Spike has finally given up the ghost and had to be retired. 15 years of service and 3 replacements later, my Karrimor Spike 20ltr rucksac has outlived it’s usefulness, so I’ve swapped it for one of these.  Little bit smaller than the previous at 15ltr, but with the modern lightweight gear you don’t need as much room any way.  Plus it’s got built in water, not exactly a new innovation I know, but it’s new to me…

The scalpel will be out later as I trim various bits of tat off, redundant labels, unnecessary grab handles and that perennial annoyance of new bags of mine, stupidly long zip pulls.  All my bags go thru this process shortly after purchase, not because I’m trying to lighten them, I just hate stuff flapping around in the breeze.

The only other niggle I’ve got with it so far is the bladder is a bit rustly, but that can probably be cured with the purchase of a non rustly version.  The only problem with replacing the Spike is it’s made me realise that my aging Osprey Eclipse 32, which was always more of an alpine sports bag, could do with swapping out as well.  Could get expensive…