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I am a big fan of Peak Design products. I have many of them, including the Everyday Messenger Bag that began their “bag” product line. The Everyday Messenger is now my go-to bag for most daily requirements and I get tons of compliments on the bag. But now I am trying the 30L Everyday Backpack from Peak Design.

Just about every photographer I know is in the hunt for the “perfect” bag. The vast array of offerings out there is testimony to this quest. It seems no bag has achieved this elusive title. Many of us have stories of all the bags we have purchased over the years, most of which have been relegated to storage. I have recently begun offloading my “collection”. F-Stop bags have come the closest so far. My Guru has been the workhouse for the last couple of years for most of my international travel.

Because I travel a lot for work, I need a bag that can carry my photography gear plus the normal things needed for travel. I try to never check bags. That is a cardinal rule for me. So I pack light and try to squeeze everything for 12 days travel into my Timbukt2 Co-Pilot and whatever backpack I am using.

So enter the Everyday Backpack. I didn’t jump onto the Kickstarter but waited for people to test it and review it. I was headed for Europe for about 9 days and thought I would do a rolling review while on this trip. I will try posting as I go along.

I chose the 30L version because of my “no checking luggage” rule. I want the extra space to accommodate what I need. On this trip, I could have got away easily with the 20L version. I am just carrying my D750 with 2 lenses. (Perhaps another time I will talk about why I’m creeping back to DSLR’s as opposed to mirrorless. Actually, I do both, but the initial rationale for mirrorless has not been borne out in reality. The Sony kit, when paired with good lenses, is right back up there in weight with some of the DSLRs).

As I began this review, I’m was in Atlanta, so it’s really early in the journey. Initial reactions to the bag:

• Easy to fit my kit.

• Lots of nice little storage compartments and I could have configured my camera gear in a multitude of ways.

• I really like the iPad/Laptop compartment. That was the biggest weakness of the Guru.

• I love the ability to put the bag on my roller bag. This was a big oversight in the Everyday Messenger.

The 30L doesn’t feel too big and fits easily into the small overhead compartment of those commuter jets.

The shoulder straps feel like they want to slip off the shoulder. Not badly, but I was aware of it. I was wearing a down jacket which has a slippery nylon exterior. There is a chest strap that you can use to prevent this but I have seldom needed one on other bags. Again, not a big problem, the straps did not fall off, but I am recording all my initial observations to help others in their decision making. (Note: The more I used this bag on the journey, the more this is an issue. Somehow they haven’t got the ergonomics quite right because I have never had this with another bag. You can overcome it with the chest strap, but I am not crazy about chest straps. The straps never fell off the shoulder but they didn’t sit in the right place either. I am 6 ft btw.)

After being in Germany for a few days. Further observations:

• Definitely, need to use the chest strap.

• No pen/pencil holders.

• The magnetic latch process for the front of the bag is fantastic. This is a really, really useful feature of the bag. In fact, access to all parts of the bag is really easy and convenient.

• I would prefer the key holder to have been inside the bag. On a long trip away, would feel safer with the keys being tucked away inside.
• The two side zips are really nice and you have very quick access to gear. However, I am also concerned that one will forget to close the zips from time to time and when you pick up the bag, your gear, particularly lenses will fall out. I had that with another bag, that I loved, but I was eventually forced to dump because I damaged a lens. 
• I am glad I got the 30L because it has expansion room and didn’t feel too big.

I will keep adding to this review as I use the bag more. Next trip in about 3 weeks time. (You can find the updated review here).