Peak Design Everyday Sling review: a camera bag that’s also for everyday life and is very easy to live with

Peak Design is a Californian company founded in 2010 on the principle of ‘building happy and meaningful lives for the people that work there’, while also bringing joy and satisfaction to the people who buy their products. That ethos sounds pure Californian and the products in question are often photographic in nature, from camera bags and backpacks like the minimalist Peak Design Travel Backpack 20L and versatile Peak Design Travel Backpack 2-in-1 to the innovative and highly acclaimed range of Peak Design Slide camera straps with their quick-release mechanisms.

The full Peak Design portfolio also covers general travel luggage, outdoor gear, phone cases, wallets and even gadget mounts for cars and motorcycles. I’ve also been thoroughly impressed by the Peak Design Pro Tripod, available three different sizes. Like the tripod kit, the Peak Design Everyday Sling is also available in three different sizes, comprising 3-liter, 6-liter and 10-liter options. Call me Mr Average, but I went for the middle 6L option, which suits me down to the ground (even if the ground is wet, thanks to the waterproof bottom liner featured in all three bags). The 6L is small enough to take anywhere and everywhere, while naturally holding more stuff than the 3L version and adding an internal sleeve for an 11-inch tablet.

Both of the 3L and 6L sizes are available in black, coyote, eclipse, ocean, and kelp colorways. The largest 10L bag adds a 14-inch laptop sleeve in addition to an 11-inch tablet sleeve, but is only available in black, eclipse, or ocean. I chose the eclipse version, which, celestial events aside, I’d probably call plum with orange accents. Regardless of size and colorway, all of the options aim to be among the best messenger bags for photographers on the market.

Peak Design Everyday Sling: Specifications

Peak Design Everyday Sling: Price

Whether or not you’re a believer in ‘bigger is better’, bigger is generally more expensive. That’s certainly the case (or rather bag) here, which is only to be expected as there’s more material and extra storage spaces for a tablet and then a tablet plus a laptop, as you go up in size through the range. The bottom line is that the Peak Design Everyday Sling 3L will set you back about $99 / £85 / AU$819, the larger 6L comes in at $129 / £109 / AU$249 and the largest 10L costs $135 / £139 / AU$319.

I reckon the pricing is very reasonable, considering the high-quality textiles and hardware that go into making the bags, and that they’re Climate Neutral and Fair Trade certified.

Peak Design Everyday Sling: Design & Handling

A dedicated camera bag can feel a bit like a non-essential luxury if you only use your camera occasionally, compared with your daily routine of work, rest, and play. The idea behind the three sizes of Peak Design Everyday Sling is that they work equally well as ‘everyday’ bags as they do as camera bags, so you can really get the most out of them on a daily basis.

Built to last, the bags are made from quality, climate-friendly materials including a weather-resistant 400D double poly-coated DWR-impregnated nylon canvas shell, 100% recycled post-consumer. The hardware is made from anodized aluminum and tough glass-reinforced nylon. The bags have a really high-quality feel and finish, although they’re not completely rain-proof and no waterproof slip-over covers are supplied with them.

The zippers for the main and external front compartments are advertised as ‘super-durable UltraZips with abrasion-resistant UHMPE thread’. In practical terms, that means that they glide freely without catching; they’re very weather-resistant and should give years of trouble-free service. As shown above, the zippers have accented color pulls which make them easy to grab and use, even in really cold weather when your fingers are numb. A neat trick is that you can poke the pulls of both zippers of the main compartment through one of the lower attachment loops to add security. Nobody’s going to undo them without you noticing. The zippers are also compatible with travel locks.

Open the zipper of the main compartment, and you can dive right in. The bag comes complete with internal dividers, which you can adjust to fit camera kit or anything else that you want to take along for the ride.

Living up to its ‘everyday’ billing, the bag’s dividers can be completely removed in just a few seconds, transforming it into a more general-purpose but still very plush daily bag. You’re essentially just getting one big empty compartment, along with several additional internal and external pockets, for stashing all of your daily essentials.

The dividers are a piece of work in their own right. Instead of being the usual straight padded blocks with a Velcro strip at each end, these are ‘origami-inspired’. Their complex fold lines and double-wall top sections enable you to bend and fold them in many and varied ways, using them as pass-through and shelf options as well as just regular dividers, as shown in the pair of images below.

Even with the dividers removed from the main compartment, you can still store fragile and precious items in protective comfort. For starters, there’s a pair of stretchy pockets, one at each end of the main compartment, ideal for stashing treasured possessions.

Next up is an internal front pocket. This has a secure zipper that runs almost the whole length of the main compartment. Open it up, and it reveals a neat organizer section with individual padded inner pockets plus a full-width padded slot. It’s the perfect home for small items like camera batteries, memory cards, and other little gizmos.

Sticking with the inside of the main compartment of my 6L edition, there’s a padded sleeve with a magnetic closure to accommodate a tablet up to 11 inches in size. This is omitted in the smallest 3L version, while the largest 10L bag adds a 14-inch laptop sleeve to supplement its 11-inch tablet enclosure.

So far, all of the extra pockets and sleeves that I’ve mentioned have been arranged around the interior of the main compartment, with access through the main zipper. The final, exterior front pocket bucks the trend. This one has its own zipper on the outside front of the bag and serves as a separate stash-and-grab pocket for the likes of books, notepads, a phone, and other daily items.

Another neat trick is that the bag squashes down flat, which can be handy if you want to pack it away in a suitcase for use when you reach a distant destination. While the bag itself and its zippers are very weather-resistant, the bottom of the bag is advertised as being entirely waterproof, with a high-density 900D waterproof liner. That can come in useful if you need to put the bag down on wet ground.

Going from bottom to top, something I’m glad to see is the upper grab handle. Sure, you can pick up the bag by its strap, but I always like to have a grab handle that enables carrying it easily and securely in the hand, without any risk of it swinging around and getting into mischief.

As well as the grab handle, there are two further exterior handles with a relatively flat profile, fitted to the sides of the bag’s exterior. These serve as Peak Design Capture points, so that you can fasten a PD Capture Clip on either side. The bonus here is that you can securely fasten your camera to the outside of the bag while you’re on a shoot, rather than having to continually put it away inside the bag and get it out again. It’s a quick and easy time-saver that adds yet more versatility.

Refinement extends to the connection of the main carrying strap. Instead of simply being stitched into place, the strap is mounted on two axial pivots, enabling the strap to turn freely for the most comfortable, streamlined fit.

Depending on what you’re carrying and how and where you’re carrying it, you might like to adjust the length of the main strap. That can be a bit of a faff with many bags, but this one has a really neat hinged clasp that enables you to adjust the length on the fly, one-handed.

Another smart part of the main strap is that it features a secure but quick-release splitter. Combined with the axial pivots and reversible strap connections, this enables an extra option for how you wear the bag, in addition to using it as a shoulder bag or cross-body messenger, tailored to either your left or right shoulder. That extra option is that you can separate the quick-release splitter, remove one section of the shoulder strap, and turn it into a waist strap, so that you can wear the bag around your waist instead of over your shoulder.

Despite the multiple options of how you can wear the bag, it remains neat and tidy in all configurations. To help with this, the ends of the main strap tuck away into pockets adjacent to the axial pivot points on either side of the bag.

I’ve touched on a pair of attachment loops at the bottom of the bag already, through which you can pass the zipper pulls to add security. However, there’s actually an extra pair of attachment loops on the bottom of the bag, making four in all.

Making the most of the four attachment loops, the bag is supplied with Cord Hook carry straps. These are adjustable in length and enable you to carry larger items that are safely secured to the outside of the bag. As a photographer, I’m thinking a tripod or a large telephoto lens in a soft case, but it could equally well be general items like an umbrella or a rolled-up picnic blanket.

Peak Design Everyday Sling: Performance

Size-wise, I found the Peak Design Everyday Sling 6L was a satisfyingly snug and secure fit for my full-frame Nikon Z6 III with a mounted Nikon Z 24-70mm f/4 S lens (unretracted), along with a separate Nikon Z 70-180mm f/2.8, using just one of the two supplied dividers. The organizer section also came in useful for storing extra batteries, memory cards and other bits and bobs. For a fairly small, single camera with an attached lens, the 3L edition should suffice, whereas the 10L option is a better fit if you’ve got a larger camera and additional lenses.

Likewise, I found the tablet sleeve of the 6L quick and easy to use, and I really liked its magnetic closure. It offers safe and secure stowage, and therefore peace of mind. If you want to add a laptop into the mix, you’ll need to upsize to the 10L bag.

One thing I often like to take for the journey is my Peak Design Pro Tripod. I have the ‘Tall’ version, which matches my above-average physical height, but even this is a doddle to stash beneath the bag, using the secure Cord Hook carry straps and the bag’s four attachment loops.

All in all, I found the bag’s performance to be excellent. Although it’s not entirely rain-proof, I did encounter some heavy showers, and the inside of the bag stayed safe and dry. The zippers work really well, in addition to being impressively weather-resistant. Everything just works, and works in a very satisfying way.

Peak Design Everyday Sling: Verdict

I feel that how much somebody likes a particular camera bag has as much to do with personal preference as anything else. There are a lot of factors that boil down to taste rather than anything more quantifiable. However, I also think that the Peak Design Everyday Sling is a particularly attractive option that’s easy to fall in love with. I like that there are three different 3L, 6L, and 10L size options and, for me, the middle 6L proved ideal.

The bag works supremely well as a camera bag but is equally adept for everyday use to carry daily essentials, with or without a camera in tow. It’s wonderfully versatile and adaptable, both in what it can carry and how your stuff is accommodated. And that adaptability extends to how you wear the bag, with options that include using it as a shoulder bag, a cross-body messenger bag, or even a waist bag. It’s quick and easy to select any of the options, and equally simple to adjust the length of the carrying strap on the fly, thanks to its hinged clasp.

The bag isn’t completely waterproof and doesn’t come with a slip-over rainproof cover, although it does have a waterproof bottom liner. Even so, I got caught in some heavy showers, and the material didn’t soak through, and the zippers proved impressively weather-resistant. All in all, it’s a great bag at a very attractive price.

Alternatives

The Vanguard Veo City camera bag comes in S30 and S36 options, with 8L and 11L capacities, respectively. That’s fairly similar to the two larger bags in the Peak Design Everyday Sling range, while further similarities include a high-quality build and materials, a weather-resistant design, and an underside tripod attachment. The S30 sells for around $130 / £100 / AU$200, and the S36 costs around $150 / £120 /AU$220.

The Peak Design Everyday Messenger 13-inch V2 is billed as a ‘messenger’ rather than a ‘sling’. It’s a very stylish camera bag that, as its name suggests, can also accommodate a 13-inch laptop. Compared with the original version, the V2 is sleeker, lighter and boasts new internal and external storage pockets. It sells for around $250 / £219 / AU$449.