All ladies appreciate a good bag, right? Well, I was recently reminded of how much I appreciate this tough, water resistant, roomy bag that was part of my OR09 swag (thanks, MHW!) and which recently accompanied me and all my stuff out into the field for a week. You know how when you go on a trip, your stuff seems to expand and multiply even though it’s the same stuff you left with? Why a crumpled dirty sock takes up more room than a clean crumpled sock is a total mystery to me. Hmm, must be all that dirt taking up more space.

Anyway, as my trip progressed, I kept having to stuff what seemed like more and more things into the Expedition Duffle. While other bags that were along for the ride gave up the ghost, busting zippers and rendering themselves useless, the Expedition Duffle gamely accepted the overflow, which let me tell you was an incredible relief. Not only did the bag end up carrying all of its original contents, it also gathered up the contents of the broken-zipper bag (which I left behind in disgust) with a minimum of complaint. It turns out that no matter what, you can usually find another nook or cranny in this bag, and the clever design of the lid means you can always close the zipper, regardless of how full you stuff the bag. And the zipper is heavy duty, a big relief after having two zipper failures from other bags on the same trip.

An added bonus was the waterproof fabric. On the last day of the trip, we awoke to 6 inches of snow, and had several hours of work to do, meaning that our stuff was going to sit around and get wet. But not my stuff, since it was in the Expedition Duffle. All I had to do was brush off the snow. The zipper itself is not waterproof, so don’t go throwing your stuff into a river thinking it will stay dry, but the lid covers up the zipper well enough so that water and snow just roll off the top.

The Duffle comes in several sizes, and I’m not sure which one I have since I was so keen to use it I just ripped off the tags and sallied forth. I’m pretty sure it’s the small size, and to put that in perspective I packed for a week’s trip and then some and it all fit into the bag. I’ve seen the large size and I could pack for a month trip PLUS fit my own self into that bag, so choose your size accordingly. I also recommend the wheeled version for you heavy packers, especially if you’re going by regular airplane. And with that, I can finally get to the real reason for this review: it was all just a setup so that I can brag that I traveled by private helicopter so I didn’t have to worry about airline security, schlepping through the terminal, and all that tedious non-private-helicopter stuff.

This bag quickly became one of my favorites. I tried to use it as a gym bag, as it’s perfect for a pair of shoes, a change of clothes, an iPod, and a few other gym necessities; but as it turns out there’s a reason that gym bags are made with mesh. Stinkapalooza!

Bag safely aired out, I switched it over to use as a laptop bag. I dislike traditionally styled laptop bags, so I’m always on the lookout for new styles. This one is great because the top opens up nice and wide for even the most substantial computers, and it has just enough little pockets for various things like pens and notebooks. Not too much room, now – you can’t overload this thing, simply because it won’t let you.

It has two side pockets for water bottles, which generate my one complaint – they are not quite big enough for a Nalgene. Now that would be perfect.

One of the more unique features of the bag is the stretchy, expandable shoulder strap. Spreading out the material helps distribute the weight, and the bouncy fabric reduces impact. The main body of the bag is tough, durable, and stiff, and is slender enough to easily be tucked away in a nook to protect your laptop. It’s perfect for medium-length plane trips and general schlepping around town. I would love to see bigger bottle pockets or have them have expandable stretchy panels to accommodate bigger bottles; and maybe a version with a mesh lid for gym use? Trust me – you don’t want sweaty clothes confined in this gem of a bag for too long! Save it for your laptop, and wait for the mesh version.

Sometimes I don’t have to put something through exhaustive testing, weighing its pros and cons, getting its weight and measure with a jaundiced eye. Sometimes I see a piece of gear and just think “oooh, WANT.” Just like with new relationships, you just KNOW, you know? Of course, months later when it all falls to pieces you’re left with a cynical outlook on the whole thing, and when people coo “when we met, we just KNEW” you think “Yeah, and you thought that about every single relationship you ever had, so you were bound to be right one time, and even a stopped watch is right twice a day, blah blah.”

Good thing Osprey is more reliable than most relationships, because I’ve no fears that the Flap Jill will disintegrate like so many infatuations that came before. Osprey’s quality is consistently top notch and I expect years and years of happiness with my new partner in…carrying stuff. But seriously, I loved the look of the Flap Jill and fell immediately in love with it at OR, and after trying it out in real life my admiration is undiminished. It carries any size laptop easily and securely, and has just the right number of additional pockets and stash places. The main access is nice and big and flops out of the way easily so you can get to all your stuff, but it also straps back down via Velcro AND clips for extra security. I find the Velcro superfluous, but then again I usually do. Speaking of superfluous, there were two extra straps in one of the compartments and I don’t know what they are for. So I dutifully carry them around in case I randomly figure out what they are for. Actually I’m really hoping a reader will just write in and tell me so that I don’t have to strain myself doing my job here.

The Flap Jill makes me almost look forward to going to work. Almost. At least I look forward to packing for work, and that’s a start. The look is cute, it carries lots of stuff, it’s made by Osprey, and it’s named after me. How can you not love it? By the way, you can’t buy it yet, so I can’t link you to a dealer. Aren’t I sweet? Creating a demand for something and then not letting you have it. When I’ve got you whipped into a demand frenzy good and proper, I’ll come back and give you a link. Now slaver away.

OK, confession time. I am not a photographer. The complexities of creating the beautiful images that grace web pages and walls everywhere are lost on me. At best I’m a picture-taker, so I would never call myself a photographer. I am, however, the esteemed picture-taker who has captured the images displayed on the Geargals site header, so I’ll just go with that as my qualifications for reviewing this photo bag from Crumpler. And an arduous task this is, too, because it’s going to be tough to convey how cool this bag is. In the picture above it just looks like a backpack, eh? Well, it’s a backpack all right, but it has every single photography-oriented feature that a picture-taker could think of. It has a special, shaped, padded pocket for your 35mm or your SLR (which I do have, by the way, so I know), little places for something called “film” (which I understand they used to use in the seventies, or something), and even a laptop sleeve and various other stashing-places for other stuff.

Like I said, I’m not a photographer, so I tried like hell to find another use for this bag. It fits a smaller frame well, is impossibly sturdy, and since I like bags with lots of compartments, I was determined to be able to use it for something other than lugging cameras, which I don’t do, well, ever. Alas, it’s pretty specialized and really is best as a photo bag. I can contend that it is a darn good photo bag, though, and Crumpler uses material that is practically bulletproof. Any field photographer would adore this bag and I don’t think it will ever wear out. It’s not light, but we’ve had that discussion, folks – it can be tough and not light, or light and not tough. If I were interested in protecting delicate photo equipment, I’d go with “tough”, but that’s just me. And I don’t think you’ll find much tougher than Crumpler (despite the name, “crumple” is something this bag absolutely won’t do). Crumpler makes a lot of messenger bags, photo bags, and various other types of stuff for haulin’ other stuff, and all of it is made with tough fabrics, sturdy construction, an eye for detail, and a weird name. Seriously. I’m not sure why they named this the “Sinking Barge” as that’s not really the image that I want to evoke in a bag that’s got all my cameras in it, but hey. I’m a reviewer, not a marketer….