Been travelling a lot with both the Shimoda backpack and an Osprey Poco AG child carrier lately so here are some feedbacks.
I’ve noticed that the Shimoda Explorer E25 was not nearly as comfortable as the Shimoda Action X50 which is kind of strange given that the harness design are almost identical. After some experiments I think I’ve found the root cause: I’m using the female version shoulder strap on the E25 instead of the original ones. The contact area is much smaller. Here is the thing… If the harness is really good then you shouldn’t feel too much pressure on your shoulders regardless of the contact area. When I was using the Osprey Poco AG the shoulder straps were almost “floating” on my body. They’re there just to provide some stability. But that’s not the case for Shimoda, the bag was obviously dragging me back:
I always thought that they make the shoulder straps super wide to give you two big pouches for extra storage but maybe it’s the way it is to counter the weakness of the harness? Anyway, I think this is due to the back panel design. The metal frame is in the bag itself and then you have a moving door that’s connected by zippers, and the hip belt that’s removable so it can look more stylish:
So there are a lot of weak joints that allow the bag to roll back despite having a strong frame. I think the biggest issue here is the removable hip belt. On my Osprey the joints (red line) are super wide to limit the range of movement.
The Osprey also has unbeatable breathability thanks to the mesh back, another design that can’t be used by a photography backpack with back-panel access.
So I guess You can’t have your cake and eat it too. You have to choose between the maximum comfort and the functionality. For me the story is a bit different. Since I have a Cosyspeed for my most-frequently used gears I found that I didn’t have to use Shimoda’s feature very often. I guess I can also use some normal hiking bags. So what to do with my Shimoda E25/X50?
First I have to say Shimoda is not that bad and it’s certainly better than some other photography backpacks that I’ve tried, both in terms of comfort and functionality. I can still manage a one-day hike with ~8KG of loads, even with the female version shoulder strap. I got a little sweaty but not too much. I felt the shoulder strap but they didn’t cause pain. The Osprey is just on another level. So for me personally the E25 is OK. The real problem is that it’s really small. The 13″ laptop sleeve is also quite awkward. I love how the bag looks, the leather zipper pull, the size and the overall design. But when you have a tripod on the left, a water bottle on the right, a jacket strapped in (can’t put it inside the bag because it’s too small…), and a Cosyspeed on you waist, the beautiful look really doesn’t matter anymore. So maybe I should sell it and get a more practical X30 instead?
The X50 on the other hand, I’d imagine that when my kid grows up I’ll take him to do some camping, so 20KG loaded multi-day hikes is totally possible in the future. I’m not sure if Shimoda can handle it that well. Maybe it’s a good idea to do some testing when I have the chance. Anyway there is another big difference between photography backpacks and outdoor backpacks: the outdoor ones in the ~60L are usually much taller than a Shimoda, which means they’re too big to be carried on an airplane. That might be a problem for some people. The taller and thinner shape makes sure that the load is closer to your body so it’s more comfortable to wear it. Again this is another example of the vastly different design philosophy between the two genres.
Honestly I’ve not decided yet. But it’s safe to say that if I didn’t have a Cosyspeed then I’ll definitely prefer a photography backpack like my Shimodas. The only thing that I’m sure is that you should try to buy a Cosyspeed.
Photo Engineering 