I don’t often write about gear, but I do have an opinion.  I have always been very particular as to what gear we use on our Camptown programs.  The reason is that we are very hard on gear, so it needs to be durable.  We are also working with first time adventurers who need the gear they use to be easy to understand.  There are certain things I look for in a piece of gear durability, functionality, features, and fit.  I want to mention my all time favorite day back, the Bungalow by LL Bean.  It is now discontinued but it still continues to be a favorite in my household.  I have had my Bungalow now for about 5 years.  Other than a few scrapes from getting drug through a cave, it continues to do the job.  Features include: a roomy main compartment large enough for our group med kit, my extra clothing, and room for my lunch, an easy accessible top pocket, two water bottle holders that you don’t have to wrestle with to retrieve your bottles, built in rain fly that is easy to get to when the time comes, a hip belt with coin pocket, and a whistle built into the sternum strap buckle.  This was a top rated pack for years.  I liked mine so much I bought my wife one.  I wanted to get one for my daughter when I found out it had been discontinued.  Please bring back the Bungalow.