March 01, 2021
By Ross Purnell
This 25-liter workhorse is built for places way off the beaten track, anytime the weather is potentially inclement and you need extra layers, and full-day excursions where you need to carry a meal and a day’s worth of water. When you carry all that stuff, it’s easy for the fishing essentials to get lost in a mess, but Orvis has solved that problem with a main compartment with adjustable dividers you can use to separate the sandwiches from your rain jacket, and keep your fly boxes out of the mix. Top-loading backpacks are a hassle because you have to put them down to rummage around in them, but the Bug Out compartments are accessible from the sides and the top, so you can just use a single shoulder strap as a sling, slide the pack from the back to the front, and zip open the compartment you need. The pack is backward compatible, which means you can clip previous Orvis front fishing packs like the Chest pack and the Chip pack right to the shoulder straps.
For hot days or especially long hikes, the Bug Out has a mesh-covered, ridged foam back panel, and stowable hip straps.
The side water bottle holder has a drop-down kangaroo pouch that converts the bottle holder to a rod tube holder. If you skip the bottle, the pack also has a pocket for a bladder-type hydration system (or for a laptop). All of Orvis’s new packs are made from 600D Cordura ECO fabric made from 100% recycled polyester. $190 | orvis.com
