buying a suitable backpack

[Bob Spenger]

Note of caution - If you are from the U.S., bring your ziplocks from home. I have
not found them in Europe. I talked to a couple of German pilgrims about this and
was told that, although they were familiar with ziplocks from commercial
packaging, they had not seen them available for direct purchase. All three of us
wondered why there hasn't been a rush to market them in Europe, since they would
probably sell very well. Perhaps the situation has changed in the six months since
I had that conversation.

regards,

Bob Spenger

Richard Willey wrote:

> Here is a helpful hint regarding packing for any kind of trip.
> Ziplock bags are your friend.
>
> I purchased a box of the large ziplocks.
> Almost all of my gear ended up divided into a large number of separate bags.
>
> This served three crucial purposes:
>
> First, the ziplocks can't be beat for waterproofing.  No matter what happens to
> your bag, the actual gear stays clean.
>
> Second, the ziplocks make packing/unpacking much easier.
> After folding a bunch of stuff into a bag, suckout all of the air prior to
> sealing it up.  This does a remarkably good job of compressing your gear down
> to the minimum space necessary.
>
> Third, my gear tended to get rather rank.  Being able to isolate some of the
> more "nasty" dirty clothes until I could hit a real laundry was very much
> appreciated at some points during the trip.