All too often, camera bags, especially backpacks, end up being geared toward professionals, with enough room for a battalion of lenses and every accessory you could ever imagine. That's great if you are a pro, but most of us need to bring along some noncamera items on our outings, and don't want to have to haul more than one bag to do so. That's why Tamrac created the Adventure series of backpacks, which do double duty as camera bags and small daypacks, thanks to separate compartments on bottom and top, respectively.
Largest among the series is the Adventure 9, which can accommodate professional SLR bodies with vertical grips and large pro lenses, such as Canon's nice, big EF 70-200mm f/2.8L IS USM. The daypack portion isn't huge--measuring 11x8.75x6.5 inches--but you'd be surprised at what you can fit into it. Plus, a padded sleeve built into the back of the bag holds laptops with screens as large as 17 inches, though the somewhat thick Dell we tried was a tight fit. A removable pouch, large enough for a laptop power supply or similar-size items, also comes with the bag.
As you can usually expect from Tamrac, there is a great attention to detail in this seemingly simple backpack. For example, the bottom portion has three clips on the outside that can keep the compartment from flopping open if the zippers somehow come undone. But, they also come in handy if you only want to open the compartment half way. Since the company's patented Memory and Battery Management System finds its home inside the bottom compartment cover, Tamrac included the two small side clips for the compartment so you can easily access your batteries and memory cards without having to completely open the bottom hatch. Depending on how you choose to configure the padded dividers inside that compartment, this can also make quick lens changes a lot smoother, especially if you wear the backpack on your front as many pro photographers do: to rest your arms on the pack to help steady your shots.
To help keep the forces of nature at bay, Tamrac uses weather-resistant fabric and includes extra large flaps over the zippers on the front, and a weather-resistant, rubberized zipper for the laptop compartment. A couple of times, we had some trouble with those large flaps getting caught in the zippers, but they never caused any damage and were fairly easy to untangle. If you find yourself having trouble, you should really flip them back when accessing either compartment. However, we were happy to have them there when running out to the car in the rain, and just as happy when we reached into the bag to find our camera gear safe and dry.
Tamrac has been steadily improving its backpack straps in the last couple of years. The harness system on the Adventure 9 is well-padded, though not very bulky, and the straps can be adjusted from both the top and bottom, to help you keep the pack high on your back and positioned better over your center of gravity. An unpadded waist belt and a chest strap are also on hand, and with everything securely fastened, the pack becomes a lot more comfortable to wear. I packed the Adventure 9 completely full of gear, and while I wouldn't have wanted to carry it around by the handle (especially because the webbed grip left an unpleasant imprint on my fingers), it wasn't unpleasant to carry once I got it on my back.
There's not much to complain about with the Adventure 9. The main thing that stands out after using it is that there are no small compartments on the outside for a cell phone or music player. Tamrac's Strap Accessory System lets you add small pouches to the backpack's straps, but we'd have liked them to include one here, as they did the removable pouch. Also, we were impressed with the versatility of the padded inserts included on a Kata bag we recently reviewed. While Tamrac (and almost all other camera bag makers) covers its inserts with a synthetic fabric, Kata covers theirs with soft fabric that its Velcro can stick to, so you can create more versatile configurations. It might be nice to see more bag makers move to this model. To Tamrac's credit, all the interior walls of the camera compartment are covered in Velcro, so you are still afforded a lot of flexibility in configuring it to suit your camera.
If you've got a digital SLR, especially a larger one, and need a combo backpack that can haul a lot of gear, the Adventure 9 should suit your needs. If it seems like it's too much pack for you, Tamrac also makes some smaller versions, such as the Adventure 7 and Adventure 6, which hold a little less but don't have a spot for your laptop. Since I always want to bring every electronic device I own with me wherever I go, I'll stick with the larger version.
Product Specifications:
Weight:
4.2 lbs
Product Basic Spec:
Destination:
For camera and notebook
Carrying case type:
Backpack