If you're planning on participating in a multi-stage race, it's likely to have a distance of 230-250km and go for 5-6 days. You'll be completing the equivalent of a marathon each day, and one day is likely to have the double distance of approximately 80km (50 miles). That's a very long time to be carrying a rucksack. So you'll want a backpack that is comfortable.

You'll also have a lot of gear to carry along, both your own choices and the mandatory gear. So you'll want a rucksack that has the right size. There is a basic rule amongst multi-stagers: you'll pack what you have space for. So don't go and get a bigger bag, because you will end up filling it up.

Besides comfort and size the third factor to consider is ease of access. You'll be out in the elements for a long time, and the basic rule for completing these events is to never stop. If you never stop, you'll be alright. So that means having food and drink easily accessible. Both so you can consume it while out on the course, and also so that you can easily grab the bottles as you enter the aid stations and have them open and ready to refill so that you waste minimal time in the aid stations. Besides food and drink you'll want easy access to your lip balm (if you're in a sunny environment), disinfectant gel for your hands, salt tablets (if you're doing a desert race), and on the back of your rucksack you'll want some place to keep your toilet paper in case you have to make a stop during the race. Nothing worse than cramming though your stuff looking for it, when you really need it. You will also want to keep your first aid kit easily reachable. When you start feeling a hot spot or a blister, it's usually best to treat it straight away (unless you're close to an aid station where medics may be able to help). But if you're not sure where your first aid kit is, or if it's hard to reach, you'll be much less likely to stop to quickly fix your feet. That may end up costing you in the long run. Finally, for night stages, you will want to be able to access your head torch. So to sum up: you'll want a backpack that has a lot of separate compartments. Some at the back and sides, but also sufficient storage space at the front for food, salt, drink, lipbalm, sun lotion.

Besides comfort, size/volume and acessibility, the fourth factor to consider is the weight of the rucksack itself. This generally is correlated to the volume and the comfort of the rucksack so just keep that in mind. Durability is also a function of the above.

If we start with comfort:

There are really two main factors to consider. The first is that the shoulder straps don't cut into your shoulders. The rucksack you'll be carrying will have anywhere between 8-12kg of weight (more on that later) and you'll be carrying it for anywhere between 5-10 hours per day, twice that on the long stage. So, while most ultra runners lean towards perfection/minimalisation of weight, keep in mind that some of the really light rucksack's such as the popular Raidlight models may not provide sufficient shoulder protection (I've also head that they tend to only last for once race, while my Ultimate Direction has now lasted me three multi-stage races). But one very cool life-hack I've seen is this: people oftentimes bring along hotel slippers to wear in camp. Seeing as their light, they're considered a good way to air your feet and walk around camp in the evening. Disclaimer, I have packed these twice and never really used them. The reason being is that their thin soles and open front provide no protection from the thorns or sharp rocks that you often times find in camps. Anyways, back to the rucksacks. The life-hack I mentioned is that people have taken tape and taped these hotel slipers to the shoulder straps of their backpacks, therefore substantially increasing the cushioning.

Besides having sufficient padding, the second factor to consider with comfort is where/how the shoulder straps cross your shoulders. They may have sharp edges or they may sit to far out on your shoulders (tyring them out more quickly) or they may sit too far inward, cutting into your neck. I really like my OMM rucksack for day to day stuff around town. But I found that when I loaded it up for long training hikes, the shoulder straps would able with the inside parts cutting into my shoulders while the outside parts of the shoulder straps would lift off from my shoulders (the contact to my shoulders therefore being entirely on the inward edge).

The third comfort factor to consider is where and how the bottom of the rucksack sits on your back. Does it have a hard edge? They often times do in order to make them more sturdy during transport and when sitting on the ground. But that sturdy edge can then dig into your back or chaffe along it....that's why you see a lot of people on multi-stage races that have taped their lower backs over and over.

The challenge with comfort is that when you're in a shop, you cannot really tell all too well how a rucksack will behave when it's loaded with weight and how it will feel after a couple of hours wear. The best bet therefore is to see whether you have friends that will lend you their rucksack for a day or two. ALternatively, read loads and loads of reviews, race reports and blogs. I ended up with my Ultimate Direction rucksack as I (a) saw a lot of people wearing them on photos, and (b) many of the blogs I had read, as well as the reviews on Amazon, were really positive.

So that's all with regards ot comfort. Next, let's talk about size, which is commonly defined in terms of litres of volume. The short: I think you should be able to complete the race with a 25L rucksack. It's been a challenge, but I've managed each time. There's a lot you can add onto the outside. You could go as high as 35L, but there is absolutely nooooo reason to ever go beyond this. Really 30L should be a max. As I said, the more space you have, the more you'll pack and the heavier your backpack will be.

You'll need to check the regulations for the race you're looking to participate in, they will state the allowed weight for your backpack. There will typically be a minimum and a maximum weight. You'll find that your food will usually make up about 50-60% of your weight. The MDS states that your backback should weight 6.5kg to 15kg. I've had 10kg the first race, 9kg the second and managed to get it to 8kg on the third. I doubt I'll be able to get it any lower. But I do feel strongly that everyone should be able to not exceed 10kg. The Racing the Planet website talks of a rule that no backback by itself should weight more than 1,5kg as a rule of thumb.

When you get to your race, you will typically stay over night in the camp with your backpack as well as your suitcase/travel bag for the first night. This allows you to acclimatize and see how cold it gets at night. The first night of a race in Kenya, everyone got up mid night and packed additional stuff from their hotel suitcase into their backpack, the same happened in the Sarah during MDS. Then on the first morning there will typically be the compulsory gear cheack. This is also where your backpack will be weighed by the race organizers.

A side note on packing your rucksack: I would recommend checking out Youtube on this. There are a couple of videos by people, I think mainly miliitary folks, who explain how to pack a rucksack. But the short of it: heavy stuff goes on top and light stuff goes at the bottom. That way you carry more on your shoulders, the weight pulls less, there is less pressure on your lower back where the backpack will rub along all day, and finally it will reduce stress on the seams of your rucksack.

So that's comfort and weight. Ease of access I have already discussed. You'll want the two bottle holders, but also enough space for all of your gels/energy bars that you will need that day. Your aim should be to minimize the time you spend in aid stations. Therefore, try and keep everything on the front or sides of your backpack. Almost all backpacks also have a mesh netting at the back. This is perfect to stuff all kind of things in. Such as rain gear. Or your head lamp. It's perfect because while out on the course, if you know where your gear is, and it's easily accessible you can ask other runners to pull items out for you. You can do the same with the team at the aid stations. Just as you don't want to sit down, you don't want to take your backpack off during the race if at all possible,

One final, smaller point that I haven't addressed yet are the straps. The shoulder straps, waist straps and other straps that let you adjust where/the height that your backpack sits on your shoulders. When I originally started training with my Beyond the ultimate backpack, I noticed that it only had a chest strap. While you can tighten this so that it transfers a decent amount of weight off of your shoulders and onto your chest, it did at first not feel as efficient as the waist straps I knew from bigger hiking rucksacks. So after a couple of weeks, I actually bought the OMM Classic 25L backpack as it had good reviews and was the only 25L model I know off that had a waist strap. Waist straps, of course, also give extra storage space. But as mentioned above, the shoulder straps on the OMM ultimately proved too uncomfortable so that I use the OMM for every day chores and for practice runs but haven't completed a race with it.

While my chosen rucksack, the Ultimate direction Fastpack 25L, does not have a waist strap, it does have straps on the side that let you adjust how the backpack sits on your back. When you tighten them, the backpack sits further on top, thereby transferring more of their weight onto your upper back where it feels lighter and also moving the backpack above your lower back where most people suffer from chaffing.

On a final note, find out whether the model you decide on comes in different sizes. By that I don't mean the volume in litres, but some come in S/M, L/XL so I assume the fitting is just different.