Great travel bag for DSLR and more

About 6 months ago I purchased my first DSLR camera. I'd gotten fed up with missing priceless moments waiting for my point-and-shoot to focus. Anyway, the biggest thing I miss about the p&s cameras are their portablility. Most are easily slipped into a pocket and are great for travelling...DSLRs are not. Enter the lowepro line of SlingShot carrying cases.

I purchased the LowePro SlingShot 100AW for a trip to Myrtle Beach this summer. I paid about $75 for it, but found it to be priceless. I'm not the "bag-carrying" type, I like to travel as light as possible, and this helped contain everything I needed and more in a compact unit. As the week progressed, I found myself taking it everywhere...could be because there was about $1500 in camera equipment in it...but also because it made reaching for that camera very convenient. As a result, I captured over 400 images for the week, many of which have been turned into a nice momento album of our vacation.

Like I said before, I'm a fairly recent DSLR convert and don't have loads of lenses and such to lug around. Just the basic kit the camera came with, so I chose the smallest of the SlingShots. In it, I was able to carry the following for the entire week:

1 Canon Rebel XT
1 Panasonic MiniDV Camcoder
1 Garmin nuvi gps
1 table top tripod
1 spray bottle lens cleaner
2 spare batteries
4 additional MiniDV tapes
1 Canon charger
1 Panasonic charger
1 Panasonic charger cable
1 USB cable
My Zen Vision:M and ear buds
My wallet
My cell phone
My keys
A pocket pack of tissues

You get the picture. Despite loading up with all this, there was still room for more.

Design: The bag is very thoughtfully designed for the amateur photographer. It's main design feature is easy access to the main compartment that holds your camera. The main compartment offers partial or full access. There are 2 clips that keep the main compartment from falling completely open when all you need to access is the camera. I suggest keeping those clips in place, or you're liable to lose the contents of the bag with one thoughtless unzip.

The bag is worn slung over one shoulder and has an additional (smaller) strap that quickly clips to the main strap to provide stability when you're on the move. To access the camera, simply unclip the stability strap and swing the bag forward. Unzip the pouch, grab your camera, and shoot! The bag, when slung forward like this, also acts as a "shelf" of sorts, useful for resting the camera when swapping batteries, mem cards, or cleaning the lens. To stow it away, just drop the camera back in, zip it, sling it back, clip the strap, and go.

About the only knock on it would be that while the design is for convenience, it isn't necessarily designed for utmost comfort. The main strap is well padded and comfortable enough, but the way the stability strap attaches, I'd agree with other reviewers, that it may be uncomfortable for a woman. You can adjust the strap's angle, but still it looks as though it'll "lift and separate" and not at all comfortably. Over the course of the week, I found the bag's sling made my lower left rib area ache a little. Nothing bad, but certainly not totally comfortable over the long haul...as I'd worn it approximately 4 hours in total each day. This little discomfort aside, the bag is fantastic.

There are so many little details designed into this bag, it's really something. Among them are adjustable dividers in the main compartment; small pouches for memory cards; pouches for spare batteries; a built-in chamois cloth for cleaning the lens; grip strap on the sling for holding your cell phone. Mine fit perfectly, although, when there was no tension in the strap, the cell phone could slide out on it's own. This only happened once, but it's something to note. Also, the zippers are sand resistant, which was hugely helpful in keeping the Myrtle Beach sand out of my bag. Lastly, there is a weather/splash cover stowed away in the back of the bag. It's great for protecting your bag if you're, say, suddenly caught in a thunderstorm, as is often the case when travelling in the Carolina's during hurricane season. I used it once and it worked well enough.