Collect Paris Sling Collection Review

Benjamin Hamilton, the founder of Collect Paris, first developed a passion for carry during hiking trips with his dad. And while hiking gear was innately functional, Benjamin noted a distinct lack of functionality in many urban backpacks. Inspired to explore and learn, he taught himself leatherworking skills at just 17 years old before studying fashion design in Paris.

Following a transition to remote working in 2020, Benjamin wanted to turn his hobby into something more, a brand that offered sustainably made, portable gear designed to keep you organized and productive on the go. And so Collect Paris was born; a brand committed to making functional products for fast-paced lives, using collected (hence the name) waste materials. Collect Paris partners with the fabric supplier Waste2Wear, which collects plastic waste from the ocean to create recycled plastic fabrics, while also creating income for waste pickers and former fishermen who gather the plastic waste.

Currently, Collect Paris offers three bags in its collection including the Utility Sling Bag, the Slim EDC Sling Bag, and the Mini EDC Sling Bag.

Who It Suits

If you’re seeking compact carry options for smaller loads and appreciate inbuilt organization, these slings are well worth checking out. The various pockets are ideal for organizing EDC items and tech accessories, making them handy for both work and travel environments.

They’re also a solid pick for anyone who prioritizes sustainable construction, as Collect Paris is not only committed to using ocean waste to create new bags, but ensures those bags are built to last to prolong their sustainability, as well as reduces the carbon footprint of its e-commerce deliveries.  

Who It Doesn’t

Due to their compact size, these slings obviously won’t suit anyone who needs to carry large tech items such as laptops. Their rigid construction means the bags hold their shape, so they also won’t suit users who want bags that will wrap around their body or adjust in size to different loads.

Design

Looks

The collection is designed to offer practical functionality while also nodding to style considerations, with a fashion-conscious but professional aesthetic. The bags are clean and pared-back on the outside, while a rich blue lining adds a pop of contrasting color and aids in easily discerning the contents. The Utility Sling Bag and Mini EDC Sling Bag are boxy in their silhouettes, while the Slim EDC Sling Bag has a more convex silhouette on the front and a flat back panel.

Construction, Materials, and Hardware

As mentioned above, each of the bags is made with recycled ocean waste. This exterior fabric is both water-resistant and durable and is complemented by YKK AquaGuard zippers and metal hardware. The interior features a water-resistant lining crafted from recycled landfill plastic. Additionally, each bag also features internal EVA foam padding, adding on-the-go protection for gear.

From the moment I first handled the bags, there was an undeniable sense of quality. Each bag feels premium in construction and materials alike. You get the sense these bags really will be around for many years to come, providing trusty carry duty in day-to-day and travel use alike. Each bag also comes in a quality drawstring bag, which you can easily convert to other uses such as stashing smaller items in travel bags or organizing gear at home.

Features

If you enjoy inbuilt organization, you’re going to be in organizational nirvana as each bag offers an assortment of pockets.

Starting with the largest one, the Utility Sling Bag has dual compartments, both with interior organization. The front compartment has accordion-style drop pockets, elastic pen loops, and a zippered mesh pocket. The accordion pockets are great for items such as charging cables, while the rest of the compartment is large enough to accommodate bulkier items such as a small book.

The rear compartment offers full-length pockets separated by a divider, as well as two drop pockets. These full-length pockets were perfect for storing a Kindle and e-reader simultaneously. You’ll also find a front external full-length zippered pocket with a D-clip and a rear external full-length zippered pocket. 

The Slim EDC Sling Bag has an interior zippered pocket with its own organization; specifically two front drop pockets and a rear full-length pocket. You’ll also find two D-rings and two elastic pen loops in the main compartment. Externally there’s an open drop pocket on the front that extends about two thirds along the bag, plus a rear zippered pocket.

Internally the Mini EDC Sling Bag has elastic loops on one side and card slots on the other. However, the card slots can either be used as lay-flat storage or expand out to reveal further card slots and a zippered pocket (handy for the likes of coins or concealing small valuables). On the rear you’ll find two loop strips. One is non-stretchy webbing while the other is elastic. These can be used to secure the bag to a belt or alternatively the elastic loop could potentially secure bulkier items externally.   

Personally, I think these bags have a hybrid sling/pouch nature to them, particularly the Utility Sling Bag and the Mini EDC Sling Bag with their boxy silhouettes. The Slim EDC Sling Bag is the one that feels most like a sling bag, in my opinion, while the other two feel more like pouches that can also be carried as bags. That’s by no means a bad thing, just don’t expect body-conforming shapes that are typically associated with a lot of sling designs.

Another feature to highlight is the exterior zipper pulls. Each bag features round zipper pulls on the exterior YKK AquaGuard zippers. I really enjoyed using these zipper pulls and found them easy to grab and pull. Unlike the rest of the metal hardware, the pulls are plastic but they still feel durable while remaining lightweight enough that they don’t make distracting jangling noises.

Performance

Space & Access

The front compartment of the Utility Sling Bag zippers down to almost the base of the bag, allowing you to open it wide and easily reach gear inside while still keeping items contained. This makes it versatile as a mini workstation that you can prop up on a desk, table, bench or wherever the day takes you. The rear compartment zippers about halfway down the bag, so it doesn’t open as wide as the front but still offers convenient access to items inside.

While the Slim EDC Sling Bag may be slim in name and nature, the main compartment can be pulled open fairly wide considering the slim design, allowing you to access various items and even store gear such as a packable outer layer if you’re fairly minimalist with the rest of the contents. That being said, you aren’t going to be able to cram a lot of bulky items in here. So you’ll need to consider how to optimally pack it if you need to carry a variety of items, since bulkier items in the main compartment may block easy access to the interior pockets.

The Mini EDC Sling Bag unzips to create a full lay-flat, clamshell opening so you can easily store or retrieve individual items or alternatively just partially unzip it depending on your preferences.

These bags are designed for keeping smaller essentials organized on the go, and if you approach them as such, you should have ample space for day-to-day or travel use. The Utility Sling Bag could accommodate items such as a small water bottle or outer layer in the front compartment, making this a flexible option for use around town, carrying small setups for work, or using as a personal item on an airplane to keep tech and travel essentials organized and close at hand. I used the Utility Sling Bag as a tech pouch on a multi-day road trip and it performed brilliantly. I’d highly recommend it as a tech pouch for travel use but as mentioned, its versatile design could accommodate other items and uses too.

The Slim EDC Sling Bag is the most “sling bag” option out of the collection, so if you’re after the slimmer, more compact look and feel usually associated with sling bags, this is the option to go for. With its understated aesthetics and practical organization, it slips easily into everyday use and sightseeing on your travels.

The Mini EDC Sling Bag can be considered an extension of your pockets, letting you stash items you might usually keep in a pocket inside a pouch or very compact crossbody bag instead. You could use it as a wallet, quick-access pouch on a larger bag, or as a super-compact option for a night out that could store cards, coins, makeup, or other bits and pieces. Cards and cash, medication, earphones and charging cables, dog waste bags, small multi-tools…the list could go on and compact flexibility is the name of the game here.

Carry Options and Comfort

Each bag comes with a removable and adjustable shoulder strap. However, the Utility Sling Bag also includes a comfy padded grab handle at the top and a webbing grab handle at the bottom. The Mini EDC Sling Bag on the other hand includes the rear loops which, as mentioned previously, could be used to secure it on a belt as a mini belt pouch. Additionally, it also features a metal clip that can be used to clip the Mini EDC Sling Bag to a belt loop or a larger bag (for example, clipping it to a backpack to serve as quick-access storage for small gear). The shoulder straps also have D-rings that allow you to secure additional items to them (or even secure the Mini EDC Sling Bag to one of the other bags in the collection). 

The shoulder straps aren’t padded but for bags this size, you shouldn’t need that extra padding. The strap webbing feels soft but durable, kind to your clothing and bare skin but tough enough to withstand daily use.

Weatherability

The water-resistant exterior fabric, water-resistant lining, and YKK AquaGuard zippers do a good job protecting the contents from the elements. If exposed to sustained rain, water will eventually start soaking into the exterior fabric. However, after leaving one of the bags in the rain for half an hour, water still hadn’t seeped through to the interior. So as long as you’re not planning extended sessions in the rain with these bags, you should be fine when unexpected showers strike.

The Good

As expanded on above, these bags offer a lot of great features and design elements. The various organization options keep your gear tidy on the go and the sleek aesthetics suit diverse environments and outfits. The sustainable construction feels premium and durable and the versatile carry options give you flexibility and multifunctional use as bags or pouches.

The Not So Good

There’s really not that much about these bags to dislike but I’ll highlight a few things worth noting.

Organization-wise the thing that’s a little unusual about the Slim EDC Sling Bag is the open drop pocket on the front. This could be beneficial for some users but not for others depending on what you carry. If you need a spot to quickly stash small items like earphones in a small case, this might suit. However, the angled entry means the pocket will accommodate some items but not others. You could store a phone upright in it but the phone will stick out the top and it’s not large enough to slide a phone in to lie horizontally. The same could be said of a wallet. Some slim, compact wallets might fit in the section that’s concealed from view but others won’t. So how much use you get out of this pocket really depends on how you like storing gear and what you carry. I personally don’t like any valuables being visible on a bag, so I wouldn’t for example store a phone in here in crowded spots. However, if you were exploring quieter areas and wanted a place to easily store a phone while you explored, snapping the odd photo occasionally, this might suit you very well. I ended up storing dog waste bags here for easy retrieval, which worked well. Just bear in mind this pocket isn’t zippered, so items could potentially fall out. Additionally, anything exposed in this pocket won’t be protected from the elements.

On the carry front, while the straps are comfortable, they’ll only cinch up to a certain point and I couldn’t cinch the straps tight enough to stop the bags shifting if I bent forward (for example, the bag would shift from my back to my front if I picked something up off the ground). This was also true testing them with my husband’s larger frame. This isn’t much of an issue, as you can just quickly shift the bag forward yourself before bending down. However, if you want stability during active use, you won’t really find it here. If, for example, you want to cycle with them, you might have to rig your own stabilizer strap. Again, these bags are intended for urban environments and easy access (which the straps certainly enable with easy shifting from your back to your front). So if you want snug, body-hugging designs for active use, there are plenty of other options better suited to your needs.

Another key thing to consider about these bags is their shape. They are structured and are going to hold their shape. They won’t flex and fold around your body. This padded, structured design offers added protection for your gear but comes with a distinct visual language that may or may not be your cup of tea. Some folks will dig it. Others won’t. As touched on previously, I don’t think of these as only sling bags. While the Slim EDC Sling Bag slots into sling bag territory fairly easily, I think it’s better to consider the other two as pouch/bag hybrids with multiple carry options and use cases. Ultimately, just be aware of what you’re getting and if their designs suit your needs and aesthetic preferences, I think you’ll be chuffed with their performance.

Verdict

Looking at these bags, you wouldn’t guess they were the first offerings from a young brand. They exude refined quality, with useful organization that keeps your small essentials easily accessible but secure whether you’re working, traveling, or simply out and about around town.  

Coming in at $100 for the Utility Sling Bag, $70 for the Slim EDC Sling Bag, and $50 for the Mini EDC Sling Bag, they’re not cheap. However, they’re high quality, sustainably made, functional, and versatile and I think they offer good value for money.

So if you’re in the market for multifunctional bag/pouch hybrids and pieces that merge function and form in one, I’d highly recommend checking out the Collect Paris range of bags.