This new Aperture from Boreas offers all-round protection for your camera gear in an internal frame backpack suitable for long-distance outdoors adventure. It promises to be more versatile and more comfortable than anything else out there.
San Francisco-based Boreas has been shaking up the backpacking backpack market over the last few years with radically simple, light and high-value designs. And design; the tiny company’s packs look far more futuristic than rivals, with bright rather than drab colours, bold graphics created by structural elements and their products solve real problems when it comes to support, comfort and ventilation for your back.
This latest pack, the Aperture, promises to be no different. It’s just designed to hold a camera body, lenses, a tripod and other accessories, all in safety from falls, accidents and weather.
The foundation for the pack is Boreas’ innovative Bootlegger modular suspension system, which can be swapped across multiple packs, meaning you only need to buy it once for potentially multiple carry options. So, with the Aperture, if you already have the Bootlegger suspension, you only need to buy the pack itself. Or, if you don’t, you can add other packs to the Aperture’s suspension in the future for less money.
The substantial, distinctive, contoured foam frame forms the lid for the pack’s camera compartment adding impact protection in that area. Lay the pack down on its back, zip it open and you see the removable and modular camera insert. This provides organisation in the pack’s main compartment and is removable, serving as a standalone over-the-shoulder camera bag or allowing you to use the Aperture as a standard 35L daypack.
Compared to other packs in the Bootlegger range, the Aperture also includes entire walls of hidden daisy chains on the outside. You can run the compression straps through them to carry a tripod, or add your own straps to carry anything else.
I love those hidden daisy chains on my Boreas Buttermilks 55. They facilitate easy, secure carry of bulky objects (like a tent) outside the pack in many different configurations, but tuck away when not in use, so they don’t snag on stuff you’re hiking past or on things inside your car when you’re dragging the pack in and out.
The pack is sized generously enough that there’s room for your laptop, a rain jacket and other essentials either for trail or city life, as well as a dedicated sleeve for a hydration bladder. That should help make it a true, one-pack solution for photographically inclined commuters or adventurers.
“Imagine you are on an adventure travel trip, you have your pack all set up for a day of shooting in the backcountry but you plan on hitting up an open street market and don’t want to carry a 35L pack,” describes the pack’s designer, Todd Wilkinson. “Simply take out the insert and throw it over your shoulder for easy transport of your gear to capture some great shots. You may also have one of your other Bootlegger packs such as the Hopper or Scrimshaw and the next day you aren’t taking any photos so you can choose to use the Aperture without the insert or throw on the Scrimshaw. Either way, the Aperture pack is very versatile for just about any activity.”
As with other recent packs from Boreas, the Aperture is available for pre-sale through Kickstarter. The company tells us its not doing this to scam investors (the pack has already exceeded its target), but rather as a way to establish the size of the order it places with its factory in Asia. The sales volume for speciality packs like this one isn’t necessarily capable of justifying a large order from the brand on speculative sales and Kickstarter provides an intermediary; customers get confidence in their spend and the brand gets confirmed buyers for when it delivers the packs.