Explore Scientific Padded Backpack Carry Case for 80mm and 102mm Refractors

Product Overview

The Explore Scientific Backpack Carry Case is a padded nylon backpack built to carry a small refractor and its accessories on your back rather than in your hands. The internal space measures 18 inches tall by 15 inches wide (46cm by 38cm) and is lined with hook-and-loop panels so you can arrange the dividers around your own gear. Explore Scientific sizes it for an Essential Series or FCD100 Series 102mm telescope with the focuser removed, or an Essential Series or FCD-100 80mm with the focuser still installed. Exterior straps take a small tripod, and there are zippered and mesh pockets inside and out.

Who It's For

This is for the observer whose best sites are not the ones you can park beside. Hard cases are excellent at protecting a telescope and terrible at being carried more than about fifty metres, and the moment a dark site involves a trail, a field edge or a set of stairs, a case with a handle becomes the reason you left the telescope at home. A backpack changes that calculation. With the load on both shoulders you can carry a small refractor, a tripod on the outside straps and a night's worth of eyepieces for as far as you are willing to walk.

It also suits the traveller and the grab-and-go observer. A small refractor is already the telescope you take when you are not taking the big one, and a soft padded backpack matches that habit better than a rigid case does. The hook-and-loop interior means you can set it up once around your particular combination of telescope, diagonal, eyepieces and finder, and then simply pick it up on a clear night without repacking from scratch.

Key Features and Design

• Internal space of 18 inches tall by 15 inches wide (46cm by 38cm)
• Robust hook-and-loop panels throughout the interior for customisable divider layout
• Rugged nylon shell with generous padding around the telescope compartment
• Exterior straps designed for attaching a small tripod
• Outside mesh pocket for a water bottle or other incidentals
• Zippered outside pocket and mesh inside pocket, sized for a planisphere, observing logs and small paraphernalia
• Nylon shelf inside to support and separate the load
• Sized by Explore Scientific for a 102mm Essential Series or FCD100 telescope with the focuser removed, or an 80mm Essential Series or FCD-100 with the focuser installed

Mechanical Design

A telescope in a backpack faces two threats, impact and movement, and the case addresses them separately. The padding and the rugged nylon shell absorb the knocks, spreading a point impact across a wider area before it reaches the tube. Movement is the subtler problem: a tube that shifts inside a case during a walk works against its own dew shield, focuser and finder shoe, and arrives at the site out of collimation or with a loosened fitting. That is the job of the hook-and-loop panels and the nylon shelf. Because the dividers reposition anywhere on the panel rather than sitting in fixed slots, you can build a compartment that actually touches your telescope on all sides instead of approximating it, and a tube held snugly does not move. The 18 by 15 inch interior is the constraint that drives Explore Scientific's fitment guidance, and it is why a 102mm needs its focuser removed to fit while an 80mm does not. Putting the load on shoulder straps rather than one hand also keeps your hands free, which matters more than it sounds like it should when you are walking to a dark site over uneven ground in the dark.

Recommended Uses

• Carrying a small refractor and accessories to sites that vehicles cannot reach
• Travel and holiday observing where a rigid case is impractical
• Grab-and-go setups kept permanently packed and ready for a clear sky
• Transporting eyepieces, a diagonal, a finder and a planisphere alongside the telescope
• Carrying a small tripod on the exterior straps with the telescope inside

Compatibility and Accessory Notes

Explore Scientific specifies this case for the Essential Series 102mm and FCD100 Series 102mm with the focuser removed, and for the Essential Series 80mm and FCD-100 80mm with the focuser installed. Anything else comes down to the 18 by 15 inch interior, so measure your tube with the dew shield retracted before assuming it will fit. Explore Scientific also offers three thumb screws at no additional cost for 102mm owners, replacing the Allen set screws that hold the focuser in place so that removing the focuser for transport does not mean hunting for a hex key in the dark. If you have a 102mm and want that accommodation, or you want to check a tube that is not on the list above, contact our team in Bolton and we will confirm it with you before the case ships.

Good to Know Before You Order

No telescope, tripod, eyepieces or accessories are included, and Explore Scientific does not publish a packing list beyond the case itself. This is a soft padded backpack rather than a hard case, so it is intended for carrying and travel rather than for checked airline baggage or rough freight. A 102mm telescope only fits with the focuser removed, which is a routine job but one you should be comfortable doing before you commit to this as your travel solution. Explore Scientific publishes no shipping weight for this item, so we are confirming it on our own scales before the listing goes live. That is why it is currently unpublished. Contact us and we will give you a shipping figure for your address.

Frequently Asked Questions

Will my 102mm refractor fit with the focuser on? No. Explore Scientific specifies the 102mm Essential Series and FCD100 Series telescopes fit with the focuser removed. The 80mm models fit with the focuser installed.

Can it carry a tripod as well? Yes. The exterior straps are designed for attaching a small tripod, leaving the padded interior for the telescope and accessories.

What are the thumb screws for? Explore Scientific supplies three thumb screws at no additional cost to 102mm owners. They replace the Allen set screws holding the focuser, so it can be removed and refitted by hand. Ask us and we will arrange it.

Is the interior fixed or adjustable? Adjustable. The interior is lined with hook-and-loop panels so the dividers can be positioned around your own telescope and accessories rather than a fixed layout.

Bottom Line

If your observing site is a walk rather than a drive, this padded nylon backpack with its 18 by 15 inch hook-and-loop interior and exterior tripod straps is what gets an 80mm or 102mm refractor there safely and leaves your hands free. It is a carrying case rather than a shipping case, and it is sized deliberately rather than generously. Contact our team in Bolton and we will confirm your telescope fits before you order.