Another part of my kit I had when I went to New Zealand was a Peak Design Travel Backpack 45L. It was a large bag and enabled me to take as much gear with me that I could carry.
Peak Design Travel Backpack
The backpack was a fairly new one for Peak Design and I was so lucky to be able to take it with me on my trip. When travelling there is always that problem of what bag will you be able to take with you that will hold what you need.
It was the first time that I had used one of their bags. I own a few of their camera straps and I really like them. The design is really good and how they can easily be put on and off is fantastic. I would be lying if I said I wasn’t curious about the bags.
The backpack was large and I was definitely interested in using it for the trip. It comes as an empty bag and then you put some modules inside it to carry your gear. For my trip, I was loaned 3, each one a different size. However, in the end, I only took two, the large one and the small. They both fit into the bag and enabled me to carry what I wanted.
The bag that keeps filling
When I went I had a computer to put in the bag, along with two camera bodies and 5 lenses. There are always lots of other things as well. Many charges, cords, memory cards, spare batteries plus other bits and pieces. When my bag was packed for the trip it weighed a lot and had everything I needed.
It was one of those airport moments, carry it like it doesn’t weigh anything. Hope that they don’t want to weigh it. As it turned it out it was fine.
Travelling with it was good. I didn’t need to worry about my gear. However, if I’m honest, the bag was too big for me. I wouldn’t have liked to go hiking with it. This is a personal thing, really. I’m only 5’2, or 159cms tall and the bag just dwarfed me. It would be a great bag for someone much taller, but on me it hung down too low.
One problem with big bags can also be how much you can carry in them. I did okay carrying the bag around the airport, but if I had had to carry it all day it would have been a problem.
Luckily for us most of our photography was doing out of the car. The bag sat very well on the backseat of the car. It was easy to get the gear in and out of it.
Video
I found a video on the Peak Design website and am giving the link to it here.
I would like to thank Blonde Robot for loaning me the bag.
Peak Design bags are awesome! No doubt about it. Is the large bag too big, yeah it could be. Only because yes, you can pack it way over weight. That’s not just a Peak Design issue others have the same problem. Camera equipment is heavy! I don’t fly enough to know how big of a problem that is. On a flight from Mexico I was told I needed to switch something from one carry-on to another. I just said OK, kept going and never did. I would like to know if anyone else has had a problem with over weight carry-on bags? These bags are meant to be carry-on bags. If you need to do some hiking your probably going to need a bag designed for hiking. Hiking bags don’t make very good carry-on bags. So you need to pick your poison. Peak Design bags have lots of little things that make them great bags for traveling. They just have one big problem, they are a little too expensive.
They have put a lot of thought into the design of them, that’s for sure. The bag was great for travelling, but not really suitable for short people like me. I did okay with it, but glad I wasn’t hiking with it. We didn’t have to get our carry on weighed, but my friend said that she has travelled on some airlines that make you weigh your carry on. This bag is designed so it is easy to use as a carry on bag. They are expensive, but so many things with photography are, unfortunately. Thank you.