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My Atlas Adventure arrived today, all 70L of it.
Disclaimer: I have no affiliation with the company and I paid full price for the bag. Not trying to sell anything here! Took a gamble after watching some (not sure if sponsored) videos on YouTube.
History:
I was looking for a bag that would carry both my Mamiya RB67 and my Tomiyama 6x17 comfortably. Neither are small, light cameras and by the time you've added a couple of film backs and lenses & a tripod, there's quite a lot of kit. My digital kit is utterly swallowed in it (2 x X-T bodies, 50-140, 16-55 & a couple of primes). I tend to go out for the day, so I often carry waterproofs, water, lunch, spare film, and maybe even the X-T2 with 16mm. Previous bag was a Dakine Poacher (45L?) with a camera insert. I'll be keeping this as a digital pack, but it only just fits the RB67 & spare lens on its own - without adding the 6x17. To give you an idea of size, I have a Think Tank Retrospective 7 and that will *only* carry the RB67. Nothing else.
The Atlas Adventure compares to the F-Stop Sukha in terms of size. It's a big pack with a rigid back plate and adjustable shoulder straps (as in you can adjust it for your height which is really nice). Access is via a zipped rear compartment that opens the whole pack rather than just the section inside the shoulder straps. This compartment can be "folded" allowing you to have a large main compartment and small camera compartment, or vice versa. It comes in black. This is really a bag for an overnight camper, or maybe a vlog-tographer (needs drones + 2 tripods + cameras), or an idiot with a ton of heavy film gear. I decided on this over the Sukha and the Shimoda Explore 60 for several reasons. 1 - because it was cheaper and didn't need me to faff over ICUs, 2 - the review videos seemed to show a better build quality bag, but probably most importantly, 3, the company were friendly and responsive when I emailed them so I had confidence that the gear I wanted to put in it would actually fit.
Cons:
Expensive. £330 delivered from the United States. Probably cheaper than the Sukha + Large/Pro ICU though and definitely cheaper than the "Shimoda Experience".
There are no more cons.
Pros:
Build quality. Excellent. Double strapped, gorgeously padded waist belt that cinches and releases with ease. Comfy shoulder straps - again heavily padded. Zips all have toggle things for when you've got gloves on, and it comes with rain cover. Spare toggles included with the bag. Plenty of camera inserts with the bag. Stitching seems really sound (although time will tell)
Comfort. Excellent. Fully loaded, it's heavy but the waist straps allow you to settle a lot of that on your hips. I've not felt a pack this comfy... well... ever...
Service. I contacted them before ordering to see whether my 6x17 would fit as it's 7" in its narrowest dimension. They were responsive, and pleasant over email. They sent it out same day after ordering, gave me a FedEx tracking number and it was with me in 4 days. Was offered lots of assurance that I could return it if there was a problem. Proper old-school service.
Straps & Pockets. Excellent. You could carry 2 tripods easily (or tripod & water bottle), the waist belt has two fold out pockets which would be really useful for changing things with the pack on. It's got the main compartment (accessed via top or rear), a second compartment for slim things (laptop, ithing, etc), the camera compartment and 2 top compartments - 1 small for things like keys/phone and another for maybe some sarnies and a bag of crisps. Numerous other small pockets for things like batteries & cards. Has a handle on the top, as well as a handle on the side for carrying it like a suitcase - which - considering it's length - is useful.
Summary:
If you want a big bag, and want something that'll carry everything for more than about 20 minutes without breaking your back, then this is probably it. And the great news is, you can send your list of gear to the company and they'll probably give you a good estimation as to whether it will or not. Obviously it's just arrived so I can't tell you how hard wearing it is, but it seems to be robust & durable. I'm really pleased with the comfort considering the weight I'm carrying. The Dakine pack is great for smaller loads, but even that doesn't feel as solid and glued to my back like this thing does.
Full Kit. Still plenty of space in the bag for filters and film. These are big cameras...
RB67 removed, "folding" insert lifted to give more space in the main bag. Could easily fit a DSLR in here with 2-3 lenses.
Straps & chunky waist support
Blue pouch for "thin" things.
Anyone thinking of buying one, and wanting more info, let me know!
Disclaimer: I have no affiliation with the company and I paid full price for the bag. Not trying to sell anything here! Took a gamble after watching some (not sure if sponsored) videos on YouTube.
History:
I was looking for a bag that would carry both my Mamiya RB67 and my Tomiyama 6x17 comfortably. Neither are small, light cameras and by the time you've added a couple of film backs and lenses & a tripod, there's quite a lot of kit. My digital kit is utterly swallowed in it (2 x X-T bodies, 50-140, 16-55 & a couple of primes). I tend to go out for the day, so I often carry waterproofs, water, lunch, spare film, and maybe even the X-T2 with 16mm. Previous bag was a Dakine Poacher (45L?) with a camera insert. I'll be keeping this as a digital pack, but it only just fits the RB67 & spare lens on its own - without adding the 6x17. To give you an idea of size, I have a Think Tank Retrospective 7 and that will *only* carry the RB67. Nothing else.
The Atlas Adventure compares to the F-Stop Sukha in terms of size. It's a big pack with a rigid back plate and adjustable shoulder straps (as in you can adjust it for your height which is really nice). Access is via a zipped rear compartment that opens the whole pack rather than just the section inside the shoulder straps. This compartment can be "folded" allowing you to have a large main compartment and small camera compartment, or vice versa. It comes in black. This is really a bag for an overnight camper, or maybe a vlog-tographer (needs drones + 2 tripods + cameras), or an idiot with a ton of heavy film gear. I decided on this over the Sukha and the Shimoda Explore 60 for several reasons. 1 - because it was cheaper and didn't need me to faff over ICUs, 2 - the review videos seemed to show a better build quality bag, but probably most importantly, 3, the company were friendly and responsive when I emailed them so I had confidence that the gear I wanted to put in it would actually fit.
Cons:
Expensive. £330 delivered from the United States. Probably cheaper than the Sukha + Large/Pro ICU though and definitely cheaper than the "Shimoda Experience".
There are no more cons.
Pros:
Build quality. Excellent. Double strapped, gorgeously padded waist belt that cinches and releases with ease. Comfy shoulder straps - again heavily padded. Zips all have toggle things for when you've got gloves on, and it comes with rain cover. Spare toggles included with the bag. Plenty of camera inserts with the bag. Stitching seems really sound (although time will tell)
Comfort. Excellent. Fully loaded, it's heavy but the waist straps allow you to settle a lot of that on your hips. I've not felt a pack this comfy... well... ever...
Service. I contacted them before ordering to see whether my 6x17 would fit as it's 7" in its narrowest dimension. They were responsive, and pleasant over email. They sent it out same day after ordering, gave me a FedEx tracking number and it was with me in 4 days. Was offered lots of assurance that I could return it if there was a problem. Proper old-school service.
Straps & Pockets. Excellent. You could carry 2 tripods easily (or tripod & water bottle), the waist belt has two fold out pockets which would be really useful for changing things with the pack on. It's got the main compartment (accessed via top or rear), a second compartment for slim things (laptop, ithing, etc), the camera compartment and 2 top compartments - 1 small for things like keys/phone and another for maybe some sarnies and a bag of crisps. Numerous other small pockets for things like batteries & cards. Has a handle on the top, as well as a handle on the side for carrying it like a suitcase - which - considering it's length - is useful.
Summary:
If you want a big bag, and want something that'll carry everything for more than about 20 minutes without breaking your back, then this is probably it. And the great news is, you can send your list of gear to the company and they'll probably give you a good estimation as to whether it will or not. Obviously it's just arrived so I can't tell you how hard wearing it is, but it seems to be robust & durable. I'm really pleased with the comfort considering the weight I'm carrying. The Dakine pack is great for smaller loads, but even that doesn't feel as solid and glued to my back like this thing does.
Full Kit. Still plenty of space in the bag for filters and film. These are big cameras...
RB67 removed, "folding" insert lifted to give more space in the main bag. Could easily fit a DSLR in here with 2-3 lenses.
Straps & chunky waist support
Blue pouch for "thin" things.
Anyone thinking of buying one, and wanting more info, let me know!
