- The WANDRD Duo backpack is a 20 liter bag
that is a bit of a hybrid,
it's mainly meant for organizing camera gear
but has a couple of features
that are good for everyday carry as well.
I'm Tom, the founder of Pack Hacker,
your guide to smarter travel.
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Mark and I have been testing the WANDRD Duo
for the last two weeks in Detroit, Michigan.
I've been using it for about a week as a daily driver
and Mark has been using it for two weeks
with all of our camera stuff inside.
And I wanna bring him on a little bit later
to go through some of the camera-focused features
of this bag as well.
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Let's jump in.
(upbeat music)
The main material on this bag
is an 840D junior ballistic nylon.
And you can see that up here at the top.
Then towards the bottom we have 1680D ballistic nylon.
So, it's a little bit more robust towards the bottom.
There's some coating on this bag as well
which adds some additional weather resistance.
The exterior feels similar to Tarpaulin bags we've tested
but it's marked up much less than Tarpaulin bags.
Typically after this long of testing, about three weeks,
we have a lot of permanent scratches and marks.
Not really the case with the Duo.
There's some pretty good weather resistance
going on with the bag
and although it isn't specifically IP rated,
we found that it's been pretty great in the rain.
I've personally been testing this.
I bike to the co-working space that we work at a lot
and it's gotten muddy and wet
and everything inside has stayed completely dry
in the rain and in the snow.
Plus, the mud is really easy to wipe off
due to the material.
There's a lot of black on black going on,
including the logos which we dig.
The bag itself looks slicked when fully packed
but it can kind of start to look dehydrated
if it's not fully packed out.
Again, this isn't very unique,
we see this a lot in Tarpaulin materials
but we figured we'd bring it up.
We pulled our Instagram audience to get their thoughts
on what they think of this bag
and here are the results.
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WANDRD also opted for a Nifco plastic hardware on areas
like the strap adjuster and sternum strap.
We've had great luck with that brand in the past.
Although this bag uses some quality materials,
it doesn't feel quite as premium as other bags in its class.
Kicking it off with the external components,
starting with the harness system.
The straps themselves are a bit on the thin side.
However, there's some great density going on with these
and there's some nice mesh at the back for airflow.
The padding on the straps is enough for a bag of 20 liters
and definitely comes in handy
as this is filled up with heavy camera gear.
One thing we've noticed about these straps,
is that they tend to pull outward
compared to other bags that we've tested.
This is especially pronounced when using a jacket
that's a little bit more on the slippery side.
Say something like the Patagonia Micro Puff.
That slipperiness can easily be mitigated
by buckling the sternum strap though.
The sternum strap has stayed on securely in our testing
and there's a nice daisy chain of loops here
to adjust that sternum strap either up or down.
The sternum strap itself is also small and a bit thin
which feels appropriate for a bag of this aesthetic,
design and functionality.
The strap adjusters smoothly adjust,
are also made of durable hardware
and have nice elastic keepers on them as well
to manage access straps.
Behind the straps there is a small loop
for a hip belt attachment as well.
We haven't tested it with the hip belt yet
but we do like the option that it's there
if you wanna use it.
Even though this bag is only 20 liters
if you fully load it out with camera gear,
you know, it's gonna be heavy
and having that hip belt can really help.
Behind is the frame sheet with some pretty dense padding
and a small air channel for airflow here.
We really think WANDRD got the design
and feel right on this one,
especially if the bag is gonna be filled
with that heavy camera gear,
there's some nice padding and protection on the back panel.
Behind this there's also a luggage pass through
so you can slide it right on your carry-on bag.
Rounding out the harness system,
we have smooth seatbelt-like material
on the top grab handle here
that's been folded over so it's more comfortable to grab.
On the wearer's right side,
we have a stretch water bottle pocket
that's good for putting in either a tripod or water bottles.
Now, you're not gonna be able to fit
your giant Nalgene in here.
However, we did fit in a 18 ounce YETI
pretty nicely in this side pocket.
There are no air vents at the bottom of the bag.
However, it is made of mesh materials,
so at the bottom and the back it's really nice and stretchy,
then if any water gets inside of that pocket,
it is drained through the mesh of the bottom.
On the wearer's left we have a nice padded handle
with a rubbery WANDRD tab at the top.
We like that this handle is densely padded,
properly centered and that the bag
generally holds its shape when grabbed.
It's perfect if you wanna carry things
briefcase style for a bit.
Lastly, there are some nylon tabs
on the exterior of the bag.
They kinda stick out a little bit
and they look a little funky.
However, you can pair them with WANDRD's accessory straps
or carabiners that you have on your own.
Overall, we like the simplicity of the design
on the exterior of the bag
and we like the WANDRD didn't go overboard
with a bunch of extra features on the outside.
It keeps it nice, slim and minimal profile.
(upbeat music)
Starting with the inside of the pack,
we have a really sneaky pocket on the back
of the back panel of the bag.
This passport pocket is directly behind the frame sheet
and we like that it's easy to get access to
by swinging this bag around your front,
unzipping it and grabbing your passport out.
We genuinely like this pocket
and it would be really hard for a pickpocket to get to
while you're wearing the bag
and they likely won't know where it is
even if your bag is just sitting there by itself.
There's a top drop pocket right above
that goes about the full width of the bag
and offers some decently ample space.
This is perfect for a phone, wallet, keys
or really anything that you want quick access to.
The interior of this pocket has a soft fabric too,
which is great for your phone or sunglasses.
You may not wanna put your keys in
with the sunglasses though.
And speaking of your keys,
there's a nice 360 rotating key clip inside.
We like this key clip a little bit more
when compared to other bags we've tested in the past.
You'll also notice the lay flat weather-resistant
YKK AquaGuard zipper as well.
Basically the zipper will not open
when the zipper pull is flat against the bag.
On top of that, there's a zipper garage
that will not only keep moisture out
but also has a little inlet
where the zipper pull can be pulled up easily.
We love the thinking here
and we dig that WANDRD avoid the trap
that some people run into
where they don't have this little inlet for the zipper
and it's really hard to pull this up.
So that the zipper garage just covers
and then you're kind of fighting to get this out.
So, we like that they accommodated for that
on the zipper garage.
We've got a very similar zipper garage setup
on the front of the bags that just unzips
and then there is some ripstop-like material
in the interior.
This pocket is really good for just stuffing a jacket
or snacks into.
It's kinda just like a big dumb pocket
on the front of the bag
and it comes off of the bag a little bit as well
for some extra volume.
Now, onto the main access of the pack,
WANDRD's Infinite Zip system
which is pretty much one zipper coil
with four zipper pulls on it.
We found the best way to use this,
is to keep two zippers at the top
and one zipper at the bottom of each of the sides.
This allows you to set the bag down
and easily access it from the top zipper.
You can set the bag down on its side
and unzip it to access the bag from the side.
Or you can swing the bag around the front of your body
and access the side of the bag nicely in front of you.
We love that this bag can be accessed from multiple angles,
however, oftentimes it is very sticky and tough
to open these zippers quickly,
especially due to the squared edges,
the YKK zippers that are AquaGuard
and kind of the way that this is designed
and where the track of the zipper coil is,
there's a lot of sharp corners, a lot of bunching up,
things of that nature.
During our testing we found that this small annoyance
really adds up especially if you have the camera
at the bottom part,
you swing the bag around your front,
you quickly wanna get your camera to get that perfect shot
by the time you're able to get that zipper open,
the window of opportunity has passed.
Opening the bag way up,
we can start to get a feel
for all the organization on the inside.
The top flap of this bag has a nice mesh partition
which is great for stuffing in
a hooded sweatshirt, a jacket.
We've also enjoyed putting our unwieldy laptop Chargers
inside of this pocket.
Putting heavy items in here isn't really the best
as they may slip out,
especially if you open this bag fully
but if you're just accessing it from the top
and folding this top flap over,
it's a little bit more forgivable
and less likely to jostle around inside of the bag
or get lost when you fully open it.
At the bottom of the bag,
we have the built-in pop camera cube.
When you don't wanna use the pop cube,
just fold it down and the bag becomes a little bit larger.
When you do wanna use it, just pop that up
and there are two Velcroable doors in the sides
and then also one partition divider in the middle,
so you have some customizability there.
We like that WANDRD is thinking in this way
and it makes the bag pretty versatile.
It feels a little bit kludgy to set up initially
and it definitely feels kludgier for continuously
kind of rejiggering it,
however, overall we like the innovative thinking here.
This camera cube compartment is easily accessible
from the zippers on the bottom of the bag.
One other side note here,
is you typically want the heaviest items that you carry
to be towards your back and towards the top of the bag.
This puts one of your heaviest items, your camera,
at the very bottom of the bag
which isn't ideal for carrying.
Additionally, the camera cube is not suspended,
so if you end up dropping the bag unexpectedly,
that is your camera hitting the ground full force.
We like when things are a little bit more centered
inside of the bag and there is a little bit more safety.
There's not a ton of customizability with the camera cube
either as far as positioning and size.
It is either up or it's not there.
And Mark's gonna get into this a little bit more
in the photo and video section of the review.
Above the pop camera cube,
we have two pockets here that are intended for lenses
and they are nicely padded,
and they have some stretchy mesh as well
to accommodate lenses of different sizes.
One thing we did notice in our testing though,
is that when you have a lens or two in here,
it's a little bit weird to use the rest of the space
inside of the bag.
So, kind of the main compartment that gets created,
we found ourselves not really using that a lot
because these sort of stick out
along the interior of the bag.
Above that, there is a zipper pocket the goes down
to the top of the lens pockets.
You can keep smaller items inside
like SD cards, cords and alike.
The laptop and tablet compartment is pretty simple.
Although the laptop compartment is padded,
there is no false bottom,
so, similar to what we just said with the camera cube,
your laptop is at the very bottom of the bag,
it's not suspended at all,
so any drop, your laptop is gonna feel it.
In front of the compartment,
there is ample space for a tablet
and it uses some of that similar soft material
that we've seen inside of the top drop pocket.
On the wearer's right hand side of the top,
we have some really interesting cord keepers here
and we like the innovative thinking going on.
There are four stretchy elastic bits
that will hold the cord into place
and a vertical handle that you can grab and pull
and easily release the cord.
We typically use tech pouches to keep things organized,
however, if there is a cord that you have frequent access to
and you just wanna be able to quickly open the bag and grab,
this is a great space for it.
Below that we have a stretchy mesh pocket
that is a little bit big,
it doesn't really tighten up on much
unless you have something larger in there
and then below that, we have a liner pocket.
These are nice compartments for larger items
but you wouldn't really want to put SD cards
or anything smaller inside of here.
If you have this bag out and about,
it's too easy for everything in here to get jostled around
and fall into the main area of the pack.
The wearer's left side features are very similar,
set up with the mesh pocket on top
and liner pocket at the bottom.
The only difference with the liner pocket at the bottom
is that there's a zipper.
We generally prefer that,
especially with a saggier mesh.
Now, I'm going to hand it off to Mark
as we've both been testing this bag
for three weeks in Detroit, Michigan.
He's been using it for two,
pretty much exclusively as a camera bag.
(upbeat music)
- At the time of this review,
I've been using the WANDRD Duo to haul around
our camera gear for a couple weeks now.
And while I've really enjoyed using it,
I'm missing some of the customizability
that comes with the camera bag.
Every photographer has different gear,
so it's really nice when you can fine-tune
the inside of a bag to exactly what you need.
Typically this is done with Velcro dividers.
With the Duo, the only customization you have,
is the shelf in the pop up camera cube.
If you have longer lenses
that don't fit in the lens pockets,
you'll basically be stuck with them
floating in the main compartment of the bag
which isn't ideal.
Our main camera kit is pretty compact.
We typically shoot with the Sony A73,
a Sony 28 to 70 millimeter lens
and the Sony 10 to 18 millimeter lens.
So, fortunately for us,
we were able to fit everything exactly
where it's supposed to go.
The Infinite Zip system offers great access
and it's nice to be able to swing the bag to your front
and take your camera out
without having to take the bag completely off.
However, the lens pockets aren't easily accessible
from the side and you'll still have
to take the bag off for a lens swap.
You can get around this by putting a lens
in the empty side of the camera cube.
However, then you lose the protection and stability
offered by the lens pockets.
In general, we've had better luck putting this bag down
and having full access to everything
rather than trying to utilize these quick access features.
Now, I'm gonna hand it back to Tom.
- Overall, the WANDRD Duo has been nice
to carry around as a daily driver.
I like all the different options to segment,
pouches and gear inside of the bag.
There's specially some great space
if that pop camera cube is down.
I didn't really love the zippers
and the whole design of the Infinite Zip,
it was a little bit hard to access
and it definitely added up
when every time I wanted to open up this bag,
it was a little bit harder to get into.
Also, in daily driver mode,
I rarely use the Infinity Zip towards the bottom of the bag.
I typically just split the bag open at the top for access.
As mentioned earlier, I'd bike to our co-working space
nearly every day and this thing has done well
through rain and snow and mud,
getting kicked up on it,
pretty easy to wipe and wash off
and we appreciate that about the exterior material.
Durability-wise, it has held up nicely too,
there's not a ton to complain about on that front.
So, to wrap this thing up with some pros and cons
starting with the pros.
We like that there is thoughtful
and innovative design thinking going on with this bag.
The harness system is comfortable for the size,
although the straps pull apart a bit.
And it's a great size for smaller camera kits.
(upbeat music)
On some of the cons, the main zipper is stiff
and difficult to open from any angle.
It doesn't feel as premium as other bags in its class.
And lastly, the internal organization is not customizable,
something we miss when comparing with other camera bags.
(upbeat music)
The WANDRD Duo offers an interesting innovative option
as a camera bag and daily driver.
We like the thoughtful design and features
but we're left scratching our heads
when it comes to some of the execution.
On some of the parts of the bag,
the vision doesn't quite match the real world usage.
For example, there are plenty of ways to access the pack
but the stiff zipper makes that access slow
which can get annoying.
And while the internal organization is great
for our particular camera setup,
it's not very customizable or fluid.
If you can look past those details,
the WANDRD Duo is a solid option to carry your camera kit
and everyday gear alike.
So, there you have it,
our review of the WANDRD Duo Daypack.
As always, we'd love to hear what you think of this thing
in the comments below.
Thanks for keeping it here at Pack Hacker,
your guide to smarter travel.
We'll see you in the next video.