What's the most comfortable way to travel with 2 backpacks or bags and a DSLR camera?

I clip the daypack to one of the main straps of the main pack with a karabina or two.
That way you have both hands free, can walk normally with it to your side, can unclip and reclip easily and the weight goes to the hips. Has worked for me for two year and one year trips plus numerous month long trips.

I travel with a Vaude Brenta 34L lightweight backpack and an Exped Cloudburst Drypack (which fits inside the rucksack when travelling by bus etc)

I used a Crumpler banana hammock to protect my D800 from the worst knocks, and either kept it in the daypack (if I was mooching round a city), in the lid of my rucksack (if I was travelling long distances, between hostels etc) or clipped to the front of my rucksack if I was hiking in the countryside and needed quick access.

Quite often, I’d just carry it in my hand, with the neck strap wrapped round my palm.

I used black linen tape on the DSLR to mask off any shiny, glossy features, and then covered the whole thing with scraps of duct/masking tape.

I never had any trouble, even in favelas in Salvador, Bahia. If you’re aware/sensible/alert then you won’t, either.

Osprey and Deuter make backpacks that have a detachable daypack. I have the 55L Osprey Farpoint, and it should fit all of your needs. I’ve taken it on flights as carry-on, and no one’s ever stopped me. Detach the smaller daypack before you put it in the overhead cabin, so it fits better. If they make you check in your bag, you can put your camera and other valuables in the daypack for carry-on. For more security, you can use two TSA locks on the zippers when you’re walking to the hostel or the train station.

The simple answer: Don’t travel with two backpacks.

I could never understand why people do that to themselves. My standard road bag is about the size of the little daypack you were thinking about sticking on your front. That size pack has gotten me around the world three times, for up to a year at a time, in every climate from the islands to Siberia.

It holds everything you need. Or, more to the point, if it doesn’t hold all your stuff you’re trying to bring too much stuff.

One full change of clothes (as in, if you have two pairs of pants and a pair of shorts that counts as two changes of clothes and you have too much stuff), camera, toiletries, a book or two and an iPad. That’ll leave your daypack about half full so that it can fill up with the assorted random stuff that you accumulate over the course of a long trip.

Stay light and you’ll stay happy. Laugh at the people you see carrying 65 pounds of extraneous stuff through the streets of Cairo in the 100 degree heat, and have a great trip!

I travel with two bags. My main bag is the MEI Voyager, and naturally contains all my main gear. Clothes, toiletries, laptop, extra batteries, etc.

My second bag is a Think Tank Speed Demon 2.0, and it holds my camera, lenses, etc, and when I’m traveling, a water bottle, perhaps spare change, maps, etc. Anything I might want quickly.

The Think Tank bag is marketed specifically as a camera bag, and I use it for that, even when I’m not traveling. It’s ideal for travel photography, because it wraps around my waist, so my camera (and extra lenses, external flash, or whatever other accessories) are always easily accessible–even when I’m wearing my travel pack on my back! Ken Rockwell first turned me on to the Speed Demon 2.0 pack with his review. (While I disagree with a large portion of what Ken Rockwell says, his reviews on usability are often valuable, IMHO).

I spent a month backpacking around Mexico with this setup, including several long days carrying both bags with me all day long. (Of course, when possible, I’d leave as much stuff as I could in a hotel room, but that’s not always possible.)

For my next backpacking trip, I intend to add a third back-mounted daypack, that I will stuff inside my travel pack. I’ll keep my laptop, swim suit, and other smaller items in there, when it’s possible to leave the bulk of my belongings in a hotel room, but my waist pack isn’t big enough.

If you don’t carry many camera lenses, a similar waist/fanny pack would probably work well for you, and it doesn’t reduce mobility or cause you to overheat as a front-worn backpack would. If you do use many camera lenses, I still suggest this setup, but perhaps with a larger fanny pack than the one I use.

The only way that worked reasonably well for me on longer trips is:

1. Make sure your bigger backpack is big enough for all your stuff, including the small backpack.
2. Take a light and preferably foldable small backpack
3. For transit – just put your small backpack inside the big one.
4. For longer treks, etc.: take all the stuff from your smaller back pack and put it directly in the bigger one, e.g. in different pockets, and pack the empty small backpack inside the big one. This way you effectively have only one backpack.

For shorter trips consider going superlight. Take just one mid-sized pack (e.g. 40+ liters) for everything, and just leave unnecessary items in the hotel when you don’t need them. Of course a 40l pack is not as convenient as 20l pack for day trips, but traveling with all your stuff becomes super easy.

I would definitely advise against a backpack with wheels as I haven’t yet come across one that was ergonomically designed. Besides, if you’re backpacking, carry your backpack as a real man. 😀

Also, I have a front loading backpack with a detachable daypack (Vango Freedom 60+20 (lousy backpack except the front loading part)) and would like to say that in the beginning I was carrying daypack attached to the main backpack but then I noticed that all my important stuff from daypack is not easily accessible and you also risk having your stuff damaged because you usually lean against the walls or other structures when you want to take a rest but you can’t do that with a daypack in the back (actually in front of the main backpack).

EDIT: One more tiny tip – I see most of the backpackers carrying backpacks like – first they put a daypack to the front and then (over it) main backpack to the back. Try getting a daypack with carabiners so that you can attach it to the main pack instead. That way you get at least some breathing room in front so you don’t get sweaty as much. If you don’t understand what I mean, I’ll try and get a photo for you.

I do this!

Two trips – 4 months in South America, 4 months in Europe/Asia. The Europe part in particular was very hot.

I also stick with the one front, one back technique. It’s hot, but there’s just no other comfortable way, unless you have this type of backpack:

where you can attach your daypack to the larger pack. This makes you very top heavy, however.

Another neat trick that some newer medium packs I’ve seen (just bought a Deuter one, but unfortunately can’t find an online pic that shows the right angle) – they have another ‘frame’ between the pack and your back, with a couple of centimeters ‘breathing’ room. This frame is meshed, letting your back breathe. My initial worry looking at it was that the pack seemed quite far from your back, but once on your body, you just don’t notice that, and it’s very comfortable having the breathing. There were a couple of other manufacturers doing the same thing, so I suspect it will become a trend.

I also try to only carry two packs between locations. All my medicines and electronics and passport go in the small daypack on the front of me. This means I can keep an eye on my valuables – if someone wants to slash my backpack and get my dirty clothes – well, that’s not as serious as my netbook or SLR. Or medicine.

Another option is to get a large backpack with wheels – this means you can take the load off your back and wheel it along, leaving your back to carry the smaller, lighter pack. Personally I hate the idea of these – I like having my hands free, but I have met others who rave about theirs. Each to their own.

One final option is to get a smaller back that you can pack INTO the bigger bag for the parts of your journey when you have both. But the daypack I had was a camera pack, and didn’t fold down particularly well…

Finally, remember that you’re backpacking – yes you have a lot of gear, but it’s mostly only between places, not all the time. Most days you’ve just got the one small bag, and are out enjoying yourself 🙂