The Best Travel Photography Backpack of All Time

That right there my friend is the perfect travel bag for photographers!

Alright my friend, we’ve officially found THEE best travel photography backpack. The WANDRD PRVKE bag is everything you’ve been looking for and more.

Created by two brothers who were on the hunt for the perfect bag themselves, they decided to make their own! It honestly has every feature we could have thought of ourselves. It’s spacious, durable, convenient, looks super great, and protects our gear.

Being both travelers and photographers we knew we needed something great. If you’ve ever been in the hunt for the perfect bag, you know it’s hard to find the right fit. We spent hours and actual days reading reviews, watching YouTube videos, and looking at different options.

In the end, Scott and I each bought our own WANDRD bags back in 2017 when the company was fairly new. At that time WANDRD only had the PRVKE bag available and were on their second Kickstarter for their duffel.

Everything we saw from them seemed authentic, genuine, and real. Often you buy gear just to buy gear for the function and not the story behind it. With our WANDRD bags we were getting both. We were getting a great product with a story.

Our WANDRD bags have withstood all types of climates and weather!

We use our WANDRD bags everyday. For real. They go with us on our client shoots as well as when we travel. On our recent, 2 week trip to Portugal we packed EVERYTHING in to our two WANDRD bags. We were able to take our camera, drone, lenses, laptop, and all charging gear as well as pack all of our clothes in to our two BACKPACKS!

We were able to avoid the additional fees of checking in luggage, have everything we needed with us at all times, and not have to worry about losing anything. It was also awesome for when we rented the scooter and traveled over 1,300 KM through Portugal. It made carrying everything we brought with, super simple and easy.

Like I said, when we bought our bags the PRVKE was the only option they had available. We each got the 31L Photography Bundle. I got Wasatch Green, Scott got Black. I was worried the 31L would be too big for me (I’m 5’8”) as a backpack but it is just fine. I rarely have it rolled out and if I do I’m usually traveling (not everyday use) so it doesn’t look as strange.

Listed below are the features and then the cons and pros for the the PRVKE 31L Photography Bundle. By the end you’ll see why you need to SERIOUSLY consider this as your new travel photography bag.

We packed EVERYTHING in to our two 31L PRVKE bags on our 2 week trip to Portugal.

Features

This list could go on and on. Like I said it seems like the Cope Brothers thought of almost everything when creating this bag.

Includes:

Backpack

Dimensions: 19"H X 12.5"W X 7.5"D

Volume: 31 L to 36 L (roll top fully extended)

Weight: 1.5 kg (3.4 lbs)

Camera Cube

Waist Strap

Accessory Strap

Rainfly

Here is the Photography Bundle (Image from Wandrd website.)

Durability: Made out of waterproof tarpaulin and robic 1680D ballistic nylon with weather resistant zippers. That is taken from their website and gibberish to me but let me tell you this my friend, holy schmoley these bags are tough. They are durable, they protect everything inside, and they are actually weather resistant.

We’ve had ours for a year and have put them through the wringer. From the winters in Northern Michigan to the beaches of Portugal our bags barely have a scratch. We’ve never had a problem with rain or water getting in either. We haven’t even used our Rainfly because the bags themselves have done such a great job.

Easy Access Side: The PRVKE has side access that makes it easy to grab your camera quickly. You don’t have to take off your backpack and dig to find what you need. Without having to take off your backpack the easy side access allows you grab your camera or any other gear on the fly.

Expandable Roll Top: This might be my favorite. feature. It has a roll top that gives you 5 extra liters of space if you need it. Keep it rolled down to stay compact or expand it and pack it full.

It’s great because you can use this space for anything. When we’re working at home we keep our bigger gear in here, telephoto lens, lights, etc. But when we traveled, this is where we kept all of our clothes.

Separate compartments: The PRVKE has two separate "areas" - the top with the expandable roll top and the bottom with the cube. They are separated by a velcro stop. At anytime that velcro stop can be put down, the cube taken out and the PRVKE is suddenly one whole bag, like a regular backpack. When we traveled to Portugal, I took my cube out and made it like a regular backpack to make space for our clothes.

Computer and Tablet Sleeve: There are two sleeves on the back side of the bag that opens up. It can fit a 15” computer and tablet but we don’t have a tablet so we’re constantly keeping our notebook and planner in ours. It’s TSA friendly so all we have to do is unzip the backpack and send it through. It keeps all of our gear protected and safe and is everything we could have asked for.

Expandable Water Bottle/Tripod Pocket: This is external and on the side. I mostly use it to hold my Nalgene water bottle but have also used it to hold tripods and our Ronin stand.

Passport Pocket: This is a small, enclosed area that sits against your back. Its idea is to keep your passport safe, because there’s literally no way to get to it unless you take off the bag. We keep our business cards in there when we do normal, client work and our passports/business cards when we travel.

Key Holder: This probably won’t show up as a feature any where else but I love this space. It’s a small side pocket toward the top of the bag that, for us keeps our charged batteries and other odds and ends. It has a clasp inside of it, like a little key ring that's connected to the bag. It’s supposed to be for keys, which I’ve used before, but I’ve also used it to KEEP MY WEDDING RING SAFE! Yes, sometimes when I’m doing ridiculous things or swimming in the ocean or need to get my hands dirty, I’ll take off my wedding ring and put it where? In this nifty key ring clasp of course. I love it.

Top Pocket: We use the top pocket for all of our miscellaneous stuff. Gum, keys, tripod plates, etc. It’s deeper than you would expect and is easy to access.

Bottom Pocket: I hardly ever unzip the bottom pocket. It’s currently storing my waist straps and rainfly for that one day I might. I will say I don’t notice this pocket, ever, but I’m glad it’s there.

Side Access Camera Pockets: The easy access side pocket actually has its own mini pocket. We usually keep our memory cards and adapters in it. Super great for those small things you always seem to lose.

Magnetic Tote Handles: I’ve seen mixed reviews on these (see cons below). There’s a small magnet that holds the two tote handles together if you need it buuuuutttt if you have the top part filled, they don’t fit together and fit weird on your back if you don’t take the time to adjust them. It’s neither a lose nor win for me because most of the time we have a carabiner holding them together.

Removable Camera Cube: This is a feature of the Photography Bundle and it’s 100% worth it. This cube fits in the bottom part of the PRVKE bag and is 100% adjustable (see below). The cube keeps all of our gear safe and separated. It’s also removable and has been used as a smaller day bag and was left behind completely when we went to Portugal. Scott took his with the DSLR camera but I left mine to make more room for clothes and other items.

Adjustable Velcro Things: I’m not sure that’s their official names but stick with me. The removable camera cube comes with 7 adjustable velcro separators that fit to anything you need. Camera, lenses, filters, flashes, drone, etc. You name it, the adjustable velcro things can create it.

Accessory Straps: I love these guys. They connect to almost any spot on your bag. They can be adjusted and changed to fit whatever you need. They’ve carried blankets, shoes, and tripods for me.

Waist Straps: I’ll be honest, we haven’t used the waist straps yet because the bags are so comfortable on their own. We’ve tried them on though and they seem legit. We carry them everywhere, along with the rainfly in the bottom pocket.

Rainfly: Like I said above I haven’t actually used this before. It’s included in the bundle but the bag is so durable itself that even in snow and rain I don’t worry about our gear.

CONS

I decided to start with cons because, well, if you can’t tell, I don’t really have any. I can think of 3 things that, take them or leave them, could even possible be a deal breaker.

1) The side easy access pocket is only on one side. This was fine with me but Scott swears he only takes his backpack off one way (not the side easy access way). He complained about this in the beginning but I haven’t heard him mention it since……

2) The magnetic tote straps. I love the straps but the magnet in them is kind of.....meh. It’s worked fine for us but like I said if you expand the top part it’s irrelevant. Also, we usually have to adjust the strap because it gets caught on our back when we put it on. It’s not a big deal to us but I wouldn’t label it as its strongest feature.

3) The price. Upgrading to the 31L and Photography Bundle increased the price by $105. Totally worth it in my opinion. The camera case will keep your gear safe and the 31L is perfect for traveling.

PROS

Everything. Are you kidding me, we love this bag! Seriously, we often find ourselves saying, “gosh, aren’t these bags just great?”. They hold everything we need, protect all of our gear, and look really great. I haven't mentioned very much about comfort but they really are comfortable. The shoulder straps are wide and strong and sit on your shoulders nice. There's padding along the back that helps when you have all the odds and ends thrown in to your bag.

I could go on and on and on and on and on about the Pros but just trust me when I say Scott and I have used our WANDRD bags for more than a year and would recommend them over and over again.

Let me know if you have any questions about the WANDRD PRVKE 31L Photography Bundle pack, otherwise what are you waiting for? Buy it already and enjoy it my friend!

Click here to buy the PRVKE backpack!

Live Boldly,

Steph

Pssssttt, what hard drives do we take when we travel? Here you go.