Customer Reviews
This is by far the best camera bag I have ever owned for traveling. It’s amazing on hikes and it feels secured. I used the medium insert for which was a little too big for liking so I ordered the small insert when I got home. It took a lot of beating on my Patagonia ADV motorcycle trip and even fell off the motorcycle once at 50mph and hardly took a scratch.
I also was one of the first 100 backers on Kickstarter and don't regret my pledge for a bit. The backpack is really well made with a lot of attention to detail and clever features. The harness and frame work good even with a heavy gear inside. The provided adjustments are thoughtful and help a lot. Materials used are pretty substantial. This makes the pack a little heavy. However it provides good amount of protection for my gear and a resistance to environment. The expansion pouch is gorgeous and extremely useful on a trip. The magnet safety buckles didn't bother me at all, they work good.
Not all is perfect though. I hope, I can provide valuable feedback for PGYTECH for next products.
I had a chance to use and test this pack on a recent trip. First of all, it was accepted as a Carry on (I have the 40L variant) on an international flight without problems. However it was for sure heavier than allowed.
1. The adjustable torso lengths of the harness tends to jump out of selected notch. Which gets annoying, because you definitely feel the pack hanging crooked on your back. The solution is to put the pull tabs behind the Notch-Assembly which locks them in place pretty good. A locking solution (velcro or something) would have been slower to adjust, but not so easily displaced.
2. The buckles on the expansion pouch are quite sharp and don't get undone easily, when the pack is full and lashed down. You first need to loosen the straps and then open the buckles.
3. The water bottle holders on the side flaps are good and non intrusive. However they are a little tight, when the side flaps are loaded (e.g. batteries on one side and some gear on the other.
4. speaking of side flaps: the side without camera access could have used some internal pockets with better holding potential. The pack doesn't have any velcro or zip pocket for organization. So things tend to fall out, when you lay down the bag to get to your equipment.
5. There is no admin section. Nowhere to put a pen and notebook without them falling out or getting in the way. this is a missed opportunity in my opinion.
6. The harness adjustment goes from Medium to XXL. People with smaller torsos (my wife had to carry the bag for a minute) will not get the full potential of the great harness. I don't know, if the smaller Flex better fits shorter users.
7. I wish, the webbing strip for a capture clip was a little more padded. It is made of a folded nylon with a little padding. And my Falcam F38 clip worked good without slipping. But it is on the edge of not gripping tight enough. The implementation by Peak Design on an Everyday Sling feels better.
Don't think I wouldn't buy the Bag again. It is very capable and good piece of gear. Next one will be better, I'm sure.
It’s could be fit for most of photographers and videographers
Feels like bulid up own bag
Comfort:
it would be equivalent to a Osprey Stratos or Gregory Zulu which is a upper mid tier hiking backpack. Osprey Atmos/Exos or Mystery Ranch Bridger is clearly more comfortable but bulkier.
Airline Carryon:
the dimension are very close to airline limits especially the depth. If over packed it won't pass measurements. Worse case they give you a hard time just pulled out the camera insert and claim that as your personal item instead of overhead.
Design;
the design is very similar to Shimoda Action X line. Difference is that instead of a rolltop it is now a clever expandable top pouch. I like this design more than rolling. Another difference is the shoulder straps are not replaceable. Shimoda has several different types to swap in. Even several for women specifics.
Build Quality:
it is premium level similar to what you would get from Peak Design or Shimoda. One nit pick is the adjustment webbing feels cheap. They probably elected to go that route to save weight. The webbing on the camera insert are more premium feel and wish they used that on the backpack as well
Harness system:
torso adjustment is similar to what Osprey has but also seem like a weak point. A small amount of material is what holds the should strap to the anchor points. The center yolk area is flexible and bulges a little. Depending on how you wear it might tickle your back neck. Padding on the straps are stiff and not supple soft. It will need a lot of breaking in. The shoulder strap width is also wide meant more for men. It does not fit the contour of a female body as well. Hip strap is sufficient but the back support are needs bit material. Other mesh design by Osprey etc hugs your body. PGYTech has mesh material on the back area but isn't a seamless extension down to the waist.
Access:
There are plenty of access, top, side, rear. One note about the rear panel is you can't wear the hip strap and rotate the backpack around to access like a Mindshift backpack. Must entirely take off the backpack to access the rear. Due to the zipper design holding the entire backpack together they included fallback safety magnetic latches. It is nice to use that when you don't want to fully zip up while it is on the ground.
Overall I am pleased with the backpack. There are definitely room for improvement, but solid for a V1. If there is a smaller version of this backpack my spouse would love to buy it. Currently their different sizes has the same torso adjustment range for all sizes. They all have the same width/depth but only difference is the length.
OnePro Flex Backpack