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Tamrac 5549 Adventure 9 Photo/Laptop Backpack (Camo/Black)

Tamrac 5549 Adventure 9 Photo/Laptop Backpack (Camo/Black) Buy this product from Amazon
Company : Tamrac
List Price : $189.95
Amazon Price : $139.95
Used Price : $124.95
Average customer review : 5
 

Features

Product Description

The Adventure 9 is a modern backpack designed for the SLR photographer with a pro digital or film SLR with a grip and 5" lens attached, several additional lenses, a flash, accessories and a laptop. The completely foam-padded lower compartment protects photo equipment, while the large top compartment holds a light jacket, lunch or other necessary items. Inside the top, a Pop-Off Pocket keeps AC adaptors and laptop cords organized. A separate, completely foam-padded compartment provides quick access to a laptop without disturbing photo gear.Double zipper pulls provide quick access to photo gear while a weather flap and quick-release buckle provide security and weather protection. Inside the main compartment, foam pillars support the camera with lens attached, ready for action, while adjustable, foam-padded dividers protect other equipment. Tamrac's Memory & Battery Management System uses red flags to identify available memory cards and batteries from ones that are used up. A Windowpane-Mesh pocket organizes filters, cables and other accessories.Two mesh side pockets provide quick access to accessories and water bottles. The comfortable, foam-padded backpack harness with sternum strap is contoured to distribute the weight of the camera gear across the shoulders. The harness also features Tamrac's Strap Accessory System attachment points for customizing this pack. Two lash tabs on the bottom allow a tripod to be carried (requires accessory straps).

Customer reviews

Excellent Camera & Laptop Backpack 5
I really like my Tamrac 5549 in Camo. I got the Camo to make it look less like a camera bag to potential thieves. The pack has plenty of room for several lens and one camera body, maybe two if you got creative, all your lens cleaning gear, cables, cords, remote shutter release, extra batteries, & memory cards. The red flaps that signify used batteries or cards is novel and semi useful. Plenty of room for a 15" laptop, nicely protects it as well. Top pocket has space for extra gear like a jacket or lunch.

Pretty Satisfied with this Pack! 4
I purchased this Tamrac bag in late April for the purpose of carrying a laptop and camera with me when I travel, especially on airplanes because there's no way on earth anyone should check a DSLR camera or its lenses!

The cons: Very Few! Other than the laptop, you can't fit anything else flat (such as a notebook or book/magazines) if you're using the laptop slot to contain your computer. It would be nice if there was a second zipper slot for such things (maybe a thin binder at the least).
You can't really strap a tripod to this bag (although I think you can purchase additional straps that will allow you to strap one to the bottom). Speaking of straps, there are lots of them and they are long! One tiny annoyance is the strap designed to go around your waist when hiking. It is veeeeeery long and you can't detach it if you don't plan on using it. You have to find a way to fold and tuck it somewhere or else it'll be in the way. There are also straps on the padded straps you put your arms through. Not sure what they're for but they flop around if you don't tuck them somewhere. There's temptation to cut them to a shorter length but then there's fear that they're that long for a REASON! So I haven't cut them.
Because the camera pouch is completely in the rear, you do have to take the bag off (at least off of one shoulder) to access your camera. There are some bags out there that let you access the camera from the side w/o having to take off any part of the bag. It's not a big bother to me though.
It might be nice if the bag itself was a tad lighter (even when empty).
I would like to have paid less for this bag ($125 isn't exactly chump change). But compared to other bags that didn't quite have everything I was looking for, I have no beef with what I paid and it's been more than worth it so far, even with just one lengthy trip taken with it. These are the only reasons this bag didn't get a full 5 stars.

Pluses:
I have a 15.4" laptop that fits just fine in the side slot which has great padding! You never feel anything uncomfortable when wearing this bag! The back padding is also breathable. On my last trip, I had the back on virtually all day on the Oregon coast on a day where the temperature was 103! And I never felt sweaty on my back and the bag never got moist on its padding either. The arm straps are very comfortable too. I didn't feel a lot of rubbing on skin when I wore a tank top. A fully loaded bag will feel very heavy when you lift it but once it's on your back, it feels much lighter! I think that's due to the design of the arm straps and the padding. I never felt like I just 'had to take the bag off'. Walking around an airport with it is a different matter, but I bought a cheap foldable Samsonite Micro Mover Fold Away Luggage Cart from Staples for $25 and it worked wonderfully with this pack (I won't review the cart here though).
If this bag came with built in rolling wheels that would truly take the cake! But I didn't see a single bag on the market with rollers that was under $220.

I thought that the top pocket of the backpack would be small but I found I was able to fit PLENTY of things in it (including a light jacket and wind pants with room to spare). It came in handy when I put adidas flip flops inside of that pocket when on the beach (but if you're bigger than a size 11, forget it).

The side mesh pockets are GREAT! Perfect size for water bottles and just about anything else. I put a cell phone, business cards, pens, and even spare change on those pockets and never lost a thing.

Last, but most importantly, the camera pouch. Talk about ROOM!!!! I could probably fit at least 3 camera bodies and 2 large lenses inside if I wanted. Or maybe 2 large bodies with additional grips, etc. I had no idea that the camera pouch was going to be so deep. I have only a Canon 400D with an attached 28-135mm lens. I filled the rest of the space with all sorts of things (point & shoot camera, multiple battery chargers, cords, cables, card readers, etc.) There's almost TOO much space right now but with more lenses on the horizon, I'll work to fill it. The flap to the camera pouch is really nice. It has 4 well sized pockets for memory cards, spare batteries, and other small items. The padding inside is FULLY customizable so you can make sure anything is snug if you want.
This pocket can be closed by dual zippers or by 3 clips for speedy access. The only small hang-up with the clips is that you must undo at least 2 of them to access your camera, but that's not really a problem. Dual zippers are always preferred over a single one so that's great. Once zipped, there is a great flap that covers the entire zipper and pouch to keep out moisture if it rains. I don't know how water resistant the whole bag is (I'm sure I'll find out) but I have no doubt that in that particular pouch, everything out to remain clean and dry if you zip it up tight. The flap even does fairly well if you clip the flap shut instead of zipping it.

The bottom of the bag is VERY strong and rugged so you don't have to set your bag down as if you were handling fine china. The whole bag seems very very tough and if any part of it breaks within 2 years of hard use, I'd be surprised.

I bought the camouflage colored bag and I love it. Like said above, it looks a lot less like a bag that countains valuables, yet photographers will always know you're a photographer too, so that's great. Red stands way out and the black does look like something someone would want to run off with if given the chance.

I definitely recommend this bag for traveling amateur photographers who like to keep all of their equipment close and secure. I'd go with Tamrac again any time for similar products. I hope this review is very helpful and if it's too long, blame Amazon for letting me be so loquacious about a great product!


Web page shows item in wrong color 5
While this is an excellent item and fits its niche perfectly; needing to carry a 17 inch laptop, SLR camera, a few lens, plus other miscellaneous gear and all in one bag. At the time of my receiving this item (Friday, May 9th, 2008) , I came to find out that the product image (which I went based off of) doesn't match the product description. If you order this item, you will receive the Camo/Black color scheme instead of the Red/Black one that is shown in the image. Hopefully Amazon will address this issue shortly.

Great bag 5
Tons of room, love the bag, holds laptop, canon 20d, 3 lenses, 50mm, 17-85 IS on camera 70-300, 420 flash, batteries, cf cards, i even have room for my sony dvd camcorder in the upper pouch, only negative thing i can say is that with all that gear bag can get heavy. Backpack shape also doesnt scream out steal me, and good luck tearing it off my back.


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Tamrac 5549 Adventure 9 Photo/Laptop Backpack (Camo/Black)