Think Tank Shape Shifter packs lots of gear in small package
MANHATTAN BEACH, Calif. - As we all know, it's rare for us to leave the house these days without a backpack anymore.
Mine is stuffed with a laptop, charging cables, camera, lenses, microphones, audio recorder and more on an everyday basis.
So I was quite interested to check out Think Tank's Shape Shifter V2.0 backpack, which looks like an ordinary backpack, but actually has room for all of the above, and more.
The pack is a sequel to the original Shape Shifter, but enlarged to make room for a bigger laptop and more stuff. It sells for $279.99 and according to the company, can hold up to 2 big DSLRs, 4 lenses, your laptop and a tablet and best of all, there are 6 pockets for cables and those little things we like to carry around with us.
What I love about the bag are the pockets. I bring every kind of charging cable with me you can imagine, plus big and small microphones and I can fit cameras in there as well, like a GoPro and the Ricoh Theta 360 camera. I can stuff a MiFi in there, and one of those bricks to give us extra energy during the day when the smartphone runs out of power.
Another plus is how the bag has the ability to grow when you put more stuff in it--but then can revert to a classic backpack if all you want to do is put in your laptop and charging cables. It felt heavy on the back, but I could manage. With all the stuff I got in there, that was to be expected.
The Shape Shifter is so much better than the old Target backpack I've been walking around with it for years. That one required a second bag on my shoulder for gear.
In doing the research for this piece, I've also looked recently at the Peak Design Everyday backpack, which takes a different approach to how to stuff gear into a pack.
Too much tech gear? Try out a 30L bag
Which one to buy? I'll have the verdict in a follow-up piece, later this week on the #TalkingTech blog.
Readers--what's your favorite backpack? Let's chat about it on Twitter, where I'm @jeffersongraham.