Earlier this year I sold all my camera gear, and by all I mean everything from my DSLR and lenses, down to accessories like tripods and carrying bags. I wasn’t using my camera gear much cuz everything was so bulky and so got rid of them. Then last month I realized that I actually did need a camera, I just didn’t want something big so I ended up getting the new Sony A7 III mirrorless camera which I have been loving. I’ve also been slowly rebuilding my camera gear again from scratch and one of the first things I needed to do was get a camera strap and bag.
After doing a lot of research, I ended up with Peak Design for both the strap and bag. Peak Design is a pretty popular brand in the photography world, but I only recently found out about them because of their camera strap. Nearly all the Sony A7 review videos I watched had the circular red anchors (pictured above) and I didn’t understand what they were until I saw one of the reviewers snap his camera strap to it. That’s when I knew I needed that camera strap in my life. With my previous cameras, it was pretty unpractical to keep removing and putting the strap on so I always left it off, but with the Peak Design strap, it’s super easy. I shot the video below to show you how quick it is to snap the strap on and off.
I was going to order the strap online but decided to check and see if it was available locally and turned out AAB World had them. I ended up getting the Peak Design Leash Strap which is one of their thinner ones and while picking it up I also checked out the Peak Design bags.
When I was researching bags one of the things I was looking for was a bag that was at least half decent looking and the Peak Design looked pretty good online but I wasn’t convinced until I saw them in person and tried them out at AAB. I decided to go with their Everyday Sling model since I liked the way the bag looked and the way it’s worn. The Everyday Sling comes in two sizes, the 5L which I thought would be perfect for using when I travel, and the 10L size which I thought would be perfect to use locally when I needed to carry all my camera gear.
Full disclosure, AAB ended up giving me the 10L bag for free so I could review it. I had the choice to choose any of their bags but figured I’d have them give me the 10L so I could then buy the cheaper 5L version myself.
I picked up the bag a few weeks ago but waited to get my camera lenses before I could do a proper write-up, and now that I have most of my lenses, I’m kinda concerned the bag isn’t big enough and maybe I should be looking at their backpacks instead. The biggest issue is with my large 100-400mm lens which is a pretty tight fit heightwise. If you watch the video below you’ll see that I do manage to squeeze in all my lenses including the 100-400mm into the bag. But once I put my MacBook into the bag, then it becomes pretty difficult to zip up. I guess the easy fix is just not to carry my MacBook, but I really wanted a bag I could shove everything into and not worry about space.
One thing I was surprised with was how light the bag felt even though I had all my gear in it. I think that has to do with the way the bag is worn. Unlike a regular messenger bag which presses down on a small point on your shoulder with the weight of the bag being on your side, with the Sling, the weight of the bag is spread over a larger portion of your shoulder with most of the weight carried with the help of your back like a backpack. It’s a hybrid of a backpack and messenger bag and I found it easier to carry the gear without my shoulders starting to hurt. I also think the bag looks great and is really practical. You really should watch the video on the Peak Design website to find out about all the cool features of it since they do a great job of showing them. For example, I can carry my tripod with the Everyday Sling by strapping it to the bottom of the back or I can stack lenses inside the bag by using their “FlexFold” dividers. Peak Design really do think of everything which is why they’re loved by so many photographers.
If you’re interested in Peak Design gear, AAB are the local dealers and their prices are similar to if you order it yourself from the Peak Design website. The Leash strap cost me around KD14 while the Everyday Sling 10L bag sells for KD45. They’re both available on the AAB website [Here]
11 replies on “Peak Design Camera Gear in Kuwait”
I got the 5L sling bag for a trip to Berlin and it was amazing.
I fit in a Fuji xpro 2 with a lens attached, fuji x70, hard drive, battery pack, 2 extra batteries, a bunch of extra sd cards,lens pen, sunglasses and passport.
Its a tiny bag but you can really hold a lot of gear.
Before that I had the 20L Peak Design backpack and that was also great for carrying an insane amount of gear.
What color is your 5L?
BLACK <3
I have their everyday 20L backpack, best backpack ever. I ordered directly from them though.
On my last trip I had a 14inch laptop, nintendo switch, kindle, their field trip pouch which had my pills and medicine, sweat pants, two power adapters, an international converter, and a bunch of other stuff: passport, papers, 3 usb cables, e-cig and cartridge packs, pens, sunglasses, mini white noise.
Urgh you’re tempting me!
The bag is pretty compact and holds A LOT. Every time I go through security they’d be amazed how much stuff I have in the bag or completely baffled how to open it and get stuff out! I’m pretty sure with the 30L you can fit even more with a couple of cameras and a few lenses with everything that I mentioned, not to mention tie a tripod on the back since it has special ropes built in the bag (which you can still do with the 20L), but I went with the 20L for it’s compact size. I highly recommend it, and if you’re gonna be hesitant about the size:
20L: If you want to put more stuff than the sling and more comfortable and practical for travelling, and from the looks of the picture you posted with the sling on your back, the 20L is roughly the same size.
30L: If you’re planning to take with you a lot of camera equipment and lenses and put some clothes as well for a long journey or weekend for example.
Their website have very good videos/pictures that show you how much and what kind of stuff you can fit in them.
I also got the capture camera clip for the backpack which is an awesome accessory in theory, but did not manage to utilize it with the bag properly, either I wasn’t attaching it properly or i was just not comfortable since it was pushing a lot against my chest.
Couldn’t you at least downsize your equipment instead of selling it all?
You can’t shrink a Nikon D800
You could’ve just kept the camera and everything else you could sell if you wanted, because why would you sell a good camera?
I don’t think you understood what I wrote. I sold my camera and lenses because the setup was too bulky and so I wasn’t carrying it around or using it. So what’s the point of having a good camera if you aren’t gonna use it?