Peak Design 20L Everyday Backpack Review

Peak Design is aptly named. Their products are the peak of design. There are other camera gear companies with more purpose-built products that I like to use in my daily photojournalism work, but Peak Design’s products are far and above the most aesthetically pleasing and well thought out.

The Peak Design Everyday Backpack, like most of their products, finds the balance of concealing its features while maintaining accessibility. The buckle you need is out of site and out of mind until you want it. Other bags I’ve used may have similar straps, clips and pockets. But in an effort to conceal them, they become difficult to access and use.

Designed For Camera Gear

The Peak Design Everyday Backpack has a top carry handle firmly stitched to the main body of the bag. Two smaller handles are on both sides, situated above the water bottle pockets for a well-balanced suitcase style carry. The lid firmly secures with magnetic metal brackets and opens up to the backpack’s main body compartment.

The main compartment is accessible from the top and from both sides via full length zipper. The body comes with three dividers that fold across multiple axes. You can configure the cavity to fit any of your needs.

The bag itself can carry a 16” laptop, two bodies and three to four lenses depending on focal length. My Canon 70-200mm fits easily with its lens hood. There is a small organizational pocket in the top of the bag for a notebook, keys, wallet, etc.

The base of the Peak Design 20l Everyday Backpack is stiff and padded. A small compartment sealed by magnet hides two straps that can be used for securing a tripod or other larger items.

Magnetic Tabs

The shoulder straps have small magnetic tabs that hold everything together when you’re not wearing the bag. Metal hooks can be slid up and down adjusting the sternum strap. Reinforced loops and webbing line the shoulder straps of the bag so you can integrate other Peak Design products like their Capture Clips and Anchor Links.

The bag does not come with hip straps, but you can easily add the Everyday Hip Belt.

The Peak Design Everyday Pack is mostly stiff and robust, but loose and flexible where necessary. In a fully loaded bag I can still slide a full sized water bottle into its deep elastic side pockets. When I pack other bags I own, the sidewalls begin to bulge and prevent me from using exterior pockets.

Overall Impression

There is plenty of space with a lot of customization options on the Peak Design Everyday Backpack. The fabric is durable and water repellent. Everything is heavily stitched for a confident construction.  It’s a great bag for everyday use and traveling. One critique would be the lack of smaller organizational pockets.

The Peak Design Everyday 20L Pack is a quality bag that comes with a quality price tag and that’s okay. If you’re carrying extra batteries, memory cards, pens, headphones, etc., then you may run out of space in the small organizational pocket that’s in the top of the bag.

I’d recommend the Peak Design Everyday Backpack ($279.95) to any photographer who is looking to upgrade their bag-game.

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