It’s 16L x 11.25H x 4.25D in internal dimensions, and it fits my 40D carried lens-down. This leaves a 10 x 11.25 x 4.25 in volume next to it for carrying papers and books. The laptop compartment is 16 x 11.25 x 1.5 in, which is plenty of room. Overall dimensions: 16.5 x 12 x 6 in.
This is currently my favorite larger bag. You can see some [photos of the bag][ud60photos] to see how I configured the internal compartment for the Canon EOS40D. I’ve taken this bag to South by SouthWest (SXSW), carrying around about 25 pounds worth of gear, and have shlepped it between the east and west coasts as carry-on luggage.
- 17″ Mac Book Pro w/ Power Transformer (about 8-9 pounds)
- Canon EOS 40-D with EF-S 17-55mm f/2.8 IS USM + Lens Hood (not reversed, either) (around 4 pounds)
- Small Fuji FinePix F30d digital camera
- Chargers and Media Reader tucked in the sides
- Books, Magazines, Pens
With the optional backpack strap accessory, walking to and from the convention center (about an 8 minute walk) was not bad at all. Even better: when it rained, I could drape my light windbreaker over the bag to shield it from rain. I could have optionally used the included Rain Shield, which is a waterproof covering you can put around the bag. I’m not sure how it would work with the shoulder strap though. The back pack attachment is definitely worth it for hands-free carrying of heavy gear.
Six Month Review
I’ve brought the bag with me to San Jose. It fits nicely under the airplane seat, has plenty of pockets. The build of the bag is a little lighter than what I’m used to, but I’m pretty happy with it. No tears, no problems, no signs of wear or impending collapse. I’ve mostly been hauling it around by the shoulder strap (no sign of fraying) in the back of my Volkswagen GTI.
Nine Month Review
A few observations with the bag:
- The padding in the bottom corners of the bag is a little thin, so if you hit a corner just right it can impact the corner of my laptop. This has only happened once at an airport. The Think Tank bag philosophy seems to lean towards more capacity with less padding, and typically I have found this fine in my day-to-day use. Compared to my Briggs & Riley 17″ soft brief, the UD60 is lightly-armored but carries a LOT more, more flexibly. If tend to be careful with your bags, as I am, you probably won’t have many problems. The outer pockets actually seem to work pretty well as armor with the cables and what not I have in them.
- The backpack straps are really useful when running through the airport, but they are a little cumbersome to use when the bag is filled with 25 pounds of gear. They tend to flip inside out while shrugging them on (especially if you are wearing a heavy wool coat), and it can be trying to figure out which way they’ve flipped to correct the problem. Otherwise, the backpack straps are comfortable once on. I loosen the straps all the way and tighten them once they’re on my back. If the buckles were a little more oversized it would be more convenient. Also, the backpack straps interfere with the opening of the bag, so you have to detach them from the carrying handle. This is fairly quick, but it’s one thing that gets in the way.
- When fully loaded with laptop + accessories in the pockets, the bag does tend to slowly fall over if I put it on the ground. I may be overstuffing it.
Otherwise, I’m pretty happy with it. The one functional drawback, though, is that with my camera loaded in the bag I don’t have much room for magazines or regular notebooks. There is one inner pocket that can take a notebook and a few magazines, and the outer pouch can take another one, which I’m finding merely adequate. I sometimes use the UD60 primarily as a gear bag, and use a Briggs and Riley Vertical Brief for paper + a netbook. Or, I use the LEvertigo 17 for the notebook + accessories, and use the laptop compartment of the UD60 for additional folder storage.
One other note: the shoulder strap that this bag comes with is just AWESOME. I have thought of ordering extra ones for my Briggs and Riley 17″ Computer Brief, which I used to think had a decent shoulder strap but it’s horrible by comparison.
0 Comments