On our last trip Sarah, my fiancee, used my old North Face hydrapack to carry her gear and 'female stuff'. ; The bag was too big, bulky, and heavy. ; As a result, we decided to look into other bags. We have it narrowed down between the Crumpler 4 Million Dollar Home and the LowePro 70 AW. ; Any thoughts on either one? ; We are specifically concerned with: 1. ; Comfort - she is a smaller female, so a bag with a comfortable strap and good weight distribution is important. 2. ; Waterproof/Water Resistance - obviously not a quesiton for the Lowepro AW; what about the 4MDH? ; She has a partially-working Blackberry thanks to a poorly waterproofed North Face bag used on our last trip. 3. ; Size - it's tough to get an idea of how large the 70 AW is from the pictures. ; It doesn't look too large, but I'm concerned. Other bags would be considered, but they have to be pretty small, and preferrably shoulder bags. ; Thanks in advance for the help!
Tom, I think you saw the bag that I had when we met up. It's a Lowepro Flipside 300. I can say that it was absolutely perfect for traveling through WDW. Waterproof, held tons of stuff, has a tripod foot, VERY comfortable. Recommended!
Cory, if you think Sarah is going to be able to carry that big-a** bag you had, you're insane! ; (I assume you didn't see the part about it being for Sarah?) ; That bag is bigger than her. ; I don't even carry a bag as large as yours! Thanks though. ; I may actually look into it as a future bag for myself.
I cannot offer much advice here. ; I went from carrying a big a@@ bag (still not as big as Tim's) to a over the shoulder courier-style bag my wife bought at the store across from Indiana Jones at Disneyland. The change was immense and I started noticing other people with bigger cameras than mine doing the same thing. ; Our friend Gary, was always yelling at me about how my backpack was being worn wrong and poorly distributing weight and would re-cinch my straps which would them make it impossible to take off. I'm with Sarah on not wanting anything too big. ; Tom, what is she looking to put in this bag? That may allow someone to suggest something different as a bag by knowing what it's purpose is going to be?
^Nikon D40 + 18-200 VR; small tripod attached to the outside. ; As for the female stuff? ; I dunno, a hair brush, dental floss, hand sanitizer, and a handful of pin trading pins.
I forgot Sarah carries a camera too. ; I, for some reason, was thinking she was just needing to carry themepark supplies (rain coat, snacks, "female stuff", etc) My wife carries my old D80 in a backpack wrapped in her raincoat. ; She doesn't take a lot of pictures with it knowing that I'm strafing the parks with my D300. ; She only takes it out when she's wanting to get pictures of me doing something stupid
Isn't that what our wives are for Ray? ; Catching me when I am doing something stupid is my wife's favorite past time.
I have an older and MUCH smaller backpack that I used to use back in my point and shoot days that I might need to bust out for park purposes now that we have 2 kids. ; I also have the canon deluxe ; gadget bag (the expensive one) that i might start using too. ; Decisons decisions...
Tom, the Lowepro Flipside really is no larger than your average school backpack. It's only 10.2 x 6.9 x 17.5".
