I have bought a few Tomtoc products and the Wander T26 Sling is the first one that I truly love. I own many slings but this is the only one that fits my heavy duty umbrella that I need to bring everywhere during the heavy monsoon in Southeast Asia. I don't find the front compartment difficult to access at all because the sling is so long. I do agree that the compression straps functionally doesn't help with much compressing or expanding but I find it to be a nice place to hang my Heroclip. One peculiar annoyance that I sometimes encounter with this sling (maybe it only affects mine) is the squeakiness of the Duraflex clips while I'm walking and wearing it in sling mode. Capacity-wise, I'm pretty sure it fits much more than my Bellroy Venture 6L sling even though it's listed at 5.5L.
So funny, I had heard about the squeakiness of the straps but haven't encountered it in the two months of owning mine? I wonder if it varies between colors or what? (black x-pac here)
I have the black one since February. Love the blue interior. I use it when bringing along my Steam Deck; without it, I use the bag whenever I have to bring long objects (eg. checks/checkbook holder), or have lots of chunky items (eg. water bottle, umbrella) along with my everyday items. Good organization, comfortable shoulder strap, lots of space. I agree, it's bulky, but it serves its purpose. My only gripe is the squeaky noise the anchor points (those round plastic things for the shoulder straps) make whenever the bag is loaded.
The Tomtoc Wanderer is a great sling, it's capacity suits me perfectly. Short of taking a backpack I can carry an iPad Mini, a hardcover sketchbook, and my sunglasses in a case, and more. The strap is fantastic, I clip things to the compression straps, and I absolutely love the top handel. Really I deliberated a longtime over a sling, soon is this one hit the market my indecision was over. The Duraflex rotating strap holders also started to squeak on my bag, I used some Japanese Tsubaki knife oil and problem solved. Also imagine one could use a little vaseline to achieve the same thing.
I absolutely love this sling bag. Using it for my daily drive. Its big enough to put a small umbrella, small tumblr and also my second phone. My pocket and pants feel so light using this sling coz the capacity is so big!
I got this (xpac) on Amazon prime days for 60$ in beige. The sling is really good for the price. I was surprised by how bit it is compared to bellroy. Tomtoc recently upped their game significantly.
I was unsure about x-pac myself Aaron but then after using one of my kadet maxs as a tool bag for the last year I've discovered how truly durable and water resistance It is. It has been my favorite material for the last year but that was before just purchasing almost the entire line of Goruck dyneema.
Great review. I have the black non X-Pac - suits my needs well and was purchased to replace my tomtoc 4L T21 sling that I use when I travel overseas. I found the 4L was full already carrying all the usual travel items like power banks, cables, etc and the additional space of the 5.5L is handy to carry items I've bought or even a water bottle.
I've had this in black X-pac for two months now as a bigger brother to my X-pac (which I love, obvs) 2.5 L Aer City sling. It's a great bag with great capacity and is perfect for days out in the city where my Aer won't be enough, but one of my countless Chrome courier bags will be too much. It's boxy, but i find it to be very comfortable on my 6'4" frame. Should be noted that this sling works well for right shoulder wearers as well. I really wish that more companies made bags that work equally well on both shoulders. sigh. (can you please start showing / testing / mentioning this with your reviews please? Even though I'm a righty I simply find right shoulder to be more comfortable.) All in all a hell of a sling at a hell of a price! p.s. I don't know if your coyote is stiffer than the black x-pac or what, but my compression straps work well. (hmm!)
I'm with you on XPAC, I have the Alpaka Vertical Sling in XPAC and don't get me wrong it's great and super durable, but I do prefer the feel of 1680D nylon to the touch, it's kinda softer and "friendlier" as it were.
@@Nomads.Nation if you leave in a wet country and have a commute that may involve walking under the rain, X-Pac isa superior metrical when it comes to weather resistance. It s valuable when you are carrying a 4000$ laptop...
@@Fasacorp132 I live in Hong Kong, it's extremely wet here lol. I've got caught in many rain storms and when that happens I just find cover, like most everyone else does. But I won't argue the fact that XPAC is extremely weather resistant (but it won't stop water - drops will still get through the stitching and seams)
Tomtoc actually just sent me one two days ago. Its incredible and one of my favourite slings. They also sent me the aviator sling, which i am not a fan of and will probably give away. I also have the aer sling pro, and the Arc'teryx Maka 2. The Wander is the best built and fits incredible well. If you want this thing, do not hesitate. You will not be disappointed.
@@Nomads.Nation I think I prefer the ruggedness of the wander. It suits my lifestyle a bit more. I’m very outdoorsy, and will take it skateboarding. Thanks for creating this awesome content. It’s exciting to watch
I have an rog ally and have been eyeing this bag for a while now. I’m curious if the straps could be replaced with something else like a belt strap or luggage strap for traveling.
I recently got the black one with blue interior. It’s been great. Has lots of playing for protecting my Nintendo switch and smaller cameras that I have. The only head scratchers are the compression straps…seriously what are they for? lol. Everything else was well thought out and I find it very comfortable to carry.
I like what Tomtoc is bringing to the game. This sling is HUGE! It’s not for everyone and I’m not on team xpac. No need for compression straps. I think it would look cleaner without them.
Great review, very informative! Do you have any other XPaC / rugged Sling recommendations, Aron? I’m looking for a sling I can wear while hiking, so water resistance and a reasonably tough build are very important to me. Thanks a bunch!
Alpaka has a bunch of other options, also if you can find an Evergoods CAS in XPAC that would be ideal (there might be some being re-sold somewhere on the web)
@@Nomads.NationOof, that Bravo X Sling from Alpaka looks amazing. Bummer that the green color way was a limited edition and is sold out. Thanks for the recommendation!
So, I'm comparing T21 and T26. T26 seems pretty cool, but I haven't actually seen it yet. Saw T21, though, was kinda tiny. T26 might be a bit too big, though. 🤔
Thanks for your requests! But just to be frank I don’t think we’ll be reviewing that bag anytime soon - UNLESS you send one to us, then I’ll at least make a UA-cam short for ya 💪🏻
@@Nomads.Nation tbh mate if I has the means to send you, would have obviously sent you it. I wanted to buy it after it passed through your expert hands. Haha
@@mokisan totallyy get that, but I have (surprisingly) had other people offer to send me bags they wanted me to review... it's a small chance, but it's the only way I can 100% guarantee anything. Otherwise you can always reach out to the brand and ask them to send us one.
i am considering between tomtoc t26, alpaka go sling and aer day sling 3 max. Which one recommend? I need at least 3 pockets, front, back and middle pocket. My body size is quite big so i don't care how big the bag looks.
@ thanks, would you happen to have the dimensions of the inside of the pocket that sits against your body when you wear it. I’ve not found that anywhere.
I had the black regular sling since November and used it as my main sling. But the squeakiness of the strap REALLY made me stop liking it. It definitely fit a lot don't get me wrong: I usually carried with it my Fujifilm camera, Supernote (which is an ipad mini size) and even a travel mug. But I think because the material didn't really "shrink" or fit to size like a Bellroy sling or other slings that attaches to the body, I didn't really like it when I had a smaller load to carry on the everyday. I switched back to the tomtoc t21 xpac so far and it kind of works, but I'm a bit torn since it can barely fit either my supernote or fujifilm (and definitely cannot do both) despite it being a 4l sling.
When I first got mine I knew about the squeak but didn’t hear anything on the 10 day trip I took it on. Now on my second trip the squeak started. I’m going to try some oil and hopefully that does the trick.
Hi Aaron, just curious, where did you find that Tomtoc is a Chinese company? When I try to search about it I find that it's from Los Angeles or Chino California. "About the brand: Founded in Los Angeles, USA, tomtoc is an innovative, tech-savvy, and fashionable design-driven brand dedicated to protecting your digital gear"
Moved out here 8 years ago to teach English by day and work on Nomads Nation by night… after years of work I was able to quit the teaching job and work on this full time and stayed in HK 💪🏻
Fantastic review of the Tomtoc sling. I'm not a sling guy, but I did like this sling. I'm left handed, so I liked being able to switch the sling to the other side. I think this is a great into sling bag.
I like that xpac coyote. I had a very similar size Kargo Loculus, and found this size didn’t get used a lot, as with bigger loads I’d prefer to go with a shoulder bag (chio x or QuickDraw) and for smaller lighter loads the bellroy venture 6L was more or less the ideal size. Still if you are more high sling inclined and avoid low hanging man purses (though it seems like you can do it with this one), and you can use the space, this looks great.
@@Nomads.Nation i've got many abrasion points in my aer city sling 2 xpac, so yeah. No more VX21 fabric after this. Them bag maker should stick with VX42
Do you want to help me build a game-changing backpack? 👉🏼 nomadsnation.com/building-a-backpack
Tomtoc ftw !! One of the most underrated EDC manufacturers for bags and slings !! Love the vid !!
agreed! But I don't think they are that underrated anymore, at least not in the Carry Community. They are taking over pretty quick!
I have bought a few Tomtoc products and the Wander T26 Sling is the first one that I truly love. I own many slings but this is the only one that fits my heavy duty umbrella that I need to bring everywhere during the heavy monsoon in Southeast Asia. I don't find the front compartment difficult to access at all because the sling is so long. I do agree that the compression straps functionally doesn't help with much compressing or expanding but I find it to be a nice place to hang my Heroclip. One peculiar annoyance that I sometimes encounter with this sling (maybe it only affects mine) is the squeakiness of the Duraflex clips while I'm walking and wearing it in sling mode. Capacity-wise, I'm pretty sure it fits much more than my Bellroy Venture 6L sling even though it's listed at 5.5L.
So funny, I had heard about the squeakiness of the straps but haven't encountered it in the two months of owning mine? I wonder if it varies between colors or what? (black x-pac here)
yep it squeaks. i've had to use a candle to wax the buckle clips every now and then so it's a minor issue for me (black one)
I have the black one since February. Love the blue interior. I use it when bringing along my Steam Deck; without it, I use the bag whenever I have to bring long objects (eg. checks/checkbook holder), or have lots of chunky items (eg. water bottle, umbrella) along with my everyday items. Good organization, comfortable shoulder strap, lots of space. I agree, it's bulky, but it serves its purpose. My only gripe is the squeaky noise the anchor points (those round plastic things for the shoulder straps) make whenever the bag is loaded.
I didn't notice the squeaking noise, but thanks for putting it on our radar!
A bit of WD40 solves your problem. 😊
@@viktorsarkany 😂
yup, it sounds like a little bird chirping
The Tomtoc Wanderer is a great sling, it's capacity suits me perfectly. Short of taking a backpack I can carry an iPad Mini, a hardcover sketchbook, and my sunglasses in a case, and more. The strap is fantastic, I clip things to the compression straps, and I absolutely love the top handel. Really I deliberated a longtime over a sling, soon is this one hit the market my indecision was over. The Duraflex rotating strap holders also started to squeak on my bag, I used some Japanese Tsubaki knife oil and problem solved. Also imagine one could use a little vaseline to achieve the same thing.
hell yea!
I absolutely love this sling bag. Using it for my daily drive. Its big enough to put a small umbrella, small tumblr and also my second phone. My pocket and pants feel so light using this sling coz the capacity is so big!
thanks for sharing!
I got this (xpac) on Amazon prime days for 60$ in beige. The sling is really good for the price. I was surprised by how bit it is compared to bellroy. Tomtoc recently upped their game significantly.
100% agreed
I like tomtoc more and more. They have great products at very interesting prices.
preach!
I was unsure about x-pac myself Aaron but then after using one of my kadet maxs as a tool bag for the last year I've discovered how truly durable and water resistance It is. It has been my favorite material for the last year but that was before just purchasing almost the entire line of Goruck dyneema.
It’s a truly great fabric, so glad to hear your are digging it
Great review. I have the black non X-Pac - suits my needs well and was purchased to replace my tomtoc 4L T21 sling that I use when I travel overseas. I found the 4L was full already carrying all the usual travel items like power banks, cables, etc and the additional space of the 5.5L is handy to carry items I've bought or even a water bottle.
Yea that extra space can go a long way
I've had this in black X-pac for two months now as a bigger brother to my X-pac (which I love, obvs) 2.5 L Aer City sling. It's a great bag with great capacity and is perfect for days out in the city where my Aer won't be enough, but one of my countless Chrome courier bags will be too much. It's boxy, but i find it to be very comfortable on my 6'4" frame.
Should be noted that this sling works well for right shoulder wearers as well. I really wish that more companies made bags that work equally well on both shoulders. sigh. (can you please start showing / testing / mentioning this with your reviews please? Even though I'm a righty I simply find right shoulder to be more comfortable.)
All in all a hell of a sling at a hell of a price!
p.s. I don't know if your coyote is stiffer than the black x-pac or what, but my compression straps work well. (hmm!)
Thanks for the epic write-up mate! Maybe the coyote is a bit stiffer 🤔
I'm with you on XPAC, I have the Alpaka Vertical Sling in XPAC and don't get me wrong it's great and super durable, but I do prefer the feel of 1680D nylon to the touch, it's kinda softer and "friendlier" as it were.
100%, but also XPAC has been strangely growing on me over the last months… don’t tell anyone lol
@@Nomads.Nation if you leave in a wet country and have a commute that may involve walking under the rain, X-Pac isa superior metrical when it comes to weather resistance. It s valuable when you are carrying a 4000$ laptop...
@@Fasacorp132 I live in Hong Kong, it's extremely wet here lol. I've got caught in many rain storms and when that happens I just find cover, like most everyone else does. But I won't argue the fact that XPAC is extremely weather resistant (but it won't stop water - drops will still get through the stitching and seams)
Tomtoc actually just sent me one two days ago. Its incredible and one of my favourite slings. They also sent me the aviator sling, which i am not a fan of and will probably give away. I also have the aer sling pro, and the Arc'teryx Maka 2. The Wander is the best built and fits incredible well. If you want this thing, do not hesitate. You will not be disappointed.
Love to hear your opinion! I much prefer the Aviator myself, but to each their own 💪🏻
@@Nomads.Nation I think I prefer the ruggedness of the wander. It suits my lifestyle a bit more. I’m very outdoorsy, and will take it skateboarding. Thanks for creating this awesome content. It’s exciting to watch
I have an rog ally and have been eyeing this bag for a while now. I’m curious if the straps could be replaced with something else like a belt strap or luggage strap for traveling.
not sure, if you find out be sure to let us know!
Wow. Really enjoyed your review. Informative and entertaining.
cheers! shoutout to our amazing editing team for making me look good
I haven't seen you review pacsafe slings and bags.
astute observation
I recently got the black one with blue interior. It’s been great. Has lots of playing for protecting my Nintendo switch and smaller cameras that I have. The only head scratchers are the compression straps…seriously what are they for? lol. Everything else was well thought out and I find it very comfortable to carry.
yea the compression straps seem pretty pointless to me, just cut those fuckers off lol
The compression straps are really good for holding a water bottle on the outside of the sling.
Good call!
I like what Tomtoc is bringing to the game. This sling is HUGE! It’s not for everyone and I’m not on team xpac. No need for compression straps. I think it would look cleaner without them.
oh yea, its a monsterr
Great review, very informative!
Do you have any other XPaC / rugged Sling recommendations, Aron?
I’m looking for a sling I can wear while hiking, so water resistance and a reasonably tough build are very important to me.
Thanks a bunch!
Alpaka has a bunch of other options, also if you can find an Evergoods CAS in XPAC that would be ideal (there might be some being re-sold somewhere on the web)
@@Nomads.NationOof, that Bravo X Sling from Alpaka looks amazing.
Bummer that the green color way was a limited edition and is sold out.
Thanks for the recommendation!
TomToc T33 Aviator is my go to. But having a backup of a 5.5L for trips would be nice. Dangit!
No harm having both 😉
I have the nylon version. Thought about upgrading, but that would be a waste of money because it’s exactly the same dimensions and everything.
XPAC is only useful if you need extreme weather resistance
So, I'm comparing T21 and T26. T26 seems pretty cool, but I haven't actually seen it yet. Saw T21, though, was kinda tiny. T26 might be a bit too big, though. 🤔
decisions decisions...
Is the brown color prone to getting dirty quickly, and is it easy to clean?
@@Pititul not sure about how dirty it gets, but XPAC is very easy to clean off dirt/hair
Thanks for the grey video Aaron. Tomtoc as usual is making some awesome bags. 🙂
Also third request for the "ddhifi c2023" sling pouch.
cheers!
Thanks for your requests! But just to be frank I don’t think we’ll be reviewing that bag anytime soon - UNLESS you send one to us, then I’ll at least make a UA-cam short for ya 💪🏻
@@Nomads.Nation tbh mate if I has the means to send you, would have obviously sent you it. I wanted to buy it after it passed through your expert hands. Haha
@@mokisan totallyy get that, but I have (surprisingly) had other people offer to send me bags they wanted me to review... it's a small chance, but it's the only way I can 100% guarantee anything. Otherwise you can always reach out to the brand and ask them to send us one.
So is this bag tall from the floor up or wide, where it would sit on the side of your body in a easier carry mode like a duffel bag?
not really a comfy carry in duffel mode imo
i am considering between tomtoc t26, alpaka go sling and aer day sling 3 max. Which one recommend? I need at least 3 pockets, front, back and middle pocket. My body size is quite big so i don't care how big the bag looks.
Can’t go wrong with any, I prefer the Aer though personally
Is the exterior of the X pack noisy like a bag of chips?
not quite thattt crunch, but yea, it crunches
@ thanks, would you happen to have the dimensions of the inside of the pocket that sits against your body when you wear it. I’ve not found that anywhere.
@@Libtek13 im traveling so can't say for sure, I'd recommend reaching out to Tomtoc - they'll get you sorted 💪
why do i feel like the bellroy venture sling 9l is smaller than this? feels like it can carry more.
It’s def smaller. Brands are very bad at being consistent with their measurements
Nice review! I am planning to get one but I want to know if it can fit an 8th generation iPad? Thanks!
don't have one so not sure, be sure to ask Tomtoc customer support and let us know what they say!
I had the black regular sling since November and used it as my main sling. But the squeakiness of the strap REALLY made me stop liking it. It definitely fit a lot don't get me wrong: I usually carried with it my Fujifilm camera, Supernote (which is an ipad mini size) and even a travel mug. But I think because the material didn't really "shrink" or fit to size like a Bellroy sling or other slings that attaches to the body, I didn't really like it when I had a smaller load to carry on the everyday. I switched back to the tomtoc t21 xpac so far and it kind of works, but I'm a bit torn since it can barely fit either my supernote or fujifilm (and definitely cannot do both) despite it being a 4l sling.
So interesting as I don’t experience the sqeakiness with this sling (but I totally experienced with 1-2 other slings so I know it’s a thing)
When I first got mine I knew about the squeak but didn’t hear anything on the 10 day trip I took it on. Now on my second trip the squeak started. I’m going to try some oil and hopefully that does the trick.
Hi Aaron, just curious, where did you find that Tomtoc is a Chinese company? When I try to search about it I find that it's from Los Angeles or Chino California.
"About the brand: Founded in Los Angeles, USA, tomtoc is an innovative, tech-savvy, and fashionable design-driven brand dedicated to protecting your digital gear"
I actually don't know where I heard that... maybe I'm wrong... but I think I'm right...
will look further into it
I wonder how a French Baguette will fit in this. How far will it stick out?
Are baguettes a universal size? 😂
@Nomads.Nation haha, no. I have a baguette edgecase.
Do the air back next please review this game changer of a bag
we are reaching out to them this week, hopefully they send us one!
just curious how you guys ended up in hk
Moved out here 8 years ago to teach English by day and work on Nomads Nation by night… after years of work I was able to quit the teaching job and work on this full time and stayed in HK 💪🏻
Well done. My dad was mugged there in the 80s. Navy.
Hey, awesome review as always! Just wondering, do you know when the Bellroy Venture travel pack review will be up? Been looking forward to that one.
should be a few days!
@@Nomads.Nation cool. Thanks for your reply!
11:13 Pro No.4: Its Stands on table by itself
👏
I like the way better than my Greenroom 136 Metrorunner…. Much better thought out.
good to know!
Does it fit ipad 11"
it does, but you can't put it in the sleeve or you can't zip it close
Fantastic review of the Tomtoc sling. I'm not a sling guy, but I did like this sling. I'm left handed, so I liked being able to switch the sling to the other side. I think this is a great into sling bag.
Totally agree!
this kinda reminds me of my Kargo Loculus sling
love me some Kargo
X-Pac is the way 🙌
its a very functional material for sure
😂😂 I know you don’t like it though 😂😂
@@akumaz78 ha it is growing on me I will say
Can u put a steam deck in there?
don't have one so don't know, be sure to ask Tomtoc customer support and let us know what they say!
@@Nomads.Nation ty sir
The difference in size from the 4L to 5.5L is too much. Feels like literally twice the size. I think its yeice the weight too.
💪
I like that xpac coyote. I had a very similar size Kargo Loculus, and found this size didn’t get used a lot, as with bigger loads I’d prefer to go with a shoulder bag (chio x or QuickDraw) and for smaller lighter loads the bellroy venture 6L was more or less the ideal size. Still if you are more high sling inclined and avoid low hanging man purses (though it seems like you can do it with this one), and you can use the space, this looks great.
As always, I agree with your points 😂. Coyote and olive always looks great with XPAC, a fabric that has slowly but surely been growing on me
It looks so bulky😅😅 I couldn't wear as a result
Soo bulky
This thing is like a tomtoc T21 Pro
I haven’t reviewed that one yet
@@Nomads.Nation The T33 and T26 both drew inspirations from the T21. Comparing those two against the T21 could be very interesting.
T26? They just stole your backpack name, when expanded to 26L
Ha to be fair they came up with the name first, but it’s not a 26 liter bag, so I think there’s enough differentiation there to make it work
@@Nomads.Nation i guess F22 could have worked. F for Fyro. Or you could have used one or both of your in initials. Maybe the next one
Maybe those are not compression straps…serve other purpose
perhaps… but what purpose…
VX 21 is trash
why
@@Nomads.Nation i've got many abrasion points in my aer city sling 2 xpac, so yeah. No more VX21 fabric after this. Them bag maker should stick with VX42
@@haziqehsan yea if you beat your bag up then VX21 isn't going to handle the abrasion as well