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Equipment Bag

S

Sean

[H] for Life
Joined
Nov 16, 2000
Messages
5,283
OK, I have a 5 year old shoulder bag - LowePro Elite AW. This bag is a pain in the butt to carry around long distances or for a good period of time. I have been looking for a good bag that will hold my kit with some room to expand. I'd like to carry my notebook with me, but it isn't 100% necessary.

I have been looking at the following.

LowePro Slingshot 300 AW
LowePro Vertex 200 AW
LowePro Mini Trekker AW
Crumpler Whickey And Cox
Tamrac Adventure 9

Am I missing anything that you gents and ladies might know about? These seem to be the best options. I have gone in and can fit my kit in all of these, but haven't had any real world experience.

I need this to be good for long distance/duration due to my trip to Germany in October.

Thanks
 
I personally love Crumplers, great quality and very good design IMO.
 
When I'm hiking, the mini trekker is my bag of choice. Backpacks are a bit of a pain to get stuff out of or put down (I will remove it if I can when I find a subject) but they allow you to carry a fair bit of gear comfortably.

Slingbags sound like a good idea until you try to carry one for a day.

For short hauls I'll grab a shoulder bag (normally the ProMag). These, IMO, allow easiest access to their contents.
 
I like my slingbag...

I think it is a bit small sometimes to fit all my gear and a bit more, but I guess different bags...different purposes. I can live with those bags being really convenient for carrying camera stuff only, but sometimes I would like to stuff a small notebook or laptop in the back.

And the Lowepro slingshot bag design leave a lot to be desired. I bought a related one that was much cheaper and better designed in so many ways to list...

My ideal bag design would be a mini shoulder type bag inside of a slingshot bag design.
 
take a look at the Tamrac Expedition 5x (6x or 7x for that matter, depending on how much gear you have). i've been using the 5x for quite a while now, and i'm very happy with it. fits all my equipment well plus everything else that i need to carry on the trips.
 
I've got the Lowepro Fastpack 250. It's got great padding. I was even told by a rep at Adorama that Lowepro's padding is better than a $150+ bag I was looking at (Some National Geographic bag, I wanted it b/c it was khaki).

I like it because I carry my XTi with 70-200 f4L mounted, 75-300mm, 18-55 IS, charger, filters, my Thinkpad T61, card reader, charger for laptop, my Point & Shoot $80 Fuji S700 (just in case), and still have plenty of room for other things.

The only thing I wish it had was a spot to tie/strap my monopod onto. I use this to carry all my stuff when on my motorcycle.

I must say, the whole side zip for the camera is awesome. I only have to take off one strap to get to the camera and it's quick.
 
I currently use the Kata R-103 (which includes a laptop area). They also make an R-102 which is sans laptop area.

In my bag I keep the following:
Canon 20D
Canon 580EX II (including external battery setup)
Canon 24-70/2.8
Canon 70-200/2.8 IS (mounted)
Canon 300/4 IS
Canon 50/1.4
Canon 10-22
Plus a ton of misc stuff.

The bag wears well and I can carry it all day long. Any one of the lenses can be mounted and there is room to store what is not. The really nifty part of the bag is the secondary zipper. I can open just the middle and grab the camera. Much like a sling bag (maybe not as easy, but still better than opening the entire back).

 
ACK. All good suggestions. The Vertex is out of the question now. Its way too big for my needs. The ThinkTank Airport Acceleration is nice, but the scammers here want $300 for it. I am leaning towards a Tamrac Adventure 9 or 10. Good combination between space for other items, notebook and camera.

The Crumpler is fat. Sticks out really far off the back. The slingshot I think would be great, but hate the size of the 300. That KATA looks intresting, but I don't really like the style/look of it.

Now the expedition might be nice, but the price is also pretty high. I'll see if I can find one to check out.
 
capreppy said:
I currently use the Kata R-103 (which includes a laptop area). They also make an R-102 which is sans laptop area.

In my bag I keep the following:
Canon 20D
Canon 580EX II (including external battery setup)
Canon 24-70/2.8
Canon 70-200/2.8 IS (mounted)
Canon 300/4 IS
Canon 50/1.4
Canon 10-22
Plus a ton of misc stuff.

The bag wears well and I can carry it all day long. Any one of the lenses can be mounted and there is room to store what is not. The really nifty part of the bag is the secondary zipper. I can open just the middle and grab the camera. Much like a sling bag (maybe not as easy, but still better than opening the entire back).

Click to expand...

I have this same bag. Love it, I use it all the time when I travel internationally.
 
i dunno what exactly you are looking for, but i bought a $10 lunch/cooler bag at walmart that i hold my zune, headphones, camera, and a few accessories with room to spare. i'll get a pic to ya later today :)

i didn't see a point in spending a whole lot for a bag similar to those listed, when i could wrap some old shirts around my stuff that would work just as well ;)
 
Here's mine configured so you get an idea of what it can hold.

p434761511-4.jpg
 
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