Well a couple of weeks ago I was lucky enough to get my hands on the fairly recent release of a lowepro Classified Sling 180AW rucksack. I say lucky because I actually won a competition to get hold of it. I was in the market for a new bag so it’s been a most fortunate turn of events. I’ve had it for a few weeks now though so thought I’d share my thoughts on it.

This is pretty much my first Lowepro bag. Well that’s not true It’s my first lowepro bag big enough to put a DSLR in. I have a small pouch designed for a compact which I sometimes just use to carry a film camera or a flash. I’d also like to make it clear I am in no way affiliated to loweproUK who I won the bag from. This review is my honest opinion.

First impressions were very good. The build quality is top notch, rugged fabric on the outside and soft finishes with plenty of padding on the inside to protect your gear. Each buckle and strap is well made and stitched and the zips have nice leather pull tags on them.

Sizing the bag up for the first time I really didn’t think it was much bigger than my current crumpler rucksack but I was wrong. It really is quite the tardis. On the outside it looks reasonably small and it holds quite a slim profile which is nice as I don’t find it’s bashing on walls and people when I’m walking through the sometimes busy streets of Weymouth. On the inside though it holds an almost ridiculous amount of kit! The main compartment happily holds my D80 and 3 lenses (1 attached to body) and my sb600. That doesn’t sound like much but I still have room for approx another 2-3 lenses! which is fairly impressive for a small bag which is the right size for carry-on luggage.

Above the main compartment is a long pocket which runs the length of the lid. This quite happily stores a bunch of gels, two sets of AA batteries and a spare camera battery. It also has several specific slots for memory cards which are really handy and so easily accessible. There is also another pocket at the top of the bag which happily fits a mobile phone, wallet, notepad, pens, business cards etc. The front of the bag has a netbook pocket. It’s certainly big enough for that but I currently don’t have one to fill it. Instead I use it for a compact film camera, six rolls of film, a magazine, 500gb hard drive, leads, ipod, keys, filters, snoots and anything else I happen to find lying about. Yes it really is quite a big pocket!! and YES I really am impressed by this bag….but whats more impressive than both the size and build of this bag though is the design.

The design of this bag just rocks. I think someone has really thought about this bag for some time, if they haven’t they’ve certainly given that impression. It’s a sling bag so they’ve made entry to the main compartment through the side of the rucksack. This means you can access the bag without removing it just by swinging it around off your shoulder. They’ve kept the shape simple – It’s pretty much a rectangular box but this means when you want to use the bag you can place it on on the floor or a table and easily work out of the bag,. It doesn’t fall over and access to the contents is easy and not hindered. The pocket on top is genius and because its actually formed by one of the central compartment dividers it can be re-sized if required. the front netbook pocket is really spacious and again each to access. The adjustable straps have sleeves to hold the trailing strap pieces out of the way. It’s these little details that make the bag work. On one side of the bag you have a tripod holder and a pull out tripod foot. This very handily tucks away into a compartment on the side of the bag if not in use. It also has a weather cover that is also attached to the bag but hidden away. Zips are well placed and easy to use, and each pocket has two zips (even the smallest pocket) which is great for access and also means you could padlock them for security. Yes I really love this bag!

I guess though one reason for loving this bag is I didn’t have to pay for it…..that helps right? yeah I guess but it seems you can pick one of these up on amazon for about £80 and I reckon its worth every penny. It’s a well thought out design. Its big enough for most amateurs (and even pro’s who don’t pack the kitchen sink) and it’s great build quality will protect your stuff and as a bonus it hold a tripod well (something I’ve been needing in a bag for ages). Sure they do bigger bags but I would advise people who don’t need to carry lots of long zoom lenses or a full laptop check this bag out first. I give it 9 out of 10 and that’s only because of one very slight annoyance which the extra stability strap causes me but that’s being nit picky.

You can find out more of the technical stuff  about the bag here