Epretto my most loyal viewer (and brewer haha)!!! Thank you so much as always! Yeah I saw over on the /manybaggers subredit some folks mentioned a lot of my more recent reviews have been focused on mainstream brands and they wanted me to review some less well known brands, so I thought I'd branch out!! :) Let it not be said that Mountain does not give the people what they want!
The strap looks heavily inspired by a product Victorinox used to make called the Comfort Fit Shoulder Strap. I bought that strap more than 10 years ago, and I'm still using it as my go-to strap on literally any single-shoulder carry bag that has d-rings.
Ohhhhh good catch! I actually had a couple of Victorinox bags a while back - a rolling luggage and a backpack - and remember being pleasantly surprised with them. Definitely flies under the radar overshadowed by their knives/multi-tools as it were, but I should check out what they have in the carry sphere these days
Didn't expect myself to watch near 1 hour of review on a bag I'm not interested but I did. Don't get me wrong, Waterfield makes some nice bags, I have the Waterfield Bolt. The yellow/gold interior is typical Waterfield which I adores. Great video as always, plus a dose of Chase Reeves.
Hahaha awww thanks so much for the viewership and spending an hour of your life on my video ❤️ Yeah, Waterfield is a brand that doesn't always get as much UA-cam coverage as some other bigger brands but I appreciate the small business made-in-the-usa angle (though I understand the implications on pricing can make their products eye wateringly expensive for what they are), their frequent revisions and improvements to their models and the fact that they take on some interesting niche segments that you don't always see other bag makers tackle (I am trying to find some way to justify to myself purchasing their Apple Vision Pro backpack to review just because it's such an insanely specific niche but then I'm like "I will probably never use this other than just for the review and I can't imagine more than like five people in the entire world will ever consider even buying this thing"). I've got a review of their Air Porter written up as well, but want to release a couple of other videos first so it's not back to back Waterfield Reviews. But I really like some of what they do. As for the Chase references, yeah, I've got to pay homage to the OG of bag reviews (even if my philosophy to bag reviewing is a bit diverged from his). (And I really DO sometimes actually carry business papers! 😂)
Ooh, surprised by the vitriol for the Evergoods. After a lot of searching, I’ve landed on the TD35 as my second bag duffel of choice. Did a NZ trip with it and loved it. Though cumbersome, the handles are such a joy to use. But different bags for different folks!
Dang, maybe I was a bit too strong if it came across as vitriol (though I am rather passionately against how they implemented the shoulder strap on the TD35/TB20). I’m actually a huge Evergoods fan and own (far, far) too many of their bags and I loved the concept of the TD35 but just had some challenges with getting the shoulder strap system to work for me in my use cases. I do love much of the rest of the bag, including the massive capacity, nice Evergoods-esque approach to organization that balances both smaller organization and large easy to use dump style areas, and of course the overall materials and execution (sans the shoulder strap). Like you, I really liked the built in grip handles (much better than webbing solution on many bags including the Mission Workshop Transit duffle I use a lot and which is similar to the TD35 in some ways) but just had trouble getting the shoulder strap wings unsnapped easily when on the go - I found that when I pretended the bag had no shoulder strap capability and left the wings permanently clipped down and just used it like a big box with handles it was a lot more pleasant (provided I didn’t weigh it down too much such that it overwhelmed the carry handles). New Zealand is one of my favorite places in this world!! I can’t wait to go back sometime (maybe next year?) - where did you go on your trip? (oh and super curious - what bag did you pair the TD35 with on your trip?)
@@TheMountainborn Vitriol may have been an exaggeration. But hearing criticism that cutting in your very soothing tone of voice was definitely discordant! But the critiques are not without merit. The shoulder strap is not my favorite either. I prefer Waterfield's and Bihn's options there. But the "hand handles" remain some of the best execututed for travel. I don't have to fish or wiggle my hand around to tame loose straps to grab my bag on the fly. The wings are still a bit odd. It's a faux doctor bag approach which I like the style of, and when the strap isn't in use I like that I can fold the wings down and make the bag look and feel a little more compact. This is particularly helpful when gate agents are eyeing folks to choose an unlucky soul to check their bag. There's a little floppiness when those wings are deployed and the shoulder strap is out and about but not enough to notice. As for our trip, we did north to south. Drove the whole thing from Auckland (and a brief stop in Leigh) down to Queenstown and then to Doubtful Sound. Did it in 11 days too. Exhausting but an incredible survey of the country!
That’s super helpful feedback - I want to try to keep a relatively balanced tone (I’m not a fan of overly flashing/dramatic/hot take type videos) even when I might be calling out things that I think could be improved, so really appreciate that perspective, helps me to adjust my approach! Re the olde timee doctor bag aesthetic for the TD35- I know! That aspect of it is really growing on me too, you can just crank it open and see everything inside. I tried loading it up with the EG packing cubes, CAP2s etc in different colors and then when I just have the top opened like that and they’re all perfectly lined up inside of there… it just sends this awesome shudder up my spine hahaha. But then as you mentioned, when wearing it with the wings up, then it feels a bit floppy and doesn’t quite gel (for my preferences )… Your 11 day journey in NZ sounds incredible - I am always shocked at the vast variety of biomes they have from north to south - glaciers, deserts, humid forest, fjords, soaring mountain ranges, wide open grassy plains - be still my beating heart! Both time I’ve been I always wanted to stay longer, so 11 days sounds like a dream. ❤️
In my experience I found the following 1. Depends on the specifics of the airline/airline seat (I know that's kind of obvious, but it does make a big difference in practice) 2. The X-Air is taller but not as wide as most carry-on size backpacks when laying on the ground so what I found is that relative to a backpack that is stuffed under the seat in front of you (on its back), I was better able to get a foot on either side of the X-air, whereas the backpack being broader took up the entire "width" of the seat in front of me so I have to end up tucking my feet "under" the backpacks. (hopefully my explanation makes sense lol) When sitting on the window side, I found that I could usually take a backpack and cram it between my seat and the wall (depending on its size) since backpacks tend to be flatter/broader, whereas this wasn't something I could really do in economy/premium economy seats with the X-air. However for other seats, I found usually I got slightly more foot space from the X-air than most carry on backpacks of roughly the same capacity. That said, the size is what it is so obviously at 27L it will be larger than say a 16-20L daypack. But it also carries a lot more than smaller packs and even many other 27 packs (and as I mentioned the high capacity to size ratio is one of the X-airs strengths in my opinion) so it's kind of a trade off. For those that need a bag with this capacity and have to put it under the seat in front of them, this is one of the better options in the market in my opinion. But for those that don't need this size, then definitely a smaller bag will yield better foot room. > i need that legroom for those long flights to Japan 😅 Heck yeah! One thing I will say is that for most transpacific/continental flights (I don't know where you're based, so just assuming like North America/Europe etc) of that kind of duration usually the planes are big enough that you can get both carry ons into the overhead bins and avoid stuffing anything in the seat in front of you. For long flights like that definitely agree you want to have as much foot room as possible to stretch out!!!!!
Those front leather flap pockets also invert when opened fully which is troublesome for access but could potentially mean smaller items (pen, spare change) could work their way out? D-Lux 8 review incoming? :D
True!! I didn't personally experience that during my testing, however I tended not to put small things in those pockets since I found it so frictionful to access things in them to begin with (and smaller things were even harder since they sit at the bottom of the pockets). But definitely this would be a possibility for things like coins etc... Re a D-Lux 8 review... I have kicked around the idea of doing reviews of some other things such as cameras... but I am not sure what angle I would take that hasn't already been done to death, so still musing on that. But if you have any specific questions about the D-Lux 8 I'm happy to try to answer them here for now! tl;dr - basically it's like the D-Lux 7 but with updated exterior design and menu UI to match the style and interface of other modern Leica bodies. Oh and the port has changed to be USB-C (which makes it a much easier camera to travel with since now I don't need to carry around a stupid micro usb cable just for this camera). But overall, interior tech is still as old as it was when the D-Lux 7 first came out (and it wasn't exactly cutting edge then), lens and sensors are competent for what they are but absolutely nothing to write home about; those who refer to it as a "baby Q" can only realistically mean that in terms of the updated physical design (and perhaps superficially the UI); in all other aspects it absolutely pales in comparison to even the first generation Q1, let alone the Q2/Q3. IMO the updated D-Lux 8 was released to try to cash in on the same demographic that snatch up the Fuji X100 series of cameras but honestly speaking, unless one puts a massive premium on design and asthetics (or just wants to finally get rid of the last micro usb cable in their kit so they can go all USB-C all the time and travel with 1 cable and 1 plug) most people could get a lot more bang for their buck than the pretty bonkers asking price for this camera. Regardless (and I say this as an owner of both the Fuji X100 and a D-Lux 8) the constant backorders and sold out status of these cameras is mystifying. That said, I clearly bought one but as I often say on my channel, I don't make really make wise fiscal decisions much of the time 😂, and I enjoy it mainly as an object and because of the limitations it forces upon me, but that's the point I'm at in my photographic journey - despite owning some decent top end gear I ironically spend much of my time deliberately using beautifully made cameras with outdated technology and limited feature sets (cough Hasselblad X2D 100C cough Leica M11 cough) just to force some constraints on myself to drive more inspiration. (Or maybe that's just the excuse I tell myself to justify the dopamine hit from buying new gear LOL )
@@TheMountainborn RE D-Lux 8, I don't really have any questions nor am I really that interested in the camera tbh (and your tl;dr is pretty comprehensive anyway!), but I find your reviews very insightful in general and I feel like you tend to pick up on things that other reviews don't. So I guess for me, your general approach and detail on reviews would be the "angle" that makes it worth watching. Not that I'm sick of bag reviews or anything!
Ah gotcha. I kind of just lay them crossed-over each other on the top and it works okay for the most part - they’re not super heavy or metallic or anything so I don’t have too many problems with them getting banged/scratched up or making lots of fuss if/when they are off to the sides when not in use, but I understand your feeling, it’s nice to have handles that aren’t flopping all over the place :)
wow, those two side pockets are deal breaker. super ugly, super useless... i'd rather have one full zipped compartment with internal slide pockets and slim leather flap instead. i like waterfield, they used nice materials (xpac, waterproof zippers, metal hw) on this duffle, but its not perfect... pricing is very steep, its not twice as good as aer, away or bellroy. anyway, thanks for the video.
Also, thumbs up for "business papers, man"
Hahaha you know how it be, gotta give a shout out to the OG bag reviewer!
Great review on a type of bag that is definitely not “main stream” :) I love it!
Epretto my most loyal viewer (and brewer haha)!!! Thank you so much as always! Yeah I saw over on the /manybaggers subredit some folks mentioned a lot of my more recent reviews have been focused on mainstream brands and they wanted me to review some less well known brands, so I thought I'd branch out!! :)
Let it not be said that Mountain does not give the people what they want!
@@TheMountainborn neither the algorithms…
The strap looks heavily inspired by a product Victorinox used to make called the Comfort Fit Shoulder Strap. I bought that strap more than 10 years ago, and I'm still using it as my go-to strap on literally any single-shoulder carry bag that has d-rings.
Ohhhhh good catch! I actually had a couple of Victorinox bags a while back - a rolling luggage and a backpack - and remember being pleasantly surprised with them. Definitely flies under the radar overshadowed by their knives/multi-tools as it were, but I should check out what they have in the carry sphere these days
Rather like a London bus, we wait for seven months and then two come along at once ❤
ahahahhahahaha I know right!? I'm going to try (try) to shoot for an unprecedented three videos in a row with a new review next week. Wish me luck!! 😂
Didn't expect myself to watch near 1 hour of review on a bag I'm not interested but I did. Don't get me wrong, Waterfield makes some nice bags, I have the Waterfield Bolt. The yellow/gold interior is typical Waterfield which I adores. Great video as always, plus a dose of Chase Reeves.
Hahaha awww thanks so much for the viewership and spending an hour of your life on my video ❤️
Yeah, Waterfield is a brand that doesn't always get as much UA-cam coverage as some other bigger brands but I appreciate the small business made-in-the-usa angle (though I understand the implications on pricing can make their products eye wateringly expensive for what they are), their frequent revisions and improvements to their models and the fact that they take on some interesting niche segments that you don't always see other bag makers tackle (I am trying to find some way to justify to myself purchasing their Apple Vision Pro backpack to review just because it's such an insanely specific niche but then I'm like "I will probably never use this other than just for the review and I can't imagine more than like five people in the entire world will ever consider even buying this thing"). I've got a review of their Air Porter written up as well, but want to release a couple of other videos first so it's not back to back Waterfield Reviews. But I really like some of what they do.
As for the Chase references, yeah, I've got to pay homage to the OG of bag reviews (even if my philosophy to bag reviewing is a bit diverged from his).
(And I really DO sometimes actually carry business papers! 😂)
Ooh, surprised by the vitriol for the Evergoods. After a lot of searching, I’ve landed on the TD35 as my second bag duffel of choice. Did a NZ trip with it and loved it. Though cumbersome, the handles are such a joy to use. But different bags for different folks!
Dang, maybe I was a bit too strong if it came across as vitriol (though I am rather passionately against how they implemented the shoulder strap on the TD35/TB20). I’m actually a huge Evergoods fan and own (far, far) too many of their bags and I loved the concept of the TD35 but just had some challenges with getting the shoulder strap system to work for me in my use cases. I do love much of the rest of the bag, including the massive capacity, nice Evergoods-esque approach to organization that balances both smaller organization and large easy to use dump style areas, and of course the overall materials and execution (sans the shoulder strap).
Like you, I really liked the built in grip handles (much better than webbing solution on many bags including the Mission Workshop Transit duffle I use a lot and which is similar to the TD35 in some ways) but just had trouble getting the shoulder strap wings unsnapped easily when on the go - I found that when I pretended the bag had no shoulder strap capability and left the wings permanently clipped down and just used it like a big box with handles it was a lot more pleasant (provided I didn’t weigh it down too much such that it overwhelmed the carry handles).
New Zealand is one of my favorite places in this world!! I can’t wait to go back sometime (maybe next year?) - where did you go on your trip?
(oh and super curious - what bag did you pair the TD35 with on your trip?)
@@TheMountainborn Vitriol may have been an exaggeration. But hearing criticism that cutting in your very soothing tone of voice was definitely discordant! But the critiques are not without merit. The shoulder strap is not my favorite either. I prefer Waterfield's and Bihn's options there. But the "hand handles" remain some of the best execututed for travel. I don't have to fish or wiggle my hand around to tame loose straps to grab my bag on the fly.
The wings are still a bit odd. It's a faux doctor bag approach which I like the style of, and when the strap isn't in use I like that I can fold the wings down and make the bag look and feel a little more compact. This is particularly helpful when gate agents are eyeing folks to choose an unlucky soul to check their bag. There's a little floppiness when those wings are deployed and the shoulder strap is out and about but not enough to notice.
As for our trip, we did north to south. Drove the whole thing from Auckland (and a brief stop in Leigh) down to Queenstown and then to Doubtful Sound. Did it in 11 days too. Exhausting but an incredible survey of the country!
That’s super helpful feedback - I want to try to keep a relatively balanced tone (I’m not a fan of overly flashing/dramatic/hot take type videos) even when I might be calling out things that I think could be improved, so really appreciate that perspective, helps me to adjust my approach!
Re the olde timee doctor bag aesthetic for the TD35- I know! That aspect of it is really growing on me too, you can just crank it open and see everything inside. I tried loading it up with the EG packing cubes, CAP2s etc in different colors and then when I just have the top opened like that and they’re all perfectly lined up inside of there… it just sends this awesome shudder up my spine hahaha. But then as you mentioned, when wearing it with the wings up, then it feels a bit floppy and doesn’t quite gel (for my preferences )…
Your 11 day journey in NZ sounds incredible - I am always shocked at the vast variety of biomes they have from north to south - glaciers, deserts, humid forest, fjords, soaring mountain ranges, wide open grassy plains - be still my beating heart! Both time I’ve been I always wanted to stay longer, so 11 days sounds like a dream. ❤️
this looks huge... can you stretch your legs besides it when stowed under the seat? i need that legroom for those long flights to Japan 😅
In my experience I found the following
1. Depends on the specifics of the airline/airline seat (I know that's kind of obvious, but it does make a big difference in practice)
2. The X-Air is taller but not as wide as most carry-on size backpacks when laying on the ground so what I found is that relative to a backpack that is stuffed under the seat in front of you (on its back), I was better able to get a foot on either side of the X-air, whereas the backpack being broader took up the entire "width" of the seat in front of me so I have to end up tucking my feet "under" the backpacks. (hopefully my explanation makes sense lol)
When sitting on the window side, I found that I could usually take a backpack and cram it between my seat and the wall (depending on its size) since backpacks tend to be flatter/broader, whereas this wasn't something I could really do in economy/premium economy seats with the X-air. However for other seats, I found usually I got slightly more foot space from the X-air than most carry on backpacks of roughly the same capacity.
That said, the size is what it is so obviously at 27L it will be larger than say a 16-20L daypack. But it also carries a lot more than smaller packs and even many other 27 packs (and as I mentioned the high capacity to size ratio is one of the X-airs strengths in my opinion) so it's kind of a trade off. For those that need a bag with this capacity and have to put it under the seat in front of them, this is one of the better options in the market in my opinion. But for those that don't need this size, then definitely a smaller bag will yield better foot room.
> i need that legroom for those long flights to Japan 😅
Heck yeah! One thing I will say is that for most transpacific/continental flights (I don't know where you're based, so just assuming like North America/Europe etc) of that kind of duration usually the planes are big enough that you can get both carry ons into the overhead bins and avoid stuffing anything in the seat in front of you. For long flights like that definitely agree you want to have as much foot room as possible to stretch out!!!!!
Those front leather flap pockets also invert when opened fully which is troublesome for access but could potentially mean smaller items (pen, spare change) could work their way out?
D-Lux 8 review incoming? :D
True!! I didn't personally experience that during my testing, however I tended not to put small things in those pockets since I found it so frictionful to access things in them to begin with (and smaller things were even harder since they sit at the bottom of the pockets). But definitely this would be a possibility for things like coins etc...
Re a D-Lux 8 review... I have kicked around the idea of doing reviews of some other things such as cameras... but I am not sure what angle I would take that hasn't already been done to death, so still musing on that. But if you have any specific questions about the D-Lux 8 I'm happy to try to answer them here for now!
tl;dr - basically it's like the D-Lux 7 but with updated exterior design and menu UI to match the style and interface of other modern Leica bodies. Oh and the port has changed to be USB-C (which makes it a much easier camera to travel with since now I don't need to carry around a stupid micro usb cable just for this camera). But overall, interior tech is still as old as it was when the D-Lux 7 first came out (and it wasn't exactly cutting edge then), lens and sensors are competent for what they are but absolutely nothing to write home about; those who refer to it as a "baby Q" can only realistically mean that in terms of the updated physical design (and perhaps superficially the UI); in all other aspects it absolutely pales in comparison to even the first generation Q1, let alone the Q2/Q3. IMO the updated D-Lux 8 was released to try to cash in on the same demographic that snatch up the Fuji X100 series of cameras but honestly speaking, unless one puts a massive premium on design and asthetics (or just wants to finally get rid of the last micro usb cable in their kit so they can go all USB-C all the time and travel with 1 cable and 1 plug) most people could get a lot more bang for their buck than the pretty bonkers asking price for this camera. Regardless (and I say this as an owner of both the Fuji X100 and a D-Lux 8) the constant backorders and sold out status of these cameras is mystifying.
That said, I clearly bought one but as I often say on my channel, I don't make really make wise fiscal decisions much of the time 😂, and I enjoy it mainly as an object and because of the limitations it forces upon me, but that's the point I'm at in my photographic journey - despite owning some decent top end gear I ironically spend much of my time deliberately using beautifully made cameras with outdated technology and limited feature sets (cough Hasselblad X2D 100C cough Leica M11 cough) just to force some constraints on myself to drive more inspiration.
(Or maybe that's just the excuse I tell myself to justify the dopamine hit from buying new gear LOL )
@@TheMountainborn RE D-Lux 8, I don't really have any questions nor am I really that interested in the camera tbh (and your tl;dr is pretty comprehensive anyway!), but I find your reviews very insightful in general and I feel like you tend to pick up on things that other reviews don't. So I guess for me, your general approach and detail on reviews would be the "angle" that makes it worth watching.
Not that I'm sick of bag reviews or anything!
Thank you for the kind words - I really appreciate it! I☺️
I am just concerned about the handles hitting the floor when not in use.
Ah gotcha. I kind of just lay them crossed-over each other on the top and it works okay for the most part - they’re not super heavy or metallic or anything so I don’t have too many problems with them getting banged/scratched up or making lots of fuss if/when they are off to the sides when not in use, but I understand your feeling, it’s nice to have handles that aren’t flopping all over the place :)
wow, those two side pockets are deal breaker. super ugly, super useless... i'd rather have one full zipped compartment with internal slide pockets and slim leather flap instead. i like waterfield, they used nice materials (xpac, waterproof zippers, metal hw) on this duffle, but its not perfect... pricing is very steep, its not twice as good as aer, away or bellroy. anyway, thanks for the video.