Review 4 of 7
Price Paid:
$155.00
from Brand new from Henry's in Toronto, Canada Summary:
Tough as nails.
Roomy,will haul the kitchen sink and then some.
Travels well and easy to work out of when properly divided.
Not the bag to take fully packed to a location accesible only by foot or bicycle, unless you hire somebody to carry it for you!
It's an excellent working bag that can be used for hiking and biking if not loaded too heavily.
Strengths:
Capacity - It's THE bag to use if you have to bring ALL your 35mm gear when travelling.
Build - After two years of travel use it shows no signs of wear other than a few scuff marks. All seams, zippers and other significant points of stress are completely intact. I suspect you could tote bricks in this bag w/o any problems.
Size - If not crammed full it will compress enough to satisfy carry-on restrictions of most airlines. LowePro does not advertise it as a carry-on compliant bag but I have taken it many times (In case you are curious, I'm not the kind of person to show up at the gate with 2 obviously oversize carry-ons and proceed to bullsh*t with the stewardess to get them in the cabin).
Weather protection - This really works well in a downpour,
easy to use and can be put in place in seconds.
Cosmetic styling - Discreet appearance. If you are not a photographer you will most likely not be able to tell what is inside this bag. Nice clean look that fits in just about anywhere.
Weaknesses:
Dividers - I find the dividers to be a bit shortcoming. They are too small, and should have had more velcro attachment surfaces.
Depending on your equipment configuration it can be like solving a 500 piece puzzle when trying to arrange everything so it is fully accessible.
Carrying comfort - While the waist belt certainly helps,
this bag is too heavy to carry comfortably over long distances when packed completely full of gear.
For trips where I will be traverseing distances by foot for a long period of time I bring my MiniTrekker along and transfer the camera gear needed that day from the Commercial AW. If the weather is especially bad, I'll do the opposite and transfer the gear not needed into the Minitrekker and hike with the Commercial AW instead.
Similar Products Used:
LowePro MiniTrekker
Billington bags Customer Service:
Called to ask about the dividers, and they sent free samples of other dividers that might work better for me. You can buy single dividers from LowePro if necessary, they will not take back the dividers that came with the bag unless there are manufacturing problems present.
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