A Computer/Photographer Road Warrior Contemplates a Backpack Upgrade

Given how many days I’m going to be away and how things were less than satisfactory when I last traveled to Hawaii taking only my iPad as my travel computer, I needed to revisit whether I need to upgrade my computer/tech/camera bag situation. When I moved last January I significantly reduced the number of computer and camera bags that I had been collecting over the decades. These days, my EDC, when I’m just carrying my MacBook Air and iPad(s) I use an old Tom Bihn sling backpack that they don’t even make anymore.

When I went to Hawaii for the 2023 Christmas holidays I carried my camera gear and iPad Pro in a Peak Design 10L sling bag. It was great for boarding the flight, but over the trip the iPad wasn’t enough for the editing and posting that I wanted to do during the trip. Now, I’ve switched to using sling bags because I’m usually not carrying everything I own when I go out to shot images and videos. I bought the 10L sling bag when I was living in Las Vegas because I needed space to carry two Olympus OMD E-M10 cameras, each with different lenses and that enabled me to shoot school events switching between cameras without having to switch out lenses. After the pandemic, I didn’t find myself needing to switch between lenses, and I needed a camera with a faster auto-focus, so I switched to a Sony A7c and found that a smaller 6L sling bag got the job done, with space for my camera and three lenses if I don’t need to carry a water bottle in the sling. I’m either shooting or I’m writing, but over the last decade or so, I haven’t needed to carry everything, thus the smaller sling bags usually work. The only exception is when I’m heading out for vacations or road trips.

With the road trips I can get away with storing my computer gear in my trusty Tom Bihn and camera gear in a separate bag. But when I drove cross-country in 2017 I succumbed to the notion that I needed a bag that was big enough to carry everything. I had bought a big LowePro computer/camera bag around 2005 when I was flying at least two or three times a year working on my Pepperdine degree. But in 2017 the ol’ LowePro was lame compared to the new Peak Design Everyday Carry bag with zippers on both sides of the bag to give you access to your gear on either side of the bag so you can grab your camera and shoot without even slowing down your hike. And you can resize how the camera compartments area, etc., etc., etc. So I bought that sucker and ended up really doing a number on my back carrying it fully loaded with cameras and computer all over NYC when I spent a day roaming all over the city. Doh! That was a very expensive lesson to learn.

Yes, when going to and from the airport, one needs a bag that one can use to carry all the gear you think you are going to need. But once you’re “onsite” you need whatever it takes to get the images you want, which I may or may not edit until after I get back to wherever I’m staying. So, why would I want something big enough to carry all of my gear if all I’m doing is shooting. The exception is that trip to and from the airport (and the nasty limit to how many bags one can carry!). So the last few days I’ve been looking at a new camera/computer bag: the Shimoda Urban Explore 25. Previously I was considering the 20-liter bag, but I’m thinking that that might be a tad too small for everything that I want to carry. But how many times am I going to be traipsing to and from airports that would require such a bag and is it worth spending over $300 for the privilege? Also, once I get to my destination, how am I going to carry my camera gear, now that I’ve learned that I don’t need to carry my laptop, etc., just to shoot…?

Like I said, I got rid of all of the computer/camera bags when I left Las Vegas. All I have is my Tom Bihn, the ol’ large LowePro, a smaller LowePro and two Peak Design Slings, one 10L and one 6L.

Before purchasing a new computer/camera bag I wanted to see if I could fit my Peak Design 6L sling bag in the big LowePro, so that I could carry everything to and from the airport in one bag, but when I’m at my destination I can carry the smaller camera sling bag for my camera gear for when I’m roaming around the shorelines of Hawaii. Surprise, the smaller 6L sling fits perfectly in the camera slot of the LowePro, with space for my MacBook Air, my small tech bag (with cables and chargers) and iPad mini. Cool. I like it when I don’t spend money that I don’t have and I can make it happen with what I already have. Yeah! JBB