different story) and an 5.11 SOMS that is starting to falling apart - as it is 8kg empty, makes no sense to use it for anything else. That takes all my field stuff, helmet, boots, sleeping bag etc.

Anyway, team went home with my SOMS and I stayed behind with the Rush 72 and in need of a personal item as it is way too large for EDC. Found a Cat Benali Backpack in a Caracas shopping mall, as it seemed a good size (use a Aer CPP2 for normal travel) as a EDC/ daypack for tech stuffe plus rain jacket, jumper, water bottles.

It’s actually quite a decent backpack, I’ll definitely keep it as a semi-packable when the CPP will be too bulky. Only issue was the lack of extra compartment for the laptop, but I get that it was not designed for that. It’s quite simplistic, with a single thin front pocket and two water bottle mesh side pockets that will take around 1l bottles.

Material is durable yet soft. Zippers work a breeze, overall feel is of good quality. Straps are well padded, the back is not super breathable. Obviously it has no solid elements, but then at 400g that is a good compromise for its purpose. Is awkward if no laptop up against back and stuffed.

Not a bag I otherwise would have purchased in normal life - but definitely a shout out if you are looking at something in the temp/ light /personal item category.

(Pic of 5.11. Bags altered to anonymise)

So many trees!

Started October last year, results in the pic above. Thought I‘d restrict myself to 5 takeaways, although I have a lot more to tell :-)

- look at the chart. it‘s great. Still a way to go for the goal, don‘t know whether I‘ll ever reach it, but really - stoked. Always been active, but climbing stairs is where it really feels different, so much easier. Biggest loss: Blood pressure! Down to 120/80 from 140/100.
- you learn to live with it. The two days after jab day mean queasiness and other discomfort. Sometimes more, sometime less. Digestion and passing can be more of a strain. Initial weeks on 2,5 were tough. Now on 15, much better
- so much more aware of food intake. Not full veggie, but almost zero meat intake. Chew long, small bites. Never too much too quickly, otherwise a really bad night with aching belly incoming. Seriously cutting down on alcohol intake was easy
- libido does down, sadly
- as of now, no exit strategy. Still 6-9 months to go on the jabs, but pretty sure I won‘t be able to go off completely. Perhaps pills at a lower dosage, also meaning it will be more evenly spread than a weekly dose

…quality of life is so much better. All worth it!
Would I recommend it - of course!

There used to be Macbook Pro M5 there for video editing. That‘s gone, working off an iPad Pro now. In comes neo, let‘s see what the setup will end up with

Sidecar active on the iPad, bazillions of presentations open, all of it a breeze for the neo. Second iPad for note taking