One of the things I don’t talk about a lot is, Dad always had a great knowledge when it came to camera bags so I never had to learn the hard way when it came to traveling with gear which bags work and don’t work. For a number of years now I have a been a proponent of his line of Moose Bags, currently being made by MindShift, a Thinktank company. The MP-1 V2.0 and MP-7 V2.0 are my two primary soft sided bags for one simple reason. They work well.
That’s right they work well. They have good padding, great zippers, water resistant but each one comes with a shell just in case you need more, and most important they fit into the overheads of small planes. That’s a biggy as we all know. But the one thing I’ve been testing a lot lately is how waterproof are they?
This month I had the great pleasure of going on my first adult Steelhead Fly fishing trip. I had been out with my Grandpa’s when I was younger but this was different. Naturally I had my camera with me because the only thing better then fishing with friends is having the photos of them fishing so you can relive the stories. Now for you that don’t know when it comes to the Olympic Peninsula in Washington, it rains a lot. Keeping things dry is tough but oh so important. I wanted to see how good the MP7v2 would do under those conditions. I had tested it last year under much more cooperative conditions but this was the real test. Our first day we got 3/4 of an inch of rain but the bag, with the shell on, stayed perfectly dry inside. Bottom of the boat, shell cinched up tight, the bag held true. Now I did check it often and I did try and keep it out of the water the best I could but even with the backside not covered everything stayed dry inside. I dried it off that night and it was good to go the next day.
Now I don’t recommend sticking the whole thing in a tub of water but the bag with the shell on, cinched up tight, the contents will stay dry. So why do I love these bags? They work well.