BackLight® 18L

This my 3rd or 4th Think Tank product. They have become my go-to for camera/lens bags. Excellent quality and well engineered. I picked this BackLight 18L to fill the need of a “grab bag” for local stuff. Every other bag I have in my collection was designed for maximum capacity - big and bulky. The latter bags will now be my travel bags. So far, so good. Size is perfect. The one unusual feature of this backpack is the main compartment access is on the rear. It was a primary factor in my purchace. We’ll see how that works out in the field.

Nice bag but lacks functionality for efficient field usage

I have been using this bag for over 100 hours now, mostly to contain my field macro gear while out in the woods. While the build seems to be high quality, has held up to being tossed around a bit and is comfortable to wear even for extended periods, I am disappointed in how easy it is to store and retrieve gear- It is just not efficient to use and the front feels like a huge missed opportunity to provide many quick access options. This bag is better suited as a way to transport gear like on a flight than for use in the field as it is purported to be. The back functions as expected, although it works better with large lenses and cameras than smaller gear or accessories. There is no way to make a vertical division. If you are wearing the hip strap as tight as you should be to relieve your shoulders, it is not easy to turn the back around on your body causing you to have to loosen the straps and then turn the bag, slowing you down quite a bit. The front really needs to be re-designed because it is basically a series of bottomless pits. The laptop sleeve is a waste of space as is because there are no smaller pockets along the top (the only space readily accessible due to the straps on the side) and perhaps a pouch on the inside of the front portion that opens. Because of the straps on the side, the pouch does not open much without un-doing those straps, again slowing you down if you need to get to the few pockets they do provide. Only tall skinny things, or things with a clip you can attach to one of the sleeves work in the front. They need to come up with some features for quick access like perhaps a clamshell design that opens without interference from the side straps, and many more pockets. I was able to make a plastic and duct tape insert to add some pockets near the top of the laptop sleeve to add some functionality to it. While I am making the bag work for me, it is just not as efficient as it could be for field use especially if you have a lot of small/medium sized gear for lighting and field work. The bag has potential, and I hope they take some of what I say into consideration.

This bag is great!

I love the functionality boost this bag brings me! However If I could re-buy the backlight series, I would probably have gone for the next size up, as the general size doesnt seem to be that much bigger! If there was a way to trade-up, I would! Also I wish there was a big more organization for the front section. Though it already comes equipped with quite a lot!