I have been happily using Fjallraven clothing for several years, so when I began looking for a smaller bushcraft rucksack, Fjallraven seemed an obvious choice. So just over a year ago, I bought the Fjallraven Singi 28 rucksack and have been using it on a weekly basis since. It has since become my go-to bag for days in the woods whether practicing bushcraft or doing woodland management work.
The first reason why I chose the Singi was the durable construction, the pack is very minimally designed without many loops or mesh covered pockets to rip or tear and additionally the majority of the pack is made out of variations of G1000 which from experience I already knew to be incredibly rugged. I also particularly liked the idea of a front opening pack that I could quickly and easily access every area of the pack. However, remembering to use this properly has taken some time and if you overload the lid pocket and just want to get something out of the top quickly it does flop around a bit. Nevertheless, if you like to pack bags precisely and have everything accessible the front opening is a very nice feature.
The Singi doesn’t have any dedicated side pockets for water bottles, so if you want to carry a bottle on the side you will have to buy one of the pockets or gear holders for the side. Adding pockets to the side adds a substantial amount of space, easily fitting a 1 litre bottle with space to spare. The drawback there is that water is not easily accessible when on the move. However, if that is a concern you can just fit a water bladder on the inside.
The harness itself is also bare bones minimal, with no height adjustment and just the usual waist and shoulder strap adjustments, nevertheless, that means that there are very few moving parts to break or malfunction (unless you happen to shut a buckle into a rapidly closing car boot…). The suspension is overall very comfortable and as I don’t tend to use the pack for massively long hikes, I haven’t noticed any particular lack in ventilation over rucksacks with tensioned mesh back panels.
So far this pack has taken over a year of abuse and encounters with brambles, blackthorn and hawthorn with out even blinking, although, this durability comes with a pretty large trade-off; weight. This is not a light pack, weighing over 300g more than an equivalent dedicated hiking pack like the Osprey Talon 33. So if you are looking for a hiking daypack to carry over multiple miles and hills, with quick access to water and hiking poles and good ventilation to avoid a sweaty back, this isn’t it. However, if you are looking for something to carry your basic bushcraft kit to the woods and back on a day outing and you want something that can be dragged through a pine forest backwards, this might just be the pack for you.
To get a better look at the pack, check out my video review below.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rhnjexiHoII&feature=youtu.be
All of the clothes and equipment I review are products that I have bought myself and used for at least 6 months. I believe in making reviews that reflect real-world use of the kit and not just an overview of the features, as such I will not pretend any item is perfect and I will endeavour to give you my honest opinion based on personal experience.