It’s in the Bag!!!!!

Beyond crazy……..

Getting ready for a trip always gets me thinking about how best to carry the load for the upcoming adventure.  The image above is, sadly, only a portion, probably less than half of my camera bag collection!

For years I’ve been a bag of the month club member, meaning I’ve owned or tried almost everything anyone has ever made!  I love them all, for a while, but these are the ones that have endured the test of time.  Currently I have bags, packs, cases, or other carrying devices from; Lowepro, Think Tank, Lightware, Pellican, Tenba, Maxpedition, Domke, and others.

These are the ones I use most often.  Why own so many bags?  That is actually a really good question.  For me it’s all about the right way to carry gear for the specific kind of trip.  Are you flying?  Are you driving?  Are you hiking?  Are you canoeing?  How much gear are you needing to take?  Once you arrive how much will you actually carry on your back or shoulder?  To break it down a little, well hidden, on top of the giant Pellican case (I have 6 others as well), are a Lowepro Pro Runner X450 AW and a Think Tank Airport Security 2.0 my two favorite for getting stuff safely to my location when flying.   On the top right is a tan colored Lowepro Nature Trekker 300 AW, my favorite moderate sized backpack.  It’s sitting on top the Lowepro Stealth Reporter 400 AW, my favorite shoulder bag for most trips.  I’ve topped it off with the Domke shoulder pad they made for the U.S. Postal Service letter carriers.

Two the left is a Tenba shoulder bag that Nikon gave me (you can see the Nikon Logo)  It is great for taking show gear, but is fairly large to actually carry over the shoulder unless your younger and stronger than myself.  Sitting on top the Tenba bag is one of Lowepro’s Sling bags, this one is the  smaller one that is easy to throw over your shoulder with a smaller amount of gear.  The very small one in the middle top that says, Galen Rowell on it, is a long since discontinued chest bag made to Galen’s specifications by Sundog, a bag manufacturer no longer in business, I just keep it in in warm memory of Galen.

Sitting directly on top of the Pellican case are, left to right, the (khaki) Maxpedition S-Type Bag, ruggedly made and perfect for one camera with a lens, a short zoom and a few accessories, I love it for walk abouts, it’s made to Mil. specs.  Two the right of it is a Lightware long lens bag for my Nikkor 400mm f3.5, it is circled by my favorite belt pack unit made my Think Tank, and to the far right is the Think Tank Speed Changer side pack, topped by a Nikon fanny pack that was given away at the LA Olympics some years ago.  In the front on the floor is one of many Lightware cases I use to transport safely all kinds of photo and AV gear when traveling by air or shipping UPS or Fed EX.  Sitting on top the Lightware case is a small Domke shoulder bag when is ideal when you wan to carry a very small amount of gear, it is very well made of treated canvas.

For people that haven’t lost their minds, a backpack, shoulder bag, belt system, and a rolling bag for air travel should more than cover your needs.  Fortunately, today we have a wealth of brands, sizes, and types of bags and cases to carry our gear.  The most important questions are:

1.  Is it well made and will it protect your gear?

2.  Does it feel right when you carry it and can you work out of it easily?

3.  When filled up can you lift it?

4. Can you afford it, or more importantly can you afford to fill it up??!!

Good luck in making your camera bag decisions.  Anyone looking for a good used bag?????????