Overview : The classic tote, completely reimagined to protect, organize, and provide lighting-fast access to your photography and everyday gear. Made from a beautiful weatherproof Kodra, The Everyday Tote is lined with a high-density foam-padded cotton twill and accented with leather details. Removable FlexFold dividers let you organize the inside of the tote however you like, ideal for carrying essential photography, work, baby, or day-to-day gear. Easy-open side panels let you quickly access your gear without having to take the bag off your shoulder. Features a 15” laptop sleeve, luggage strap, magnetic closure points, external carry for tripods and other items, and seatbelt-style straps for hand, shoulder, or even backpack style carry.
Features :
- Go anywhere, hold anything
- Magnetic top closure
- Massive external carry: tripods, yoga mats, blankets, towels, etc.
- Dual side access
- Flexfold Dividers: configurable, adaptable, removable
- Cross-body carry or Backpack-style carry
- Internal organization
- Weatherproof
[info headline="MEDIA SAMPLE:"]This review is from a media sample. The product may have a loose thread, a rough corner or slight asymmetry around the edges. This is otherwise near final product that is sent out to customers.[/info]
Quality/Usability : Peak Design's first bag was the Everyday Messenger (Everyday Messenger 13 / Everyday Messenger 15) that launched on Kickstarter in 2015. This tote bag is one of Peak Design's latest product to the Everyday bag line. The tote was launched along side the Backpack 20L, 30L (review coming soon) and Sling bag (review). All four bags have raised over $6.5 million!
The review will consist of pictures mainly of the newest color, Ash with leather and blue accents. It is also available in Charcoal with black and red accents. It is the same color scheme as the Everyday Messenger bags. Unfortunately, the Heritage Tan from the Messenger bags and Field Pouch was not part of the color options.
NOTE: Trying to get the true color of the ash bag was a little hard. Interior shots of the tote looked darker and bluer where as when it was shot outside, it was a lot lighter and truer to the real color. I know this doesn't help much in your decision making but a better representation of the color would be the image of my wife wearing it outside (further down below).
Above pictures are of the tote in different angles. I must say, the new ash color is very nice looking. The leather makes it feel even more premium. What makes the Everyday Tote different from other totes is that not only can you access the content from the top, but you can also access it from the sides as well.
All of Peak Design bags are made with weatherproof waxed 500D Kodra shell with high-density padding and DWR undercoat. In other words, water will bead right off and won't be absorbed.
You won't be able to throw these or any of the Peak Design bags into the wash but if it does get dirty, you can do a spot clean by simply getting a towel, put a dab of soap and clean the area.
Better color comparison (outside) to come when we get the charcoal Tote.
The comparison above is the charcoal Everyday Messenger 15 with the ash Everyday Tote. As stated, the interior shots makes the ash look darker and bluer.
The ash color comes with leather and blue accents. Even for a media sample, the stitching is really nicely done. Overtime, the leather is like a nubuck (imagine Timberland boots) will age and will have a patina color to it. If you own or know about the Slide Summit Edition sling straps, the leather is similar.
The tote has a nice custom hardware buckle on the front. The buckle helps secure the top from opening. If you don't need to secure the top, the buckle is nicely put away but still adds a slight design and look to it. The strap is easily reachable and simple to unlatch from the loop.
Also on the front are two pockets. It can be used to wallets, tickets, smartphone, pens, keys, etc. Speaking of keys, Peak Design also included an anchor link to you can secure attach anything you want close to the bag. It could be used for as stated, keys, ID card, sanitizer, etc. It's also removable if you don't want to use it or want to move it else where.
The tote straps also have leather sewn onto it. This gives a little padding to the strap when where it on your shoulder
For those who own Peak Design's Capture Clip and wondered where to mount the clip on the tote, it can be mounted on the front straps.
You can wear the tote three different ways. The first being the standard tote where both straps are the same length. It can either be hand carried or worn on the shoulder. As the top gets more filled, its harder to wear on the shoulders.
If you're carrying anything big such as a tripod, yoga mat or a jacket, you can slide it through the back straps (middle image).
The second option is cross-body. To configure the tote to cross-body mode is by simply moving the buckles on the back straps towards the bottom. This will lengthen the strap so that it is long enough to be worn like a messenger bag.
Although this is nice, if you tote is loaded and becomes heavy, I would not suggest this. The strap is not padded enough or thick enough, so the weight on one side will cause the strap to put more weight on the shoulder.
The third option is backpack mode. Setting up the strap is the same way as the cross-body where you just move the buckles towards the bottom of the strap. But instead of grabbing it from the handle, you pull the straps down. The leather strip that is on the back will act as an anchor and prevent the strap from going through.
This is as close to the real color of the bag (taken with Canon 5D Mark IV with 24-70L II)
As you can see, my beautiful wife is modeling the Everyday Tote in backpack mode during our apple picking activity. It not only held my Canon 5D Mark IV with 24-70L II but also diapers, snacks and jacket for my daughter. The strap that is on the front can be tucked either into the front pocket or inside the top opening.
I like this configuration as the weight is evenly distributed onto both shoulders but not as comfortable as a normal backpack. There isn't much support for the back and may feel a little awkward due to its shape but the backpack mode definitely helps when you're carrying a heavy load. If you're looking for a backpack, definitely look at the Everyday Backpack 20L and 30L (reviews coming soon).
On the back straps, there small blue line of stitching. The small blue line of stitching acts as a guide for the buckle when you want to even out the strap so that it is the same length as the other strap for tote.
If you plan on traveling with the bag, Peak Design has included a luggage handle pass-through. So you can easily slip your tote over your luggages handle.
On both sides of the bag are zippers. This allows you to access the bag from either side. Unfortunately, there is no real theft-deterrent way to prevent the zipper from opening from unsuspecting thieves but you can however make it harder. You can simply tuck the pull tab into the flap. This not only hides it but makes it harder for them to gain access to the bag.
The zippers are weatherproof so you don't have to worry about water seeping through it.
There is a magnet that are inside the fabric on the flap and the bag that makes the flap snap onto the bag.
When you open the flap, you can gain access to your items or have it blocked off by pushing the Flexfold divider towards the flap. I'll go into further about the unique Flexfold dividers further down below.
The main compartment can be access through the top. The top cover has a magnetic clasps that will automatically close thanks to the magnet.
Inside the main compartment contains two Flexfold dividers that are removable. The dividers can be pushed towards the outside to form one big cavity or one pushed to one side to give some additional space while the other side still gives you a separate compartment (additional configurations down below).
On the opposite side of the front of the bag, there are four small elastic pockets as well as two slightly bigger pockets. You can store phones, loose change, headphones, ID, wallet and whatever else you can think of.
On the other side (opposite of back of bag) is a compartment for your 11" tablet and 13" laptop. The laptop I have in there is my 15" Macbook Pro Retina. Although it fits, the top closure doesn't close all the way and the velcro strap also doesn't reach. You can also use the strap that is on the front to help semi-close the top closure. If you have a smaller 13" Macbook, it will fit without a problem.
The Flexfold divider was first introduced in the Everyday Messenger bags. The dividers are awesome as they fold like origami. They are molded and stiff so they will hold its shape. Unlike the Messenger Flexfold dividers, these are different and I think even more versatile.
When I mean more versatile, not only is it just a divider with a shelf like the EDM dividers but it offers a little cubby. So not only can you put your lens or camera accessory on top of the lens or camera but you can turn that shelf into a cubby to hold your battery or smaller items without the fear of it falling out when you open the side flaps.
Here, you can see the divider as a shelf and turned into a cubby by simply flipping up one of the flaps.
With the divider set up as a cubby, it makes accessing anything in the cubby a little harder but if in shelf mode, you can grab the lens that you have on there with ease.
In the photo, I have my Canon 5D Mark IV with 24-70L II with lens hood reversed. Although it fit, I felt that the tote is best suited for mirrorless or compact cameras. I had to move the Flexfold dividers in as far as possible in order to fit the camera. It was more cumbersome to get the camera in and out of the side access. If I didn't have the lens hood, it may have been a little easier.
The first image is a top view with the Canon 5D Mark IV with 24-70L II with lens hood reversed on the right side of the tote. The left side was a Canon 7D Mark II body only.
The second image is with the same gear but the left divider was set up as a cubby to hold a Canon EF 50mm f1.4 lens with lens hood reversed. The middle main compartment held a 600EX-RT speedlite, Pixel speedlight battery pack and a Pakpod tripod.
The tote is not just a camera bag. It's an everyday carry and is probably the most versatile bag in Peak Design's Everyday line. I've even used the tote as a diaper bag during our apple picking outing. I used the dividers to separate the bag into sections. I had the left side holding my daughters clean diapers, the middle holding a pack of wipes and drinks, and the right side storing my daughters spare clothes and jacket.
I was able to fold down the Flexfold dividers and shove my jacket on top. I wasn't able to close the top flap completely but thanks to the strap on the front, I was able to keep it closed.
If I didn't need to put my jacket in the bag, I could of utilized the cubby and put my daughters snack on it and probably added more stuff if needed.
Conclusion : Overall, the Peak Design The Everyday Tote Bag is a very versatile bag. It can be used as a camera bag, diaper bag or just normal carry. I'm loving the Flexfold dividers especially the cubby. It definitely separates the bag even more. I like the fact that I don't even have to open the main compartment if I need to access stuff inside the bag. I can just access it through the side of the bag.
The ability to carry the bag three different ways is great since each outing requires different needs. If I need to access stuff quickly, I can do cross-body. If I don't and on a longer trek, I can wear it as a backpack.
I would have liked the straps to be a little more padded when worn as a cross-body or on the shoulder to be more comfortable. The more you cram and the more the bag gets heavier, the more the straps dig into your shoulder.
Manufacturer: Peak Design
Site: Buy from Peak Design / Buy from Amazon / Buy from B&H Photo / Buy from Adorama
Site: Buy from Peak Design / Buy from Amazon / Buy from B&H Photo / Buy from Adorama
