Sea to Summit 50L Big River Dry Backpack
We may earn commissions if you shop through the links below.
The brand-new Sea to Summit 50L Big River Dry Backpack just arrived at my door. I was excited to see it because I’ve been looking for a lightweight 40-to-50-liter portage pack for canoeing. I’ve written about my dream portage pack before. The 50L Big River Dry Backpack fits the bill.
Description
The Big River Dry Backpack is a 50-liter pack that weighs 26 ounces. It’s made of a beefy 420D nylon that’s bonded to a TPU lining. This gives the exterior good abrasion, tear and puncture protection while providing a waterproof construction. The TPU lining is bright white which makes the interior of the pack nice and bright for packing and finding gear. The pack closes with a roll-top closure that you can secure over the top or with two straps attached to daisy-chain along the side. The daisy-chains are big enough to work as grab handles, too.
The shoulder straps and waist belt are minimal. The straps are an ergonomic EVA foam with load lifters. The waistbelt is a 1.5-inch nylon webbing that’s easily removable.
It comes in two colors: black and orange. It measures 23.9 x 13.6 x 11.2 inches. and you can clean it with soap and water.
Big River Dry Backpack Initial Impressions
I quickly loaded all my camping gear (link to LighterPack if you want to see what I’m using), plus a BearVault BV500 Journey Bear Canister, which fits seven to ten days of food for a solo paddler. Even though I wasn’t careful with packing and tossed in a few extra items, everything fit with room to spare. When using lightweight backpacking gear, it’s surprising how spacious 50 liters is.
After carrying it around the house for 30 minutes I started adding weight — literally I added dumbbell weights. As I’d expect with a frameless pack, 25 to 30 pounds was at the limit without using a sleeping mattress to form a frame. I’ll experiment with this as I get more familiar with the Big River Dry Backpack. With ten days of food, I’d be somewhere near that upper limit at the start of any trip. I’d be perfectly happy with that.
The only thing that I thought was missing was an exterior water bottle sleeve, so I surfed over to Garage Grown Gear and picked up a Water Bottle Sleeve from Trekker Joe’s. It can be attached to the daisy-chains on either the shoulder straps or the side of the pack. It holds a 1-liter SmartWater bottle (link to Amazon so you can see what it looks like) that you can buy at any convenience store.
I suspect this will be my portage pack for the next couple of years, and I’m looking forward to using it more. I’ll report back after the lakes thaw.
Bryan Hansel
Bryan Hansel is a freelance writer, award-winning photographer and a former American Canoe Association L4 Open Water Coastal Kayaking Instructor. His home port is on Lake Superior in Grand Marais, Minnesota. He also teaches photography workshops.
5 Comments
Dave Willemin
I have followed your dream pack thread, Steve’s sewing attempt and now the introduction of the Big River bag.
What has your experience been with the bag? Thanks for all of your work and improvising and advocating for better, lighter paddling gear.
Bryan Hansel
I haven’t had a chance to use it in the field, yet. I’m training for a potential long distance bike ride, so I haven’t been paddling much. All my free time has been putting in miles on a bike. I hope to get a trip in in July to test it in the field. I did end up buying a shoulder water bottle pocket for it. That’ll be nice to have.
Gilles
Have you had a chance to use it yet? I was looking at it for single carry canoe portages. Was also considering the 75L which I can just not use the top space and maybe roll it down so that it is less “tall” since the 75L is wider at the bottom.
THanks!
Bryan Hansel
I’ve tested it on day trips. It’s a good pack. For my gear, the 50L is more than enough for everything I carry on solo trips. It even carries a bear canister just fine. I only do single carry portages even when paddling with my family. For solo trips, the 50L is plenty. My recommendation is to go with a pack that as close the volume as you need instead of going larger. You’ll end up with a better carrying pack.
Josh Balisteri
Looks nice. Sea to summit seems to be making ripples in many categories of gear this year. I like that it has a hip belt, I bought an NRS Bills Bag 65L a year or so ago and regret it a bit now as it doesn’t have a hip belt.