Straight up, I have a bag problem. Sometimes I hop on Youtube and find other guys with way worse bag problems than me. But still, I have cycled through many bags in an attempt to hike, carry gear, and not be overburdened by adventuring. I feel like my wishlist isn’t unreasonable: I want to carry all of my gear, a bunch of random EDC, and have it all weigh less than 5lbs. What’s the problem? In all seriousness, I have learned a lot about bags over the past few years. Let me show you what has made the cut. Warning: it’s still way more than I actually need.

*I never shoot at night, but I thought it would be fun to shoot my bag collection in my* *Vanagon* *this evening! iPhone 14 Pro*

Backpacks

Filson Dryden // Info

This is my EDC bag. I use it for work, and I always keep a camera in it. It’s very well made, and looks great. It’s comfortable enough, and has plenty of storage. In fact, I don’t even use all of the pockets, because some of them are unnecessary for my workflow and needs. But here’s the most important thing I have done with this bag, and it’s something you’re going to see over-and-over again on this blog. I use a Peak Design Small Camera Cube in almost every bag I have that is not primarily a camera bag. That camera cube fits perfectly in almost any bag you grab, and it lives daily in this Filson bag. I keep my Fuji x100v on one side, and a pouch with cables, hard drives, and power adapters in the other side. It’s wonderful, honestly.

Is it perfect? No. But it works well as a daily bag, or even if I need a small camera kit with me. I carried this all over Alberta recently, with my camera + attached lens on one side, and another lens on the other side. I had my jacket rolled up in the top half, and would take it out as needed. Worked great, and makes the top of my list for the bag I’d recommend the most for EDC or light camera setup. And bear spray fits perfectly in the side pocket.

GoRuck GR1 Heritage // Info

I’ll cover my most experienced bag next, but let me explain why this bag is in my lineup. And before I do that, let me add that I bought this bag used from a group on Facebook. This bag is ridiculously expensive. After extensive research, I landed on this bag because I needed to remedy what was wrong about the next bag. I need to carry the weight of multiple cameras/lenses without it wrecking my back. I don’t love backpacks with the waist-strap, so I wanted something that would be comfortable on my shoulders all day. This bag has the thickest and most comfortable straps I’ve ever had on a bag. They’re so thick that they unfortunately won’t accommodate my Peak Design Capture, but that’s alright. I’ll take the comfort.

I just took this bag on it’s first trip recently, and spent three full days carrying around this bag packed full. Here’s what I did. I placed the Peak Design Medium Cube in this bag with a loaded kit. It fills the bag 3/4 full, and I have room at the top for my tech pouch, or a rolled up jacket. I got a California patch for the bag, and set off. I got several compliments while carrying this bag, from a guy on my plane to a coffeeshop patron.

Peak Design Travel Bag // Info

Me and this bag have been through a lot together. I’ll never sell it because of our history. We’ve trekked Israel. We’ve trekked Iceland. We’ve trekked Canada. We’ve trekked Ireland. We’ve trekked dozens of National Parks in the USA. This bag was suppose to be the end-all-be-all. But it ended up not working out, even though I pressed on for years and tried to make it work. Let me tell you why.

First, I’ll say that I own my contributions to why I can’t make this bag work. As I’ve mentioned before, I don’t like waist-straps, and this bag has one to get some of the weight off your shoulders. I don’t use it. I also have absolutely slammed this bag full. It’s like a black hole… I can just keep putting more and more things in it, so I do. Using the Peak Design Large Camera Cube, I have nearly gotten my entire kit into this bag before. I have carried a combination of my camera, lenses, drone, props, and all sorts of random stuff in here.

It should be obvious at this point that my problem with this bag comes down to the way it handles weight. The straps are incredibly thin, with very little padding. This is odd for a 45L bag. For comparison, the GR1 above has 3x the padding and infrastructure for a bag almost half the size of the Peak Design Travel Bag, at 26L. I know exactly why they chose to put thin straps on the Peak Design Travel Bag, though. It’s that Capture clip I mentioned earlier. They want their bag to accommodate that clip, so they could only push the padding so much. I get it. But man, it really crippled this bag. After carrying it for so. many. miles., I’ve had to basically retire it. I just can’t handle the weight on my shoulders anymore.

Maybe one day I’ll be ready to rock the waist-strap and I’ll try it again. But not today.

Messenger / Shoulder Bags

Before jumping into the shoulder bags, let me clarify that these bags aren’t camera bags, but easily converted to camera bags using the Peak Design Small Camera Cube. This is my typical setup with the small cube - a single camera with attached lens, and a second lens. This camera cube is the most versatile thing I own. I cannot recommend it enough.

Filson 24 Hour Tin Cloth Briefcase // Info

While backpacks are my choice most the time, if I’m going out on the lighter side and not wandering too far from the car, I like taking a shoulder bag. The best thing about shoulder bags is how quick you can grab things in/out of it. No taking the pack off or swinging it around. When you take a shoulder bag, your gear is right there. This bag is actually very large, while I use it with the small cube, I also can fill the front pockets with accessories like my filters or card case. I can throw an iPad in here easily as well. The bag is beautiful, practical, and comfortable as long as you don’t overfill it.

Filson Medium Rugged Twill Field Bag // Info

This is actually a pretty old bag. Like many other bags I have, I bought this one used. I found this bag on eBay, being sold as part of a collection that belonged to someones father. They estimate it to be around 30yrs old, but I have no clue. It is very worn in, and the leather is quit aged as well. I honestly love this bag. It’s my favorite bag for small excursions, and that camera cube its in this so flawlessly. It’s as if they were designed together. The only thing I’d warn you about this bag is to watch the weight. That leather strap can become tiresome if you put too much weight in this bag.

Fossil Leather Messenger Bag // Comp

This bag was given to me by the wonderful women in my life, Amanda & Jenn, many years ago. I can’t remember the exact name of this bag, but I love Fossil and this bag is gorgeous, classy, and very well made. Same system as the other bags - camera cube goes in, and what was an office bag becomes a camera bag. I’ve used this for more urban settings, like walking around Rome. It hasn’t gone out in the wilderness much, but it was my office EDC for many years. Now it’s my urban camera bag.

Fossil Tweed Messenger Bag

This is my oldest bag. I’ve had it for many, many years. I use to get a patch when I went to a new National Park and add it to this bag. The patches are all iron-on, but they never really took well. I need to sew them on! This bag never goes out anymore, and just serves as a prop sometimes. The strap is worn out, and the bag has been used so much that it’s lost some of its integrity. Need to do some repairs. But it will forever be my first bag, and one day one of my kids will use it as a camera bag.

Bleu de Chauffe Cabine Travel Bag // Info

This old world bag from France has an amazing vibe. When this company reached out to me for a partnership, I couldn’t believe the quality of the bags they sent me. They are beautiful, and made so well. They have sent me a few different bags, but this one suits me well. It’s just a large empty sack, which means I can throw in the medium camera cube and even some props. I love taking this bag out with my film cameras, because it has such a vibe. But I also use it to carry flatlay props when I want to shoot a flatlay somewhere outdoors… like on the trunk of a Redwood.

Slings

Peak Design Everyday Sling 6L // Info

We’re coming to the end of the list, and this is one of my smaller bags. I think it’s good to have a sling or two for those small carry days. I’ll take this out when I don’t really care about the vibe, or I need to carry a few random things. Sometimes I use it just for a water bottle and other EDC when I’m out, and leave the cameras at home. When I do carry a camera, it’s either the Fuji x100v or a small Sony setup.

Moment MTW Fanny Sling 2L // Info

This thing is tiny, and only really fits my Fuji x100v and maybe some chapstick and car keys. I wear it like a fanny pack more than a sling. I’ve got no shame. I also use this when I’m out for a day with the kids. For instance, I keep a phone battery in here with a charging cable and use it as a recharging station if I’m out for the day with the family. It’s small, practical, and it’s my color, so it’s a win.

You made it to the end! Congrats! This is my bag collection at the moment. What’s missing are the bags I’ve tried and sold over the years, like the Peak Design Everyday Carry, the Brevite Jumper, a hiking bag by Osprey that I tried to turn into a camera bag (no luck), and even a few others that didn’t make the cut.

One day I hope to find the perfect bag that does exactly what I said in my first paragraph - carry all of my gear, a bunch of random EDC, and have it all weigh less than 5lbs. But for now, we just don’t have the science.

Got bag recommendations? Drop them below.

Bags that Worked Out