Kata Ergo-Tech Sensitivity V Backpack

"It's like a James Bond backpack!" That was the reaction of the security folks searching my Kata Ergo-Tech Sensitivity V Backpack at the entrance to the American Museum of Natural History. More-restrained strangers simply offer "Cool backpack." But I don't carry this camera backpack because it draws attention; I carry it because it's a durable, waterproof bag that manages to be both compact and roomy simultaneously. Coolness is just a gadget-girl bonus.

On the outside, the backpack consists of a black, neoprene-like material; the bright-yellow inside material has a flannel-like nylon texture, which serves as the loops for hook-and-loop-based attachments. Though some might consider the yellow innards a bit too bright or flashy, it also renders every object in the bag immediately visible, even the smallest microSD card.

The main body of the bag consists of two horizontal compartments with zippered oval covers that open to two different sides. The top has places for pens and cards; the bottom has two fixed-elastic segments with a third resizable opening in between to secure larger objects, such as lens barrels. You can attach the flash-size bag and flash-media-size pouch anywhere within the pack. I routinely carry a digital SLR with the lens attached and a flash unit, both of which fit snugly into the bottom compartment. Larger dSLRs with integrated vertical grips, such as the Nikon D2Xs, require lens separation to fit comfortably. And as long as you don't mind the pages getting a little ruffled, the top compartment can hold a paperback book and some extras. For stuff that won't fit into a single compartment, you can unzip the barrier between the two for one traditional-backpack-size space.

On the body side of the pack, a full-length, padded-and-zippered sleeve fits a 12-inch notebook, though I think you could get something slightly larger inside--my Dell Latitude D420 fits with enough room leftover for a hardcover book.