Modern Dayfarer v2 Backpack - a stylish, flexible 24L bag that easily adapts to multiple use cases

[@thematthewmo]

welcome back! great to see such a detailed review :)

[@TheMountainborn]

Thank you so much for the kind words!!! (^^)

[@epretto]

Nice inputs for the Third iteration!

[@TheMountainborn]

Hello my friend!! Yes indeed! Looking forward to the future v3 :)

[@ghossler]

the biggest thing i hate about this bag are 2 things 1) it doesnt stand at all... not even the slightest 2) when you lock the magnetic buckle of the main compartment and u sling ur back on ur back really hard with ur rightarm, the buckle flies OPEN!!! super annoying

[@caseylee4097]

If I want to actually get an in depth detailed idea of how a bag is you are the review channel I turn to. Appreciate the thoroughness and thoughtfulness of your reviews!

[@drewtate5334]

I want to use this bag for travel, but it's a little too tall. It's 48cm high, and the airline's limit for personal item is 43cm. Can the top be pushed down since you mentioned it's somewhat stiff?

[@TheMountainborn]

I think it depends on what you have inside of it but I would say it can probably flex to fit most airport luggage sizers if needed!

[@erikoteh]

Hey Man, I've finally decided to sold the phoenix because... well too big for my frame. Was wondering what are you using between 22 and 24L maybe you have a recommendation on somethin gi'm not aware it exists... some things i woudl like pocket bottle chest strap separate laptop compartment is not a must but I appreciate it thanks man!!!

[@trousermouse6240]

Business papers, man

[@TheMountainborn]

You know it!!! :)

[@cliffordkee611]

welcome back, missed your detailed reviews!

[@TheMountainborn]

Awww thanks Clifford!! Appreciate the kind words!! :)

[@ttg808]

Looks like a good bag to carry “stuff”.

[@TheMountainborn]

It is in fact a good bag to carry stuff!! :)

[@kazzlee8080]

Hi..what is the brand for your first consideration.? I can’t hear properly..more information please..thanks

[@TheMountainborn]

Hi @kazzlee8080 - are you asking which is the first bag in the "Also Consider" section? If so the bags I showed were: * Aer - Duffel Pack v3 (aersf.com/products/duffel-pack-3) * Bellroy - Venture Backpack (bellroy.com/products/venture-backpack) * Peak Design - Everyday Backpack (www.peakdesign.com/products/everyday-backpack) I hope this helps!

[@johnnynguyen3521]

1 hour long let's go 😂🔥

[@TheMountainborn]

😂😂😂 I promise the next one will be shorter! (Narrator: The next one is the Evergoods CTB26. It was not, in fact, going to be shorter)

[@donkeybro6368]

I haven’t started watching, curious why this can be 1hr long

[@mrjh8467]

There are timestamps. But I for one am looking forward to see :)

[@comeatime-rg2yl]

Because it should!

[@TheMountainborn]

errr... my editor was on vacation for this one? 😂 (I jest, I have no editor. It's all just little ol' me. But it turns out I did have a lot to say about the load carriage and straps and since this is a flexible bag the "also consider" section was a bit longer than usual. But yeah, this one was much longer than usual 😅 please use the timestamps if there's any portions in particular you're interested in!)

[@TheMountainborn]

😂 Awww thanks for the kind words!!!!

[@TheMountainborn]

awwww thanks for being a loyal viewer!! ☺️

[@atngaming2019]

The way the flap opens when accidentally rugged sideways kinda worries me...😅

[@TheMountainborn]

Exactly. To be fair, while in my experience it can be pretty annoying you tend to notice right away so the chances of item loss are less than you might expect. My main concern would be if it were somewhere out of sight/unattended where it could get jostled open without you noticing - an overhead bin in an airplane where someone might jostle it when taking out their bag for example. But as long as you're the one handling the bag you tend to notice when you knock it open. Annoying, but you also learn to manipulate the bag a certain way to reduce the chances of it happening. I hope they will fix it in the next revision!

[@Kikuyo2]

Should have gone with v-buckle instead snap buckle

[@timo1294]

Finally someone who also mentiones the negative aspects of this Backpack, thank you for this review.

[@atngaming2019]

What r the negatives? :(

[@senpairag88]

I would buy the pack in Ecopak. Similar to how the V1 was made with X-PAC

[@TheMountainborn]

That would be a sweet materialway for sure!

[@christianmarcschmidt]

Great video, thanks! I appreciated your comparison with the PD Everyday Backpack v2. Would you recommend it for transporting camera gear on a plane? PD also offers a travel backpack that fits their camera cubes, I’m curious if you’ve used either for air travel or if you have a general recommendation for a 20-30 backpack for plane camera carry.

[@TheMountainborn]

Hi @christianmarcschmidt - great questions! So firstly, I personally don't think the Dayfarer v2 backpack is necessarily the best solution for transporting camera gear on a plane, though it can certainly do so in a pinch for small to medium-sized loadouts if you add in a camera cube. The main sub optimal things I see regarding camera carry is that the bag is comparatively narrow (though it can expand in depth and height more as shown in the video a bit) which may limit the types of camera cubes you can put in it, plus access to any camera cube at the bottom will be hampered by the fact that the front flap opening doesn't open all the way to the bottom (so access to part of the cube at the bottom might be hampered depending on the cube). Additionally, it doesn't really have any kind of quick access to camera gear so you'll likely need to be setting down the bag to get gear in and out of it. Finally, while you can probably get a light tripod in the water bottle pocket, there's no top tie-down point so it might flop around a bit. That said, the bag does have a large wide open compartment that has a good amount of (mainly vertical) expansion so if you just want to transport gear to/from a place and you can find the right kind of relatively narrow camera cubes you can probably stack a couple of them in there and as I mentioned, the bag has pretty solid load carriage so you will probably be pretty comfortable whilst carrying it. Additionally, if you're just looking to carry a small mirrorless camera plus a couple of lenses, this bag will be totally fine for that (as will most bags) - you can just get a top loading type camera cube and you should be set (though since everything in this bag tends to settle at the bottom you'll need to reach waay into the bag to get the camera out so access won't be quite as quick. For dedicated camera carry (or for larger setups etc.) between this and the PD Everyday Backpack 20/30L I would go with the PD backpacks (again, assuming the main purpose is for carrying a non-trivial amount of camera gear) - it just is more purpose built for that, is more protective without the use of camera cubes and has lots more quick access to the gear, adjustable shelving, side internal pockets for battery storage, etc. Regarding your question of the PD travel bags - I own and have used both of them. I don't think either of them is particularly great as a dedicated use camera bag especially for anything beyond point-to-point transport of camera gear (more on that in a minute). Within both of these bags, there is also the additional weight penalty of essentially putting a rigid camera cube into an already rigid and fairly heavy bag (though the system is more well integrated than some competitors). For the 30L, it's important to note that you basically you need to zip/expand out to full size to get the PD camera cubes in there AND once you have it in (especially the large size one) there is little to no usable pocketing other than the front external dump pouch which is quite small and also pretty exposed (so you wouldn't want to keep a wallet or phone in there). That said, the 30L does excel at point to point carry of a large amount of gear (assuming you pair it with a roller bag or something for your clothes) and one good use case I found was when I needed *back access* to a large amount of gear at once - so setting it down front-first onto say wet grass etc and you want to flip open the back completely to fish out / change multiple lenses, etc. (This is much harder with the everyday backpack since it doesn't open fully up from the back or front, only from the side or top) The 40L one does carry a ton of stuff (especially with the Large camera cube in there), still has some usable pocketing and I find it useful for point to point carry but is fairly huge, heavy and boxy. I use it for camera carry only in the extremely limited cases where I'm carrying *a ton* of gear - think big professional grip cams, larger telephotos, drones, multiple FF or Medium format bodies, etc - to a destination (studio for example) and then unpacking and shooting there. It's not particularly comfortable to carry all that weight in it either due to the limitations of the PD shoulder straps. That said, I think the construction and design of the PD travel bags is pretty good overall - asthetics are subjective but I prefer their look to that of purpose built bags like those from manfrotto or lowepro, though I find the latter to be more generally usable (or for outdoor adventure photography, shimoda bags ). Anyway, that was a lot of words that I'm not actually sure answered your question or not 😅. Maybe one question might be - how much camera gear/what kind are you carrying on the plane? (if it's not that much, then a dedicated camera bag might be overkill - I routinely carry a FF mirrorless (think Canon R5) with a large zoom lens mounted (think RF 28-70 f/2.0) and one extra lens (think RF 85mm f/1.2) in normal one bag travel backpacks like the Evergoods Civic Travel Bag but just wrapped in neoprene or foam cases which provides good protection, decent access and eschews heavy and bulky camera cubes. So if your loadout is similar, then that might be a route to explore as well?

[@christianmarcschmidt]

@@TheMountainborn Thanks so much for taking the time to provide such a detailed and thoughtful response! I really appreciate your insights and experiences with the Dayfarer v2, PD Everyday Backpack, and PD Travel Backpacks for camera carry. It's super helpful to hear your perspectives on the pros and cons of each bag. I'm planning to carry a mirrorless camera with 2-3 lenses, so it sounds like the Dayfarer would work in a pinch but may not be optimal. I'll probably go with the PD Everyday Backpack for my needs since accessibility and protection are top priorities. Your tip on just using foam/neoprene cases in a regular backpack is great too - I'll keep that in mind for lighter gear transport. Thanks again for the recommendations and looking forward to the next video. Cheers!

[@daveclark9411]

'promosm' 🔥

[@jtube411]

Thank you for your thorough review 👍

[@TheMountainborn]

My pleasure - glad you found it useful!!! :)