It looks like some of the places I may be able to fly will require me walking to the site with my gear, which means a dedicated backpack is going to be a must. It will also double up as equipment storage when back home because space is a bit tight so it would mean I can just leave everything in the backpack when I'm not flying. I definitely need something with dedicated compartments / areas that will properly protect the transmitter and goggles with enough room for all the other stuff including more than one quad because I will certainly be building more in the future.

I've looked at some of the cheapo backpacks but none of them really float my boat because I'm a gadgets person so something that looks good with loads of pockets and hidey holes, or anything else remotely interesting on it is the sort of thing that will keep me happy 

Although all fairly pricey, the ones I've been mostly drawn towards are:-

1. Torvol Quad Pitstop Backpack Pro (or possibly the smaller non-pro version)
   
2. Lowepro QuadGuard BP X3 (or possibly the smaller BP X2 version)
   
3. Betaflight Hive
   
4. Think Tank FPV Session
   

There are plenty of reviews of all of these all over YouTube. I only recently discovered the Torvol and I think it's my favourite so far because it has some quite innovative features and it seems a little different (and less common) than the rest, but of course it goes without saying that it's also the most expensive of the bunch.

I'm just wondering what other people are currently using and/or recommending.

This is a bit of an old thread but I thought I'd post back with the decision I ended up making, which is that I went with the Torvol Quad Pitstop Backpack Pro. I purchased it back at the end of September last year so I've had it for around 5 months now. It really is a top quality bit of kit and I have to say that I absolutely love it  If anyone is in the market for a premium backpack that is purposely designed to carry quads and FPV equipment then I can highly recommend it.

I only recently got round to registering it on the Torvol website and when you do that, they send you a "Pilot Tag" with a name printed on it of your choice which you insert into a dedicated slot in a panel on the front of the backpack. It's not really a necessity, but I think it's a nice touch for a product that you've paid a premium for. I was half expecting some kind of plastic insert to arrive, but what I received was a really nice 3D profiled rubber strip which means that it fits perfectly in the slot with the name part protruding so it lies flush with the material on the front panel. Nice job Torvol 

       

That looks great!
I have been using the Hobbyking multistar for 3-4 years now and love it. Costed me $70 back then.
It's one of the biggest in term of volume and it's barely enough for my gears

When you first did this post, Snow, I didn't think I would need a backpack.  

But now that I'm flying in the mountains more, although I can drive there, a recovery operation might necessitate a backpack to bring the downed quad out of the wilderness, and it could be quite the hike.    

Also, we love to mountain bike the in mountains and I have started think bringing a some of the FPV basics with me on a mt. bike to fly where I might not normally fly could be fun.

One key component for a recovery or for mt biking, a hydration pack in the backpack would be completely necessary.  In all your searching Snow, did you ever come across a pack that had a hydration system?  I figured I would ask you first, since you have looked a lot so far, and know kind of what the market has.

(10-Feb-2019, 12:29 PM)Oscar Wrote: I have been using the Hobbyking multistar for 3-4 years now and love it. Costed me $70 back then.
It's one of the biggest in term of volume and it's barely enough for my gears

Of the cheaper range of backpacks I looked at, that is one I never came across for some reason. Not sure why. Most of the other ones seemed to leave a lot to be desired but that one certainly looks to be fairly substantial. And they still sell it. And it is still only around $70 four years later

https://hobbyking.com/en_us/multistar-pr...kpack.html

The one thing I don't like about HobbyKing is that even if you choose an EU warehouse and select prices to be shown in GBP, at checkout they still charge you in dollars, so any non-US customers get stung with a foreign currency transaction charge and then whatever poor rate their credit card company uses on top of that

(10-Feb-2019, 02:05 PM)Krohsis Wrote: When you first did this post, Snow, I didn't think I would need a backpack.  

But now that I'm flying in the mountains more, although I can drive there, a recovery operation might necessitate a backpack to bring the downed quad out of the wilderness, and it could be quite the hike.    

Also, we love to mountain bike the in mountains and I have started think bringing a some of the FPV basics with me on a mt. bike to fly where I might not normally fly could be fun.

One key component for a recovery or for mt biking, a hydration pack in the backpack would be completely necessary.  In all your searching Snow, did you ever come across a pack that had a hydration system?  I figured I would ask you first, since you have looked a lot so far, and know kind of what the market has.

I wasn't really looking for hydration equipped backpacks but I think I do remember coming across a few during my research, although IIRC they were geared more towards the camera type drones where everything needs to go inside the backpack. I don't recall seeing any that allowed camera drone backpacks that allowed you to strap anything to the outside. I guess your LR quads probably aren't going to fit inside any of the backpacks so you are going to need something with external fixing points that you can attached straps or elastic cord to.

(10-Feb-2019, 06:47 PM)SnowLeopardFPV Wrote: I wasn't really looking for hydration equipped backpacks but I think I do remember coming across a few during my research, although IIRC they were geared more towards the camera type drones where everything needs to go inside the backpack. I don't recall seeing any that allowed camera drone backpacks that allowed you to strap anything to the outside. I guess your LR quads probably aren't going to fit inside any of the backpacks so you are going to need something with external fixing points that you can attached straps or elastic cord to.

Here's one (the Lowepro DroneGuard BP 200) but like I said, no facility to strap a quad to the outside unfortunately...

https://www.lowepro.com/us-en/droneguard...p37098-pww

  

(10-Feb-2019, 06:58 PM)SnowLeopardFPV Wrote: Here's one (the Lowepro DroneGuard BP 200) but like I said, no facility to strap a quad to the outside unfortunately...

https://www.lowepro.com/us-en/droneguard...p37098-pww

  

Thanks Snow!  Yeah, I have just begun the search and figured you likely had seen it all in your quest.  I definitely want the quad outside.  None of the manufacturers that we have dealt with in the outdoor world have anything that will work.  I'm hopeful some of the military styled stuff with Molle attachment might be the way to go.  Then my wife can maybe make any attachments that are more for quads.   We will see.....

(10-Feb-2019, 07:16 PM)Krohsis Wrote: Thanks Snow!  Yeah, I have just begun the search and figured you likely had seen it all in your quest.  I definitely want the quad outside.  None of the manufacturers that we have dealt with in the outdoor world have anything that will work.  I'm hopeful some of the military styled stuff with Molle attachment might be the way to go.  Then my wife can maybe make any attachments that are more for quads.   We will see.....

Looking at the details of that Lowepro Backpack again I just realised it doesn't actually appear to come with built-in hydration. It is just marketed that way. It states that it has a laptop pocket that you can put your own hydration bladder into. So on that line of thought, you can effectively get any backpack you want that is suitable for strapping quads to the outside of and which has a laptop pocket, then just put your own hydration bladder into it

There are a ton to choose from. Examples at the link below. You would just need to get a bladder that has similar dimensions to the laptop pocket in whatever backpack you were to get.

https://www.amazon.com/s?k=hydration+bladder

(10-Feb-2019, 09:07 PM)SnowLeopardFPV Wrote: Looking at the details of that Lowepro Backpack again I just realised it doesn't actually appear to come with built-in hydration. It is just marketed that way. It states that it has a laptop pocket that you can put your own hydration bladder into. So on that line of thought, you can effectively get any backpack you want that is suitable for strapping quads to the outside of and which has a laptop pocket, then just put your own hydration bladder into it

There are a ton to choose from. Examples at the link below. You would just need to get a bladder that has similar dimensions to the laptop pocket in whatever backpack you were to get.

https://www.amazon.com/s?k=hydration+bladder

Good point.....I tend to find a product that is superior for an activity and want to make that work for the next activity.  That doesn't necessarily shoehorn into the same package.....

(10-Feb-2019, 10:43 PM)Krohsis Wrote: Good point.....I tend to find a product that is superior for an activity and want to make that work for the next activity.  That doesn't necessarily shoehorn into the same package.....

That's how I ended up using a skateboarding bag for my quads. It works pretty well, although now I have a prop transmitter case that's taking up a tonne more space.

Another pretty cool backpack just reviewed by Justin called the Chair-Pak (video link at the bottom, of this post). Looks really versatile with a built in chair which is perfect for FPV if you don't like standing when flying.

https://chairpak.com

 

This is a great thread.

I've been using this repurposed messenger bag which has worked great back when I flew 3" mostly and didn't have this Byte Frost groundstation to deal with. Now that messenger bag is really pushing its limits.

I had initially gravitated to the freestyle lunchbox style Torvol bag but figured if I'm going to drop that kind of cash, might as well be the Pitstop. But the Pro version seems a bit too much cash for my comfort level. I can't find any videos other than Torvol's of the non-Pro Pitstop version. Is it just a smaller version of the Pro? Anyone actually own the non-Pro version?

That personalization is pretty sweet though. But I think they only do that if you order direct. Too bad they don't seem to ship to the U.S. though.

One bag to add. I use an Amazon large SLR camera backpack.

https://www.google.com/url?sa=t&source=w...wg3S7s-irn

(02-Jan-2020, 08:44 PM)the.ronin Wrote: I had initially gravitated to the freestyle lunchbox style Torvol bag but figured if I'm going to drop that kind of cash, might as well be the Pitstop.  But the Pro version seems a bit too much cash for my comfort level.  I can't find any videos other than Torvol's of the non-Pro Pitstop version.  Is it just a smaller version of the Pro?  Anyone actually own the non-Pro version?

That personalization is pretty sweet though.  But I think they only do that if you order direct.  Too bad they don't seem to ship to the U.S. though.

I really love my Torvol Pitstop Pro backpack and I'm glad I bought it, but as you say it's a serious amount of cash to shell out for a backpack when there are quite a few other far more affordable options on the market. At the time I ordered it, it was one of those cases of "just close your eyes and click the buy-it-now button" then worry about whether or not I made the right decision later on. I'm not sure if it's really worth the cash I paid for it, but I have it now and it's money long gone and forgotten about. Torvol are based in the Netherlands and I got mine from an authorised UK reseller so I didn't have to worry about any extortionate international shipping charges. I only had to pay local postage rates.

As for the rubberised pilot tag that fits into the special pocket on the back, you get that after you've taken delivery of the backpack and you then register your purchase with Torvol. When you register a Pitstop Pro backpack via their online portal, the registration form asks you to upload a proof-of-purchase receipt and there is a box to enter your desired pilot tag (18 characters max) and a delivery address. They then send you the thick rubberised tag with your pilot tag printed on it which just slides into the special backpack pocket. This is sent free-of-charge, although you could probably argue that they built the cost of it into the price of the backpack itself. It's obviously totally unnecessary for hobbyists, but it's quite a nice touch. I think they did it for racers who all turn up to races with the same Torvol backpacks, so they know immediately which one is theirs.

My only complaint (now, not back then) is that with all the sections fitted inside the backpack and filled with flying session "stuff", it's difficult to put a quad inside the actual backpack itself. Anything above 3" is really designed to be hung off the back. While back then I didn't care and actually wanted to show off my quads to the world as I walked down the street, today it's a different story, and with so many drone haters around I feel that concealing the quad inside an inconspicuous looking backpack is probably now a better and more sensible option so as not to draw any unwanted attention.