What's In My Bag (2016) - Peak Design Everyday Messenger

Video transcript included below...

Hey guys, Dan here from CLE Tech and today we have Episode 3 of “What’s In My Bag” and to be more specific, “What’s In My Camera Bag?”

Starting off, of course, with the bag itself, this is the Everyday Messenger from Peak Designs. Peak Designs make really high quality bags for photographers and videographers in mind. Now I have been using this Everyday Messenger bag for a few months now and it has been my everyday carry bag since I have had it.

The design of the bag is unique in a few different ways. Now I know this video is technically going to focus on what I carry in my camera bag but this bag is NOT just for camera gear. The removable dividers in the main compartment allow for easy customizing to fit all of your needs. If you don’t need the divider or aren't carrying around any gear, simply take them off. The velcro is super strong but also easy to remove the dividers when needed.

Now just by looking at this bag, you might have noticed that it’s made up of some pretty interesting materials. According to Peak Designs this bag is made from Weatherproof waxed 500D Kodra shell with high-density padding and DWR undercoat. To put it more simply, it’s made from durable materials that can pretty much get through any conditions you might experience during your travels.

Every zipper and pocket are manufactured to perfection but my favorite feature is the lock/unlock mechanism that really sets this bag apart from the rest. Peak Designs made it SUPER simple to open and close the bag with the technology they call the MagLatch. Using a combination of the magnetic latch and ladder lock points, the Everyday Messenger bag is the best bag I have ever had when it comes to taking out items quickly and easily.

Carrying this bag around is extremely comfortable and the straps themselves are made up of sleek seat belt style straps that distributes the weight of the bag evenly across your chest. When you feel the strap for the first time, it’s a little weird, since it’s essentially a seat belt but it’s brilliant in the sense that you know it’s going to be pretty difficult to wear these guys out.

Finally, what exactly can you fit inside the Everyday Messenger? The answer to that is easy; a lot. I usually overpack and my bag is super heavy all of the time. For this example, I brought what I would usually carry around everyday for work and editing. There may be a few things added in for extended stay use cases.

Our first zippered compartment is where you would place your laptop and/or tablet. You can fit a 15-inch laptop comfortably but not much bigger. In this video, I have my work computer, which is the 15-inch 2015 MacBook Pro and you also have room for what looks like a full sized iPad but If I have my computer with me, I would probably only bring my iPad Mini along with me.

The main compartment of the bag is where most of your gear will go. Of course, you have the dividers to help divide the lens from other components of the camera, like the body. Speaking of body, in one of the areas of the main compartment is where the camera body would be. Now, I am in between second cameras right now and so I only have the new Sony a6500 to shoot with and that is what I am currently using for this video. So imagine a small DSLR camera in this spot right here. Next, we have all of the lenses I would bring, like the Sony 35mm, Canon 50mm, and Sigma 18-35 to name a few. For audio, I would either throw in my Rode filmmaker set or my personal favorite, the Rode video mic pro that you see here. It fits perfectly on top of the camera or lens section and I feel pretty confident that it’s well protected in this bag.

Again, if you don’t need to carry camera gear and are a student looking for a multiple use case bag, you can remove the dividers and fit tons of folders and notebooks with ease.

In the main compartment, there is one small little sleeve in which I keep my iPhone 7 Plus in. It has a nice material that shouldn’t scratch your phone and it fits perfectly. There is also one zippered compartment and that’s where I would keep things like loose SD cards or in this case, my Sony a6500 camera batteries. Sony cameras are notorious for having crappy battery life and so this many batteries for a day shoot is probably not enough but it’s nice to have the space for them if needed.

Finally, on the front of the bag, there is one more zippered compartment that can fit all sorts of little odds and ends like pens, cables, and flash drives. For me, I kept my secondary phone, which is usually the phone I am currently testing and right now that’s the OnePlus 3T. I also have a lightning cable or USB-C cable to charge said phones, a smaller portable battery bank like this one from Noontec and, of course, in order to get some editing done on the road, I need my external SSD. This is the Samsung T1. This model is the USB 3.0 version but the newer model features USB 3.1 with USB-C connectivity. It’s much faster than this but for me, the T1 is still good enough.

Finally, if I want to listen to music, well I am going to need some headphones. For this particular use case, I would need two pairs, one for the computer and either an adaptor or a different pair for my iPhone. This might be inconvenient but the JBL lightning headphones are amazing. Seriously, they sound really, really good, offer a bit of active noise cancellation and are pretty comfortable. If you love the idea of lightning headphones but just aren't digging the Apple versions, you should definitely check this out!

If you're interested in any of the products mentioned in this video, you can of course find them in the description below.

Let me know what you think in the comments section about the Everyday Messenger bag or if you want to see a more detailed video on my camera gear and I use them to produce my content.

Thanks for watching and I will see you guys in the next one.