Travel Bag

[spikeystitch]

Alright, so I've booked a flight to NYC for a week with a few friends for the end of May. I currently have a Lowepro Slingshot 200aw and a Lowepro bag that has a laptop compartment but nothing for photo equip.

I'm looking for a bag that will hold my 13" macbook along with my XTi, about 4 lenses (fisheye, 85mm, 55-250, 50mm) along with a 580exII. I'll most likely be using this bag all day long so it needs to by comfy. Any suggestions?

[colbyb25]

I would say go buy yourself a proper hiking backpack from Mountain Equipment Co-Op and make yourself a DIY bag. That is the only way to truly get a bag that is built for support and not for just camera use. You can easily make your own lens inserts or buy some Domke ones online. Same things goes for the Camera body. There are plenty of Camera "pouches" out there that would do just fine. I shoot alot of adventure photography and I never bring a "camera" bag. I always just make do with what I got. Going on a long expedition and it goes into an Osprey Argon 85. Light alpine work and it will be an Osprey Exposure 66 or something similar.

[rowan57]

Mountainsmith Borealis? Has plenty of room for camera gear & extra space for clothes etc.

[astonier]

I am battling with a similar issue. I have a Lowepro slingshot 200aw which is OK, but I don't like the single strap enough to make up for the easier access. I find that it makes my shoulder ache if I carry it all day. I am using my smaller 100 Fastpack more often but clearly not if I want to carry all my gear.

To carry everything I own I have a LP Vertex 200AW. I tend to use this if I want to move all my gear including a laptop (MacBook Air) to a new location. I have walked a long way with this with tripod attached, and I find it very comfortable but it is a big bag and I would not recommend it for the city (I live in London and it can be a pain on the underground).

The moral of the story (apart from the fact that I clearly don't own enough bags) is that I lug all my gear in the vertex, and put the fastpack in my suitcase, if I am away long enough to need all my gear including my laptop to backup my CF cards I am going to be needing clothes, so I will have a suitcase anyway. When I arrive I set up a base camp, leaving my laptop and chargers and things and go out with the fastpack. If I can, I put my laptop in the hotel safe, but I aslo have a PacSafe bag protector (See link below) it is useful to secure stuff in the room. (If only to keep the insurance guys happy).

http://www.pac-safe.com/www/index.php?_room=3&activity_id=6

Hmm... I seem to have gotten carried away with this but I think it means that we all just need to buy more bags.