"So you backpack?" the woman asked.She was eyeing my pack which was in the back of the truck splayed out like a big dead fish.

(I know, I know what you're thinking. Didn't someone steal your last pack from the back of your truck? Didn't you learn anything? The answer of course, is yes, and no. I learned you can leave your pack in the back of the truck, just as long as you sit in the restaurant window, so you can keep an eye on the pack. Of course, if the waitress is good looking, all bets are off.)

"I carry a lot of stuff," I told the woman.

"I guess so," she said.

When the last pack was stolen, I went to several stores and looked at new packs. I almost bought a pack that looked like it was really well made, but it had some dirt on it and it was an ugly silver, like a space suit.

The pack looked like someone had worn it to the moon and then thrown it back on the rack. I asked the guy who was trying to sell it to me for a discount and he said it already was discounted because it was ugly and it was dirty and the store was only making something like $5 on the pack as it was.

So I went to a different store and then a different store and toyed with the salespeople. They'd get me all fitted with a pack and I'd look at them and they'd look at me.

"Go ahead," they'd say, "walk around a little in it."

So I'd take a walk over to the sleeping bags or the Gore-Tex coats or the shoes and then I'd look at them.

And they'd look at me.

And then I'd ask something stupid, like "Don't you think it makes me look fat?" or "What do you have in space suit silver?" or "$350? Crap, if I throw this pack in my truck the value of the rig will double."

That sort of thing. Drove them nuts.

I finally got serious when the weather turned ever so slightly nice in March. I settled on a pack that was about the twice the size of the old one.

The old one would hold all the necessary camera gear and four snickers bars.

The new will hold every piece of camera I own, plus a tent, sleeping bag, lawn chair, lunch for four and a checkered tablecloth to eat it on.

Yep, I went a little overboard.

The salesman was no nonsense. He showed me all the cool features of one brand of pack.

We spent like an hour trying it on and loading it with stuff and then after all of that I tried on one other pack. That pack was more comfortable and cheaper and I bought it instead. Took like two seconds.

It was fun watching all the blood drain out of the salesman's face.

I still paid a pretty good penny for it. I won't say how much, but in all honesty, I don't leave it in the back of the truck unattended like I did the old one.

It is comfortable and it will hold everything, which is good and bad. Folks warned me about a pack like this. They said things like, "don't buy a pack that will hold everything."

I asked why and they said, "because you'll put everything in it."

This is true.

But I'm getting used to the weight. The pack does a good job of putting the weight at your hips. The old one stuck it all on your shoulders. That makes a big difference when lugging stuff around. It's one thing to have sore legs. It's another to have back spasms.

And I like the fact that if I want to take any lens I can.

With the old pack, you had to make compromises between lenses lunch and water.

This is a no compromise pack. So I plan to keep an eye it. I promise.

Chris Peterson is the editor of the Hungry Horse News.