Deuter Giga Pro – The Perfect Weekend Bug-Out Bag

The bug-out bag ... because sometimes you find yourself in need of a quick getaway.

For the professional, that might just be a quick overnight business trip.  For the romantic, maybe you’re surprising your sweetheart with a weekend at a bed and breakfast. An artistic adventurer might just be driving out to wherever they can find dark skies for a night of shooting the Milky Way.

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You need a bag that can comfortably carry the clothes, accessories, electronics, snacks, and cameras that you’ll want to take with you.  But you don’t necessarily need a bag with a frame.  After all, maybe you’ll need to fit your bag under the seat in front of you on a small plane.

Stows under the seat of a small plane

Don’t worry. Deuter still has you covered.

My need for a bug out bag was one of the most exciting and personal events of my life: The recent birth of my Daughter, Whitney.

As the end of my wife’s pregnancy and the big day approached, I knew I had to have a bag packed, waiting by the door, and ready to go at a moment's notice. (I would not advise waiting until your wife is in labor to start thinking about what you need to take with you …). I needed a bag big enough to carry everything that we might need during a few days stay at the hospital: clothes, toiletries, phones, tablets, cameras, chargers, batteries, snacks, etc.  But I also needed the bag to be compact and easily stowed.  Hospital rooms aren’t typically spacious.

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I chose the Deuter Giga Pro.

With 31 liters of capacity, it had plenty of room to carry everything I needed while staying soft, unobtrusive and easily tucked away in a corner. Clothes and bulky items were easily contained in the spacious folder-sized main compartment. The laptop slot comes with a padded 15" laptop bag that safely carried my laptop and an iPad. And the large front pocket is designed with an organizer for accessories. Believe me, when I was mildly freaking out with my wife in labor and trying to find that iPhone charger while my family and friends called and texted my battery into oblivion, I appreciated having everything pre-organized in my bug-out bag. Another small but appreciated touch is the detachable key holder. I personally have a really bad habit of losing my keys in the most incomprehensible ways, so if I'm going to be staying somewhere for a couple of days, I like to have a designated spot to clip my keys and not have to worry about them. It would have been super embarrassing to have to call a locksmith to get my wife and newborn back into our home.

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When the time came, the bag I had chosen performed perfectly.  Even though we ended up at the hospital far longer than originally planned (my wife was in labor for a total of 74 hours that ended with the perfect and healthy birth of our beautiful baby girl) we had all of the personal items that we needed in a well-organized bag.  And thank god, this time, I didn’t lose my keys.

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