If you’ve read my review of the Vango Zetes 300 tent, you’ll know I recently got back into camping and spent my first trip living out of my 20 year old rucksack! That rucksack had been through a lot with me over the years, camping, hiking, plane flights and even a soaking during a storage locker leak onboard a sailing schooner! To be honest, it was falling apart at the seams, so if I was going to make a habit of this camping lark, I needed a new one. Vango sent me the Sherpa 60+10 to trial and whilst it looked good on paper, it had a lot to live up to if it was going to replace my old one!

The Sherpa comes in the same colours as the current tent range, so you can have a matching set. The one I received was in the Ensign/Bluebell colour scheme (sadly the tent supplied was in the Excalibur/Black scheme so I was a little mismatched).

At first sight it looked worryingly smaller than the one it was replacing, but as I checked out the compartments and pockets I realised it was just much more compactly designed, and became confident everything was going to fit.

As its name suggests this rucksack comes with a 60L main compartment and a 10L lower one. These can each be accessed independently, so that you can get kit out of the lower part without needing to open the lid. This is very handy for getting your sleeping bag out without rummaging through your clothes (at least it is if you pack your rucksack properly *oops*).

There are a selection of additional zipped pockets on the front, sides and back, giving plenty of easy access storage for the regularly used items, plus 2 side elasticated pockets for water bottles etc. There are also the usual fastening points on the lid for attaching a sleeping mat or the like to the top, and handily Vango have included a pair of webbing straps to use with them. Helpfully there’s also a side carrying handle, allowing you to carry the rucksack like a suitcase rather than on your back – very useful for getting on and off trains!

In case of inclement weather, there is a detachable, bright orange, rain cover inside one of the lid pockets, shower proof for sure, but perhaps not entirely perfect for a full on downpour! Also, in case of emergency, Vango have included a built in whistle on the clip of the chest strap.

The straps and waist belt were all well padded, very comfortable to wear and super adjustable for length. This comfort is aided by Vango’s self adjust carry system, which provides a myriad of strap adjustments to really tailor it to your own body shape. I managed to make it fairly comfortable by this method, but being only 5ft tall I never quite got it perfect. However all is not lost, Vango also do the Sherpa 60+10 in a Short Back Length version – big thumbs up Vango!

Empty, it’s a very easy to handle 2.5kg – as someone that remembers struggling with external metal framed rucksacks as a child, I appreciate the lightness of it! With the good strap system, it is still extremely comfortable when fully laden.

My only slight issue was with the lid clasps. They seemed too easy to ‘slip’ out of line when being closed, which led to big struggles when trying to get the top compartment open. This is more of an irritant than a major problem, but a shame to find on an otherwise perfect bag.

Overall there is nothing to fault on this system in terms of capacity, weight and storage flexibility, I’m happy to recommend it to anyone.

RRP: £65 - Available online from Amazon and many other retailers.

See www.vango.co.uk/rucsacs for more information.