Best Travel Camera Bag for Content Creators: 4 Tested
One trip to Colombia. Four camera bags. One rule: if it does not fit in the winning bag, it stays home. Here is how each one did, the two bags we kept, and the travel gear coming with us.
We are going to Colombia. Every summer we take the kids to see my mom and my abuelita, and this year I am bringing the studio with us. The cameras, the lights, the audio, all of it.
There was one rule. It all had to fit in one bag.
So I bought four bags and told Stephen to test every one. I told him the truth up front. Anything that does not fit in the winning bag is not coming. Then I sat back and watched him suffer.
I was not being cruel. I had a reason. I have a full slate of shoots planned down there, and some of them need us light and mobile, moving between streets and restaurants, not hauling a rolling case through a plaza. The one-bag rule was the fastest way to find out what actually works.
The real answer: you want two bags
Here is what four bags taught us. You do not want one bag. You want two.
An airport bag that protects your expensive gear, because you never check it. And a smaller field bag, something that does not scream come rob me, that you can pull a camera out of fast without unpacking your whole life. Below is how each bag did, and the two we kept.
How we judged them
Every bag got scored on the same five things. Build quality. Design, meaning the pockets, the organization, the features. Easy access, meaning how fast you can grab a camera or a mic in the field. Safety, meaning how it feels to wear in a crowd. And durability, meaning can you stuff it under an airport seat, chuck it into an Uber, and trust your gear survives. Then I put each one through a real field test.
Bag 1: the WAJUXIBA sling (the mystery bag)
The first bag was not even the bag I ordered. I ordered one with over 1,300 reviews. What showed up was a mystery sling from a brand called WAJUXIBA with seven reviews. Stephen was convinced I did it to mess with him. I did not. It turned into the best accident of the whole video.
It is a crossbody sling, not a backpack, and it is built for cameras. Water resistant, comfortable straps, real pockets for a camera, your phone, SD cards, even a spot for a small tripod. Because it rides on one shoulder strap, you can flip it around to your front in a second. That made it the safest of the four for the street. On a moto, in a crowd, grabbing a camera fast, this is the one. If you shoot with one camera, maybe a mic, maybe a little tube light, this is all you need out in the field.
It took the longest to pack, because it is chiquito and you have to play Tetris. It came with Velcro dividers so you can build it around your gear. Stephen fell for it hard. So did I. This became his field bag.
Bag 2: the Lowepro BP 250
I did not tell Stephen the price of any bag. That part was for you. I wanted his reactions clean. The Lowepro BP 250 was the least expensive, and you could feel it. The zippers and stitching felt a little flimsier, so it scored lower on durability. I would think twice before chucking it into an Uber or stuffing it under an airport seat.
And yet. Every single piece of gear he wanted fit in it, instantly. Slots and panels for everything, easy access, the whole thing just worked. This is a real photographer's bag from a company that has clearly been doing this a long time. If you are on a budget, this is the surprise of the bunch. Stephen liked the cheapness of it. His words.
Bag 3: the WANDRD 31L
The WANDRD 31L looks like a camera bag and an army bag had a baby. It has a roll-top at the top you can expand, tall enough to smuggle a small child. Very sexy bag. The materials, the zippers, the texture, all rico. Water resistant, durable, a real laptop pocket, great support in the back.
Here is the catch. Out of the box it is one big empty compartment. You have to buy the accessory cubes, or bring your own cases, or your gear rattles around loose. That actually makes it a strong airport bag. If you are going studio to studio and you just need your gear to survive an overhead bin, this one takes a beating and keeps it safe. This was my favorite. I could not shut up about it. Stephen called it my Mission Impossible bag. I stand by it.
Bag 4: the PGYTECH OneMo 22L
Last one. The PGYTECH OneMo 22L showed up smelling like fish. I am not joking. The whole room smelled like fish when I unboxed it. Then Stephen opened it and fell in love on sight anyway.
This is the BMW of the four. The materials, the zippers, the green felt interior, the design, all clearly built for content creators. Bendable, shapeable Velcro dividers, hard and secure enough that you do not need extra cases for your gear. The side quick-access slot is perfect. Everything he wanted fit, including his laptop. It survived my field testing, which Stephen calls erratic and I call thorough. This one was always going to win.
Now the winner
PGYTECH OneMo
Remember the real answer is two.
Stephen kept two bags. The PGYTECH OneMo is the overall winner and our airport bag. It carries everything, protects everything, and handles the plane, the Uber, and the studio-to-studio days. The WAJUXIBA sling is our field bag, for the streets, the restaurants, the moto days, when we just need a camera, a mic, and a light, fast, without flashing a laptop in the wrong neighborhood.
One protects the whole kit. One keeps you mobile and low profile. That is the idea.
The bags
All four are below. These are affiliate links, so grabbing something through them supports the channel at no extra cost to you. Thank you for that.
WAJUXIBA sling (our field pick, the city bag)
PGYTECH OneMo 22L (the overall winner, our airport bag)
Lowepro BP 250 (great buy for the price)
WANDRD 31L (big travel photography bag)
The fun travel gear coming to Colombia
These are some the little things going we’re most exciting to travel with and test out!
DJI Osmo Nano (the tiny action camera doing most of our mobile shooting)
Meta glasses (hands-free point-of-view shots when a real camera would be too much)
Neewer inflatable tube light (a light that packs flat and blows up, perfect for a field bag)
Come create with us
That is the setup going to Colombia. Two bags, and a pile of little gear that fits inside them.
There is more coming. I have a whole slate of shoots planned down there, including a live multicam stream with a new piece of gear I am not allowed to name yet. And yes, I am making Stephen take dance lessons on camera. He is thrilled about it. Truly.
Subscribe so you catch the Colombia videos as they drop. And if you want help building a setup that travels with you instead of chaining you to a desk, that is what we do at Podcast YourWay.
