Anybody using these for your robot?
I have carried my old robots in a standard total station back pack with a little modification. Just wondering if it is worth the extra $100 to get the bigger one with the frame.
I'm not a real fan of my backpack. It's the SECO frame pack. It's horribly uncomfortable. The frame digs into my lower back because the load is so unbalanced (out of necessity). But it hauls everything well.
We use a seco backpack for our Nikon NPL. It's a smaller gun, and I'm sure lighter than the robot, but way more convienent than the gun case. Nice on the long hikes in. I would tend to think you'd want a beefier case for the robot.
Get the top load case too, the front loading ones scare me.
-V
Agree with the top load. We used some front loaders once and had several guns dropped due to the "seatbelt" not being fastened.One of the worst designs of anything I've ever seen. I've been using the Seco top load for over a decade now. It's a little tatty now, but works great. I don't think I've ever carried with both straps on my shoulders. One strap slung over the shoulder works good. Good pockets for radio, 3 topcon batteries, a prism adapter and a piece of glass. You can slip a set of plans in the padding behind the gun. The pack is also hi-viz so I set it a little ways up-traffic if I'm close to the road as a warning cone.
I think it's worth the money.
We use the one with the frame for our robot and I'm not sure it's really all that much better. It doesn't have enough foam in it, IMO. We had to put an extra piece in there to snug it up a bit. There's way more room to carry stuff in the pockets though, which used to be handy when we had to deal with external radios, not really such a big deal now though.
Pros: Large enough to comfortably carry lots of gear.
Pockets are nicely laid out and having a frame adds a sense of security to the operation.
Cons: The instrument area is cavernous which means that unless you add more padding the gun will rock around in there.
The top flap needs to be zippered shut to secure the gun, on the regular back packs securing the top handle is enough to keep the gun in the bag. I strongly prefer a one step operation to close a box.
The pads are not secured very well and without some modification will quickly start to bend over on themselves, causing the need to adjust every time you put the gun in the bag.
Can not stand or sit on it like a hard-case back pack.
The vertical elements of the frame extend beyond the top of the bag and snag on obstacles as you travel along. This is the biggest con in day to day use in my opinion.
Have been using one for 5 years now, will buy another when I need to replace it. Ditto all that JB said.
I am a fan of the backpacks. However, you really need to add padding to the inside.
From a repair standpoint we generally see instruments more out of calibration when they have been stored in a backpack opposed to keeping them in the cases.