I got a notification yesterday that Alewalds, an outdoor gear shop right next to the 13|37 office, would start their annual end-of-summer sale today.

I’ve been thinking for a while (literally years, by now, I believe) that I could do with a better rucksack for longer trips. The Lundhags rucksack I have is a solid workhorse, robust and reliable, but it’s also quite heavy. It’s an older model so I can’t find the exact specs online any more, and I’m not curious enough to go down to the basement to actually weigh it, but a similar but newer Lundhags rucksack weighs 2.7 kg. That’s a fair lot of weight to carry before I even start packing. But rucksacks are expensive, especially lightweight ones, and the Lundhags works, so I’ve been hemming and hawing. Do I really need another rucksack?

Logically knowing that I would probably find it very useful if I could make myself splurge and overcome my underbuyer tendencies, this time I decided in advance that I would go there and buy one, and not let myself postpone it because I can do without. Walked in there, tried some out, and walked home with a new rucksack from Osprey that is a whole kilogram lighter than the Lundhags, despite being the same size.

The light weight is due to a fancy (and expensive) lightweight materials, but also to the absence of everything extraneous. There are no side pockets, no inside pockets, no rain cover pockets, no dividers, no front opening. Basically it’s one large top-loaded compartment, plus a pocket in the top lid and hip pockets on the hip belt. And both the lid and the hip pockets are removable, if I want to slim it down even more.

Using this bag is going to require an entirely different approach to packing than what I’m used to. I always have a plan and a purpose for all the pockets, for things I may want to reach in a hurry – water bottle in the side pocket, knife and first aid kit in the front outside pocket, gloves and hats and sunglasses in the top lid, rain suit in the bottom compartment. Now I’m going to have to relearn.

Time to start planning for an autumn hike!