[kuau]

Any suggestions on what would be a good back pack to hold the following gear..
K20D with Battery Grip
pentax 12-24F4 DA
pentax 16-50 F2.8 SDM*
Pentax 50-135 F2.8 SDM*
pentax 300mm F4 SDM*
pentax 100mm F2.8

I do a lot of hiking and sometimes in the snow.

Thanks

[stgmgr]

Hi Kaua
Snow in Hawaii??? Guess those mountains go higher than I thought.................
Anyway, I recently picked up the Lowepro Mini-Trekker AW.
A great bag. Holds my K100D Super body, plus Pentax DA 18-55, DA 55-200, SMC-A 50 f1.7, a "no name" 75-300, a "no name" 28 f2.8, Pentax AF 540FGZ Flash.........with room to spare.
In addition it has a number of pockets that hold my filters, spare batteries, flashlight, cable release, etc, etc,etc.
PLUS it has a built in "weather proof" cover.
Both shoulder and waist straps.
Suggest you look into this if you can.

[stgmgr]

Forgot to add.............Internal compartments in the main body of the back pack are fully adjustable due to velcro panels.
Also holds your tri-pod externally!

[heliphoto]

I think you could fit all that in the lowepro Fastpack 350. I posted a picture of mine and described my setup in there in a blog post. For travel, it's a sweet setup, as a dedicated hiking pack, I'd look at some of the other lowepro models 'cause this pack doesn't allow too much extra gear, after filters and accessories, rain jacket, stuffable rain cover for the pack and lunch pretty much max out the pack. Also you have to improvise a good carrying technique for the tripod but it's doable.

I also plan to outfit one of my hiking packs to carry camera gear for more out-there trips where I need to carry more than camera gear and lunch. You can built pretty decent custom photo gear dividers using a cheap polyurethane sleeping pad and a hot glue gun (I've done it)... so you might want to get a mountaineering pack which suits your needs and dedicate one compartment in it to photo gear with a custom built divider.

[reeftool]

I'm another satisfied user of the Lowepro mini trekker. Its a decent size backpack and should hold your gear. I usually just bring a couple of lenses on a day hike though and use the remaining space for a lunch and a couple of water bottles. For winter hikes or ski trips its too small. I usually carry some extra clothing, a little more food. etc and use a regular hiking internal frame backpack with the camera gear packed in among the clothes.

[cajuncutter]

I have the Fastpack 350 and I have just about the same amount of gear in it. Down side to that pack is it is not weather proof. I believe there is a rain coat you can get for it but if weather proof is what you are looking for then this pack doesn't have it. Other than that I love mine.