Haversacks / Trekking and Hiking Bags

Almost all treks in the Sahyadris are of short duration taking a maximum of 2 or 3 days to complete. So you need a medium sized sack for your trek. It should neither be  too big nor  too small. It should be sturdy and rough and tough for the terrain of the Sahyadris. If you are planning monsoon treks, it’s not compulsory to take a waterproof bag, but you can get an external waterproof cover for your sack. Your sack should be enough big to hold all your important things which are required for trekking.

When you are buying it, be sure to check that it feels comfortable on the shoulders and backbone. The shoulder belt of your sack should be thick enough so that the weight is equally distributed across your shoulders to ensure proper weight balancing. The bag should be cushioned so that your backbone will be protected and comfortable. It’s better if you have 4-5 side pockets and top pockets in your sack. These help a lot to keep small things which may get mixed up or make a mess inside the main section of the sack. Try to buy such sacks which have side pockets to hold your big water bottles; this will help you get more storage inside the main section.

A good sack with perfect cushioning should not cost more than 1500 Rs. After buying your sack, you can make it extra tough by having it re-stitched along the joints. This will ensure the long life of your sack.

You can get good sacks in Mumbai. You can try some of these places :

• Outside Crawford market (CST / VT) there are some bag shops which stock trekking sacks.
• Adventure 18 gear store, Grant Road West (Behind Bhatia Hospital)
• You can  also try shopping malls,  foe example,  I have seen sacks being sold at Hypercity Mall (Goregaon – Malad link road)