A New Bag, A Fresh Ordeal…

Christmas is Over…

So there we were. Christmas over, New Year too and everyone feeling bloated and slow. My better half decided that it was time to get healthy and that we should meet up with friends and go for a walk. Trouble is, I’m the more overweight and least energetic of our group, and the plan was to explore the Sandstone Trail in Cheshire. A 5-mile traipse over hill and dale. Oh well, at least an opportunity to get the D3 out and explore a fresh landscape. One problem though, I would need to take a selection of lenses and all of my current bags are shoulder bags. Not the best idea for a major 5-mile trek! Never mind, we were going into Chester for a hair cut so perhaps I could take a few moments to check out the Camera shops whilst Helen was having her hair coloured. I had planned to go into Jessops, but in the final event I happened across the London Camera Exchange in Bridge Street Chester. The staff were very helpful, and a couple buying Canon kit were keen to reassure that the Tamrac Expedition 6x Photo/Laptop Backpack would serve well enough. So the purchase was made.

Starting Out…

So off we went, starting at the Candle Factory, Tattenhall, and made our way up hill on one of the circular walks. The Expedition 6 had everything I could possibly need, and was very comfortable in use, despite being quite heavy with everything in. The bag comfortably holds a Pro-DSLR with 3 Pro Lenses and there is still space for filters, a flash and sundry other accessories.

The Expedition 6x has a pocket for a laptop, and outside pockets for things like your mobile phone, spare batteries and cards with a nifty red card system to help you know which ones are spent and which ones are fresh. There is a third ‘pocket’ at the base of the sack which you can use to support your tripod legs if you have a tripod strapped to the back of the sack.

Finally there are the Strap Accessory System attachment slots in the sack chest straps, and the Modular Accessory System attachment slots on the sides of the sack. The modular accessories are purchased separately (for instance from Premier Ink and Photographic), and include things like a water-bottle with holder, various lens cases, flash cases, rain covers and belts. All in all the sack was comfortable in use, though as with anything like this, when fully loaded you have to be reasonably fit to avoid aches and pains the next day!! Helen says more walks for me, 10 miles next time – oh dear!!

The circular route that we took presented a number of pleasing views, with various opportunities to include farm machinery, forest scenes and aerial views.