How to Pack for a Photo Trip

Given everything that must be taken on board, a travel photographer needs a large carry-on. Although carry-on limits vary by airline, maximum allowed dimensions are all very close yet the maximum allowed weight varies enormously. Nearly all airline carry-on limits are 21" or 22" by 15" or 14" by 9" or 8". Therefore a 21" x 14" x 8" bag would be accepted by the vast majority of airlines. Surprisingly, it is rather difficult o find something other than a roller suitcase with exactly those dimensions.

Weight is difficult to work around. There are several major airlines, mostly North American ones, with no weight limit to the carry-on, as long as the traveler is able to lift it unassisted into an overhead bin. More common restrictions are 22lbs (10kg) for pricier fares and major airlines or 15lbs (7kg) for economy and low-lost carriers. Some go as low as 11lbs (5kg). To make thing worse, certain airlines specify the weight limit as combined carry-on and personal item.

Comfort and usability are also important considerations. One must be able to travel with the packed gear, access it and store it back efficiently. Given security concerns, travelers are often asked to take out laptops, electronics and liquids during screening which makes convenient access very important.

Peak Design Travel Backpack 30L

A crowd-funded camera carrying system launched Peak Design to fame, which they followed with a number of photography products. Recently, they expanded to general travel category. Although not specifically aimed at photographers, their new Travel Backpack series is a great fit for travel photographers. There is a 30L and 45L model in the series with some choice of colors. Both these bags are expandable models. With Travel Back 30L, which we got a chance to review for this article, expands to nearly the carry-on limit, while the 45L model starts near the carry-on limit and expands from there. Their design is virtually identical though.

Externally, the Peak Design Travel Backpack 30L is very minimalistic. It has a more rectangular shape than most backpacks which allows it to fully utilize the volume available to a carry-on bag. In its unexpanded state, it measures 21" x 13.4" x 7" for a 27L volume. A compression zipper releases extra fabric so that its depth expands to 8", giving it a 33L volume. The weighs 3.6lbs (1.7kg) which is a little higher than the official specifications.

Space within this backpack is divided into a huge main compartment with dedicated slots for a laptop and tablet, four internal pocks and an shallow secondary compartment with inner pocket. There is an open stretch pocket on each site, plus straps and attachment points. A pair of deep slots can store an up to a 16" laptop and 11" tablet.

The standout feature of the Travel Backpack 30L is its incomparable access. The main compartment opens by unzipping the back of the backpack fully on three sides. It flips open to leave the largest surface completely open. It becomes extremely easy to organize and access anything inside the backpack this way. Given that the front is virtually flat, the backpack rests with excellent stability during access.

Both the laptop and tablet compartment are found together on the back of the backpack. Since that is the side that opens and the flex point is elevated when the backpack is accessed, these slots point down at that point. To avoid them slipping out, Peak Design stitched a sturdy Velcro with a wide elastic band. The downside of sharing the main and laptop compartment opening is that, it is fiddly to take out the laptop without resting the backpack on its front. This is sometimes required when going through airport security as busy airports.

Two mesh zipper pockets are easily accessible vertically. These are ideal for small items that can be needed without unpacking the entire bag. Two larger pockets are found inside at the bottom of the main opening. When the bag is full, there are completely covered and inaccessible yet Peak Design prepared a solution for this.

Packing cubes are widely appreciated by many for the way they help organize the inside of luggage. Normally, these are simple square bags with a zipper. Peak Design created much more sophisticated packing cubes that evenly subdivide their travel bags. These cubes come in Small and Medium size. One of each together fit the expanded Travel Backpack 30L exactly. By placing items in two such cubes, the inner compartments of the backpack can be easily accessed.

Peak Design packing cubes are made of an extremely light material with a very smooth finish. It is incredibly thin yet feels quite durable. Unusually, there are three zippers on this packing cubes. The main zipper features double pulls and a pair of tabs that can be used to completely open the cube. A second zipper wraps around the entire cube to compress its content. Unfortunately, this does not work. Due to the low resistance of the main zipper, any attempt to close the compression zipper while the cube is packed cause the cube to open on the other side. The third zipper gives access to the opposite side of the cube to that items can be shifted from one side to the other as they are used. These cubes are the only valiant attempt to improve open packing cubes. They are certainly high quality and light yet just do not quite manage what they are attempting.

Back to the backpack, there is a shallow compartment at the top of the pack to place items that must be accessed quickly. Unlike most backpacks that place a small front compartment at the bottom which makes items sink into the bag, this one keeps its content much more accessible. The compartment is further subdivided into three open pockets and one zipper pocket. Its great to have a pocket inside to avoid small items to accidentally escape.

The rear of the backpack has a very unusual design made of multiple layers. A slim handle at the top serves to carry the backpack by hand, while another slim handle serves as luggage pass through to stabilize the bag on top of a roller suitcase. The latter handle is mounted on a padded panel 2/3 of the width of the bag. This panel is attached to bag in the middle, so that its shoulder straps can be hidden behind it. The goal is to reduce chances of shoulder straps getting entangled in some thing yet there are less bulky ways to prevent this.

A small semi-open pocket at the back can hold a few business cards. The last items of note on the bag are six anchor points, four on the back, two on the front. These serve to attach additional some items to the outside of the backpack. Extra accessories are required to use these.

The materials used all around the Peak Design Travel Backpack 30L are truly high quality. The rugged texture of the main fabric makes it abrasion resistant. The bottom of the bag is made of a thicker waterproof synthetic material, while the rest is treated for water resistance. The entire outer shell of the bag is padded to absorb shocks and protect equipment inside. What obviously lacks padding are its shoulder straps which make the bag feel heavier than it actually is when fully loaded. Speaking of weight, this backpack is unusually heavy at 3.6lbs (1.7kg). The double back contributes somewhat here.

The Travel Backpack 30L is one of the most usable backpacks for any type of travel. Its wide flip out opening makes accessing and organizing its contents extremely comfortable. It has enough compartments to organize items and keep small ones in place. Having a large main compartment means that it can realize much of its advertized volume, something which many backpacks do not manage.

Weight is the main downside of this backpack. As mentioned earlier, several airlines do not have a specific weight limit for carry-on items but, for that that do, it could be 14-20% of the allowance without anything inside! Its thin shoulder straps also makes this weight felt. Lastly, access to the laptop compartment without placing the bag down on its front is fiddly.

High Sierra AT8 Convertible

One of the few bags that closely fits nearly every carry-on allowance is the High Sierra AT8 Convertible. In contrast to the streamlined Peak Design Travel Backpack 30L, the AT8 is a veritable swiss-army-knife of travel bags. This convertible bag switches from a backpack to a shoulder bag to a briefcase in minimal time.

The High Sierra AT8 measures approximately 22" x 14" x 8" and weighs in 2.8lbs. This relatively light bag has a flexible contour which allows it be give away at least an inch in each direction. This is incredibly practical to push it into a bag sizer that may be slight smaller officially. Speaking of stretching numbers, High Sierra specifies the weight as 2.1lbs which must have been measured under different gravity!

Nearly 40L can be packed into this carry-on bag. Most of its volume is located in a huge main compartment that can be split into two by a thin mesh that closes using a zipper. This allows the AT8 to store bulk items. There are two large inner zipper pockets plus huge slots at the back to accommodate both a 17:laptop and 13" tablet. An extra fairly large zipper pocket for quick access is found at the top of the back, when used in backpack mode.

Accessing the space within the High Sierra AT8 Convertible is too convenient! Three zippers allow the traveler to reach most of the content in the bag. Two zippers open on three sides, allowing two different sections of the bag to open as lids, while the third opens on two sides to quickly access contents from back of the bag. With the divider closed, a quarter of the volume can flips away from the remainder of the bag. All openings feature double zippers so that an opening can be created suitably to the carrying mode.

All this convenience and flexibility creates an unexpected issue. One has to be exceptionally careful not to spill the bag contents while opening the bag. It also makes it very easy for someone to slip things out of the bag unnoticed. The best strategy to deal with this is to select an opening, according to the desired mode, and lock the other entry points shut with a twist-tie or simple luggage lock. For the most convenient access to everything except the laptop and tablet compartments, use the middle zipper for access. Of course, then the laptop is harder to reach and there is no good solution for this. When opening from the middle zipper, it is crucial to ensure the mesh divider is closed, otherwise content will spill.

Handles on one long and one short side provide an easy way to carry the AT8 by hand. These soft handles are well padded for comfort. A detachable strap is provides for using as a shoulder bag. This is the least ergonomic mode since this relatively thin strap is made of nylon which gives little traction. The way most people will carry this bag is as a backpack using two medium width and padded shoulder straps that can be sealed completely behind the back panel of the bag. This removes all chances of entanglement.

It is easy to pack plenty of gear inside the High Sierra AT8 Convertible and it offers the most versatile carrying options of any bag. At the same time, the design of this bag feels very much indecisive. Opening it can easily make mess and cause content to fall out. The many zippers without proper locking clamp eyelet and soft fabric make this bag even less secure than most.

With three modes to select, it is impressive that High Sierra managed to made this bag fairly light, yet not as much as they claim. The result of this flexibility is that no carrying method is truly comfortable. Having extra wide and more padded straps would have increased the weight substantially since there are three straps and two handles. That being said, this ultra-flexible bag can carry more than practically any carry-on in terms of volume and also leaves more weight allowance than most.

For the most part, the High Sierra AT8 is well constructed. Materials are sturdy and lightweight yet on the thin side in favor of weight. Its textured finish looks a little underwhelming, especially compared to premium materials on the Peak Design backpack. Water resistant coatings have been applied all around the bag and the top pocket zipper is rubber-coated to make it waterproof. This bag has a lot zippers though and it should probably not be kept under rain for long. The only part that does not work effectively is the shoulder strap which is optional.

High Sierra Sportour Backpack

While the travel bags reviewed above are specialized carry-on luggage designed to meet airline requirements, it is important to consider a simple lightweight backpack such as the High Sierra Sportour. This particular model officially has outer dimensions similar to typical carry-on limits yet its tapered design means it pack less volume.

The High Sierra Sportour is a laptop backpack commonly uses as a school bag. It is composed of a think nylon shell attached to a padded back panel measuring 21" x 14". The shell can extend up to 9" from just 1½" when completely flat. Most of the volume of this bag is enclosed within a single main compartment. Inside the compartment, there is a lightly padded slot that can hold a laptop up to 17" and a second unpadded slot for documents or a large tablet. A deep secondary compartment can hold a substantial volume. One outer pocket and two small inner ones, plus a mesh side-pocket round off this backpack.

There are many advantages to the High Sierra Sportour. Its most exceptional feature is extremely light weight. This backpack weighs a mere 1.6lbs (725g). Let that sink in for a moment. Although it has similar dimensions to most carry-ons, it weighs 1.2lbs less than the High Sierra AT8 Convertible and two full pounds less than the Peak Design Travel Backpack 30L! When traveling with airless having stricter weight limits, this difference in weight makes a huge difference. This backpack folds nearly flat and is comparatively inconspicuous.

Two lightly padded shoulder straps make carrying the Sportour Backpack relatively comfortable. A small padded area near the top and a strip of mesh padding on each side enhance comfort while providing airflow. When fully loaded, it can feel heavy yet larger more padded straps would have increased its weight.

After trying out dedicated carry-on bags, the main disadvantage of such a backpack becomes obvious. With only an opening in the top half of the main compartment, it is difficult to organize content within this bag. Lower items are weighed down by those on top. The laptop slot is also easily obstructed by items when the bag is completely full. The secondary compartment is of a decent size yet is nearly impossible to fill completely since it is too deep relative to its thickness.

This packpack is well made yet uses generic materials, mostly nylon. The bottom panel is reinforced with thicker nylon. These materials allow the High Sierra Sportour backpack to be lightweight and look inexpensive. When traveling, this is often a good thing since it attracts less attention than a high-end bag.