Water Proof BackPack Cover

I take a daypack cover only when I am going to do day hikes. For a city like London if it’s all-day rainy I have a small purse I can tuck under my rain jacket. What kinds of things will you have in your day pack? Water is readily available.

Buy some Scotchguard Water Repellent spray. Use it. Then put the back pack in your shower and see if the repellent works!

You could also take along 1 or 2 garbage bags and a small roll of gaffers tape or electrical tape. Easy to use to cover the backpack if torrential rain occurs.

In over 50 years of visiting London I’ve been caught in heavy rainfall once. NEVER in Summer.

With a bag that small, Claudia's suggestion about using garbage bags should work well. We "fitted" heavy duty garbage bags to slightly larger carry on bags by using a single edge razor blade to create the needed openings, and then reinforced them with black duct tape. They fold up to almost nothing for storage until needed.

It wouldn’t hurt to bring a cover, but why do you need to walk around with a big backpack in the city all day?

Instead of a cover, pack everything into a big garbage bag inside the pack first.
Then you can get to the outside pockets easily.
I’m going to do that next trip as I’ll be in the UK in winter.

I’ve also used the garbage bag on the outside of my case trick a couple of times, namely in Italy when it’s been raining getting to the station, airport, etc.

Well, I have a different point of view. I never travel without my daypack cover stuffed in the bottom of my daypack after an experience I had in Dubrovnik. I was caught in a downpour. I was drenched, my bag was drenched. I had my passport inside a case, inside my purse, inside my backpack and it was drenched as well! Fortunately, I was able to dry it out without creating any issues that might make passport control reject it. I have since learned to add a ziploc bag outside the passport case cover when traveling.

A daypack cover takes up less room than a garbage bag and has elastic running through the edges for a secure fit. Most good quality daypacks (I'm thinking REI here) come with them and often have a small zipper compartment at the bottom for storing them. I simply take one from my REI daypack and put it in the bottom of my pacsafe daypack which is the one I travel with.

Just take a small travel umbrella. That's a small bag. The umbrella will do, carrying front or back. A travel umbrella is a multi-functional item. Otherwise, just put a plastic bag inside to use as a liner depending on the weather forecast.

The civita day pack is small. Amazon sells cheap generic pack covers. For more money - there’s REI, and osprey. Enwild.com may have a few choices. I would just go with a cheap one that is small, because you may not use it. I think a cheap rain cover is a good idea rather than improvise. An actual pack cover will be easier to carry and use.

I bought a cheap Amazon pack cover for hiking in the woods. Never used it. But, still carry it and glad I have it. I bought neon orange, so it can double as an emergency flag. In London - you may prefer a subtle color.

Do you already have the Civita? If you don't, you'll find that it is small and without any frame or structure to keep its shape. Empty, it's about as limp as a pillowcase. and just lays there. It's not a backpack like you would take camping or even like a school kids book bag. So it would seem to me a cover wouldn't really fit very will.

I like and use the Civita as my personal item on the plane, and as my daypack while touring. If I wanted to protect the contents from rain, I would use a plastic bag on the inside for protecting the contents.

...add a ziploc bag outside the passport case cover when traveling.

Excellent idea! How did we ever travel before we had them?

If you are on the fence with conflicting ideas here - I have both the civita daypack and a cheapo Amazon pack cover. I could test pack it for you and give you the results. I live in a semi-rural area with nothing planned for tomorrow. So, it wouldn’t be a bother to me in any way. Inquiring Minds may want to know.