When we do something awesome, we usually want to share it. But the environment where awesome adventures happen is often where the tools used for documentation -- cameras, mostly -- are susceptible to being damaged. For that reason, your expensive gear often stays in your pack, instead of out where you can get to it right when you need it.
A few months back, my work as a photographer took me into the wilds of Switzerland -- a trip that afforded me the opportunity to field-test some new outdoor photo travel gear. Here are the key pieces of my DSLR kit I used to get the shots I needed while on the job, out in the elements.
Mountainsmith Spectrum Day Pack
For adventure photography, your kit is going to need to stay minimal to keep things light and relatively fast: One, maybe two camera bodies, two or three lenses, cleaners, flash, remote, and a tight assortment of chargers.
Don't let "Day Pack" in the name trick you into thinking it's small -- the Spectrum will house all of those things in padded bliss for the flight to where your adventure starts. Plus, it has a separate padded laptop pocket providing easy airport security access.
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Mountainsmith Spectrum Day Pack ($120) lets you keep things incredibly organized with five separate compartments. The outermost pocket is thin and fleece-lined, and it's where I found myself stashing my passport and other quick-access travel documents. Since I was traveling to Switzerland, I wasn't as concerned about pick-pockets -- a different itinerary, and I might have put those somewhere else.
Next is a small office pocket with room for a note pad, slots for pens and pencils, and a clear pocket where I found I liked having my CF cards where I could see them. This pocket also has some depth and smaller compartments where I stashed battery chargers, extra batteries, a card reader and a small flashlight. The main compartment sits above the padded lens and camera compartment. Since this was my carry-on bag, this is where my inflight entertainment (books!) and must-haves-if-my-luggage-gets-lost items went. It would also fit an external hard drive or two.
There are some good compression straps on the side, and stretchy thin mesh pockets designed to house a water bottle or even a small tripod. Though, tripods are always awkward when strapped to a pack, I think a little tripod accommodation on at least one side of this pack could make it slightly less awkward.
WIRED Durable and rugged construction. Comfortable when stuffed and weighted down. High visibility interior with colorful, contrasting panels. Plenty of external straps and loops. Easy-access laptop pocket for a tidy TSA experience.
TIRED Limited configuration options in the lens/camera compartment. Comes in any color you want, as long as it's black.
Rating: 8 out of 10Photo by Graham Thatcher/Wired
