The Think Tank Backstory 13 is my new daily camera bag and in this video, I share why. The Think Tank Backstory 13 is a small, light, beautiful backpack that doubles as a work bag. It’s a true everyday backpack. The larger size 15 of the bag is identical but holds a 15″ laptop instead of a 13″ laptop.
The bag offers
– Quick access at the top – Full access from the rear – Dedicated laptop and tablet sleeves – Removable support straps – Roller luggage sleeve
Transcription was done by Descript‘s automated transcription services which means it’s an AI-generated transcript. The transcript may contain spelling, grammar, and other errors, and is not a substitute for watching the video.
This is the backstory 13. Here’s the backstory. He, this has got one cave with a storyteller, with a camera talking about all the things photographers like you and I are thinking about. And in this video, we’re going to be talking about the new think tank, photo backstory, 13 backpack. If you have been following my channel for any period of time, or if you’ve been reading my blog or been a part of my newsletter and in that community. And you know that I have gone through a lot of backpacks and camera bags over the years, I’ve tried bags from a variety of manufacturers, and I constantly come back to think tanks, camera bags, nothing tank is separated into two brands. There is think tank photo, which is their sort of lifestyle, more, uh, common style, photography, backpacks, and bags and, and whatnot. And then there’s Mindshift gear, which is their sort of outdoor travel bag line.
While I have a variety of think tank bags in my collection, and each one gets used, mind you, my daily bag for the past two or three years has been the ultra light from Mindshift. And the reason for that is I wanted to find a bag that was capable of holding a lot of equipment that I need on a daily basis, but also extremely light. And there are no camera bags out there that offer protection that are also extremely light besides the ultra light bags. If you’re familiar with peak design, you know that they have a series of bags, they have their sling and they have their messenger and they have their backpack and their backpack always intrigued me, but I’m not really a big fan of peaks bags because they’re awfully heavy. And so I was waiting and waiting until think-tank photo came out with their sort of come back to what peak design did with their sort of every day backpack.
That’s what this is the backstory 13. It is a backpack with this beautiful, beautiful sort of techie type material. It does not look like a camera bag from a distance. Let’s dig into this bag and have a look at why this is my new daily camera bag. This is the backstory 13, and here is why it is a sweet bag for daily use. Now, there are two versions of this, the 13, the 15, the 15 can hold a 15 inch laptop in a little bit more space on the inside. Whereas at 13 can hold a 13 inch laptop and a tablet, and there’s a little less space than the 15. That’s the only difference. That’s the only difference. Okay. So on the outside, we’ve got a nice little soft pouch here, a little zipper pocket for, you know, whatever sort of little accessories you need readily available on the outside right there. I mean, it’s just a little pocket. I don’t know what business card stuff like that, maybe a filter or something like that that you might need on a regular basis. Moving to the top and down. You’ve got the straps here
And the pouch and strapped down here for a tripod to be strapped to the back of your bag, which is way more comfortable than strapping it to the side. Although you could also strap a small tripod to the side if you want, but I love that it hides up for when you don’t need it moving to the back. We’ve got a nice padded back and really comfortable straps with nice little like neoprene type material. I don’t know what exactly it is. It’s very soft. I haven’t felt a think tank bag with this material in the past. So this might be a newer thing that they’re using, or maybe I just haven’t had a new think tank bag in a while. And this has been around for awhile. The cinch here right here for the, for the shoulder strap. Actually it can be, you can slide it off if you don’t want them.
I actually like using these, especially because I do not normally, unless I am hiking backpacking, I normally don’t use the waste bag, a waist strap, which can be easily removed by just pinching this down, remove unbuckling it. And then you just slide it right out. Once I’m done with this video, these are coming off and being stored away because I’m not going to use them, but it’s nice to have them. If I need them back to this beautiful, very comfortable supportive back padding here, there is also a loop. So if you have a rolling suitcase, you can literally slide it right on top of your rolling suitcase. And you don’t have to carry the bag when you’re going through an airport or whatever. That is a really nice feature as well. Like most think tank bags. You also have these loops right here for accessories.
You can put carabiners, you can put whatever you need on a regular basis attached to that on the sides on both sides are actually a dental. Identical. We have these loops that you can put a water bottle. You can put a small tripod, can do the same thing on the side, tighten it up, keep it nice and secure. Really nice that it has that. But the best part of this bed is for one to load it up with everything you need on a regular basis. It loads from the inside. So you actually take it off your bag and you load it up and you have your typical sort of dividers. And then there’s one padded divider. So if you’re throwing in a lens without the lens cap on, you’ve got some extra protection here. You’ve got all these dividers in here that all could be customized, taken out reordered.
However you need. There’s also a seamless rain cover. Of course, that’s what they do for all of them. And this is actually the rain cover for the backstory 15, but they throw it into the backstory 13 because it’ll still cover the bag either way. We also have two, two zippered pockets. So I’ve got a bunch of wipes and little different lens wipes and things like that. If you’d like to see my EDC wipes video does click on that card right up there. And you can watch that. Let’s say you load it up. I got my 7,200, I’ve got my FTC adapter. I’ve got my 24 to 70, because right now I’m recording with the 14 to 30. So I’m going to throw the 24 to 70 in here. I got extra batteries. We close it up. Now while you’re wearing it, you’ve got quick access right at the top here, quick access to the camera itself.
This is the inside of what you just saw, but this is now access accessible from the top. So if I’m done recording, when my camera done making photos, I can throw it in right at the top and call it a day. Or let’s say, I’m know I’m going to have the camera on my hip while my spider holes for all the time, I could then throw an extra lens right up here on the top and take the dividers that are in here that could be moved and rearrange it so that the lens is padded insecure right at the top. And then there’s another zipper pocket up here, which is actually right now where I have my spider holster stuff. I’ve got it right in here. And then obviously if I’m going out for the day, I would, uh, put that on my hip and not need it there.
And I can put something else there, like extra memory cards. Speaking of memory cards, there was another pocket in here and this dips down a little bit in here. We’ve got additional zipper pocket area and it goes down pretty deep. And I also have in here a battery backup for my phone. I’ve got memory cards in this pixel pocket, rocket secure, and it’s actually strapped to the bag. It’s not going anywhere. I’ve got my lens pen. And one of there’s two different pen sleeves in here. So I’ve got a lens pen and I also have an actual pen. Then you also have a Velcroed little pocket, four and a tablet. And then you have a bigger pocket that is actually for eight, 13 inch.
This bag is designed to be a multi-function bag. It’s not necessarily just a camera bag. It can act as a business bag, the laptop sleeve the look of it. That is what is so amazing about this. And it is extremely comfortable and it holds a lot of equipment. Now I am in the process of switching completely to mirrorless from the D eight 50 to the [inaudible] and the Z six for my video work. And, uh, so I eventually will be able to fit both of those mirrorless bodies in here with all of my mirrorless lenses right now, I have the F Mount lenses and the FTC adapter for when I need it. And I have two Z lenses, but I can fit a whole bunch in here, which is really nice. And my favorite part is that it’s only three pounds. Sure. It’s heavier than the ultra light series bags, but it’s actually lighter than all the competing bags in this category. Not made from think tank. That’s really nice.
It’s light. It’s beautiful. This is
My new daily bag. And by the way, it, because it’s made by a think tank it’s made really well. The zippers are our quality. The threading has done really well. The mesh is good. And if something ever does happen, which it does, it’s backed by their no rhetoric warranty. So this is your new bag for life.
