There’s a bit of an adventure vibe going on in this Week In Review. Perhaps you’re seeking packing advice, a backpack that has you covered in the urban jungle, or a cool camera bag. Alternately you might be keen to discover the history behind the messenger, a bag that represents freedom, simplicity and flexibility. Maybe you’ve decided to give up the rat race and go bushwhacking for two years, making a fortune documenting your daily trials and tribulations in a travel blog. In that case, you’re going to need some durable carry that can take on snow, rain, scuffles with airport carousels and more. Read on, get inspired and go do something intrepid – we want to hear all about it in the comments…
Taking The Panic Out Of Packing
You have the tickets, the passport and the itinerary sorted. Now to tackle the greatest hurdle of all – the packing. Perhaps you start out with good intentions. However, fifteen minutes in, your beautiful piles of folded clothes are now just piles strewn over the bed and floor, the lid wasn’t screwed on the travel shampoo properly and you can’t bring yourself to lift the bedraggled clothes and survey the full extent of the damage in your suitcase, and you’re starting to think you need a holiday from the holiday that you haven’t been on yet. If this is the general state of affairs every time you pack for a trip, perhaps it’s time to seek some advice. With their distinguished history as creators of top-quality luggage, who better to turn to for packing advice than the folks at Louis Vuitton. To make things even more convenient, they’ve created a great little video to help keep the packing woes at bay.
Beauty Meets Backpacking
Japanese label master-piece keeps coming out with innovative carry and the new SLASH backpack is no exception. The pack is constructed from a hard-wearing SUNBRELLA fabric and incorporates a 1000 Denier CORDURA and acrylic cotton blend, in addition to leather accents. The pack is available in three primary colours of black, navy and beige.
Picture Perfect: Tommy Camera Bag
Whether you’re out for the day or on an extended trip, you want to keep your camera safe and scratch-free. With the Tommy camera bag from Property Of… you can do just that. Constructed out of waxed canvas, the camera bag comes in two sizes and a choice of orange, coal or dark-tan. You can fit a DSLR camera with attached lens, a flash or external hard drive, and an additional flash in either of the bag sizes. The padded partitions are removable, providing more space should you need it. The external pockets can hold manuals, cables, memory cards and the like. Note: The content image on the dark-tan bag is not printed on the bag.
Messengers: We Salute You
Your constant, loyal companion through downpours, mad cycle dashes through hectic traffic, laid back strolls to your local café, and midnight searches for the solitary shop that’s still open and waiting with your carton of milk when you need a caffeine fix. It’s your beloved messenger bag, with you through the ups and downs, carrying your books, your laptop, your five pens (four of which don’t work), and the rest of your assorted EDC. Ever wanted to know how the humble messenger came into being? Check out a short history here.
Buyer’s Guide: Duffels
There’s something about duffels that just declares “I’m off to encounter epic awesomeness”. They are durable, no-nonsense bags that are perfect for plonking some gear in (ahem..no plonking…see video above…yes, it even applies to duffels – adventure can wait fifteen minutes) and heading for the hills or highway. If it’s time to seek some thrills, our buyer’s guide for duffels is a great place to start.
Catherine
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Hi, been reading your blog in anticipation of my travels (love it!) but have still been having some trouble. I’m going to Europe to study for 6 months with a planned month of travel (London, Paris, Venice and whatever else in between) and I’m not sure about the right combination of packing/ size of luggage.
Ideally there’d be three bags to carry: A roller, small bag (for docos and important things to boot) and an overnighter. Is this the right idea? I’m trying to minimise weight and luggage to give me a little less burden for travels in the month before I settle in Amsterdam.
Cheers!
Hi Anne,
You could do a couple of things here…
Get a decent sized roller and a large backpack – eliminating the need for the weekender pack.
or
Grab a check in mid size wheeled bag, a lightweight fold-up duffel (that can be stashed until needed), and then a backpack for carryon. That would mean the wheeled bag and backpack would be for most travel, then the lightweight duffel could emerge when needed.
or
Grab all three as you outlined above, which if is the case I’d recommend the Crumpler Dederang Heist for documents, etc.
A Filson Oil Finish Duffle for weekenders and Gravis Trekker as the roller.
Hope that helps!
The Property Of.. camera bags look mint!
I just did a trip to Amsterdam on Saturday and visited the Property Of.. flagship store which was really impressive! I asked about the camera bags but they were still behind the locked doors in their office.. shame because i would’ve really liked to get my hands on one instead of just drooling over them online.
Only thing i ended up buying was some Midori notebook refills (yes they have other amazing stuff there too!) and this awesome small Property Of.. pouch in olive waxed canvas which is just like a miniature copy of their bigger bags with all the same leather details and quality zippers.
I also saw the Tommy work bag in Indigo waxed canvas but ended up leaving that still in the store because i have painfully hard time deciding what bag to buy next.. I’ve also been looking the Billingham Hadley Pro, Filson Original Briefcase and totally different TAD Fast Pack Litespeed. I’m not necessarily buying an camera bag (although i do need a new one) but been thinking that buying the Hadley Pro padded insert and fitting that in the Tommy Work bag or Filson could work also. There is also one more concern, Billingham is handmade in England, Filson is made in USA but Property Of.. is made in china. And the price ranges between 240-300e Filson being the most expensive and other two costing pretty much the same.
Any ideas or thoughts on this? Help would be highly appreciated because otherwise i have to buy all of them..
Btw. I just did a search on your site for Billingham and found nothing on this legendary bag maker, seems like a crime! You should definitely review a bag from the Hadley range or do a proper “high end” camera bag comparison test!
Cheers!