A Review of the Crumpler Sinking Barge Backpack

I do a fair amount of traveling — at least enough to convince myself that I needed a good backpack in which to carry my array of electronics and camera gear. My requirements demanded a comfortable, reasonably sized bag that would fit a laptop, a digital SLR camera, a few lenses, an assortment of cables and batteries, and other various accessories. I settled on the Crumpler Sinking Barge, and recently returned from a trip long enough to form a solid opinion of the bag.

Comfort & Size

The Sinking Barge has plenty of padding: the shoulder straps are quite plush, and a thick layer of padding sits between your spine and the bag. A brisk 15 minute walk through Houston Continental Airport after a 3 ½ hour flight had me thinking about the local heat, but not really about the bag on my back.

It is bigger than a normal backpack, but you won’t be mistaken for a lost hiker. I am of average height — just under 6 feet — and the Sinking Barge rests just below my belt. The bag is just the right size to fit under an airplane seat, although I could see that being a very tight fit if you were to over-stuff it.

Crumpler includes plenty of straps on the Sinking Barge. It has waist straps, chest straps, and for-the-heck-of-it straps. They might contribute to lightening the load, but frankly, I removed them along with the packaging.

Capacity

When you first open the Sinking Barge, you will wonder how Crumpler managed to fit so many compartments inside such a moderately-sized bag. There are compartments everywhere:

• A front pocket exists for tiny items such as wallets, keys, passports, camera straps, or perhaps a small book.
• The bottom half of the bag unzips and folds out to reveal a padded camera case.
• The padding can be rearranged to accommodate your choice of equipment. I would say there is room for a camera body and two or three lenses, depending on the size of the gear.
• A small zipper pocket is perfect for storing memory cards.
• A small mesh pocket can fit various camera accessories, or an external flash.
• Above the camera case sits a general purpose compartment which is about the size of a football, and works well for various accessories, cables, and chargers.
• A built-in padded laptop sleeve rests against your back.
• A small magazine-sized sleeve is attached to the laptop compartment.

So, what was I able to fit inside the Sinking Barge?

You are looking at a 15-inch laptop, a Canon 5D camera with 4 lenses, an external flash, and all associated memory cards, a/c adapters, batteries, and chargers. And of course, my iPod.

Note: I fit all but the largest lens into the camera compartment. The largest one went inside the general-purpose compartment up top.

Style

All Crumpler products win points when it comes to matters of style. I chose the black & gray version of the Sinking Barge, but there was also an olive/orange version available. The bag looks great, and is designed in such a manner that fits all of its compartments and their contents into the most compact space possible while still keeping everything safe.

One of my favorite aspects of a Crumpler is that it is not a stereotypical camera bag. Granted you’re going to look at least a little bit like a tourist when carrying around a large backpack, but while a bag that reads “Canon” or “Lowepro” screams “expensive stuff in here!”, I don’t think the majority of thieves are familiar with Crumpler’s obscure stick figure logo.

Status: Recommended

I am extremely pleased with my purchase of the Crumpler Sinking Barge. It is a great looking, well designed, sturdy product that packs a ton of equipment into a relatively small space.

If you found this review helpful, you can support Of Zen and Computing by purchasing the Sinking Barge from Amazon.com.