The Bottom Line
Water resistant, not waterproof. The Seattle Sling camera bag from Camera Armor is designed to be waterproof protection for your camera during back-country expeditions. The protective padding of the bag and overall construction is excellent but the water protection features simply do not work.
Pros
- Lots of padding
- Well-constructed for carrying long distances
- Tripod pocket
Cons
- Not waterproof
- Small gear area
- Magnetic closure
- Velcro is much too noisy for animal photography
Description
- Sturdy construction
- Nice design for long-distance carrying
- 14.5 Inches long, 9.5 inches high, 8.5 inches wide
- I found it to be reasonably water resistant but not waterproof
- Magnetic closure could cause a problem for portable hard drives
- Small gear compartment
- Gear is hard to get to quickly
Guide Review - Camera Bag Review - Review of Seattle Sling Camera Bag
Water and cameras are a bad mix. The Seattle Sling camera bag from Camera Armor hoped to be a solution to water damage when transporting cameras. Unfortunately, tests show it to be more water resistant than waterproof.
The bag is well-constructed and sturdy, certainly capable of protecting gear from most shocks and it is well-designed for carrying as a backpack for long distances. There are no zippers on the Seattle Sling, only velcro, magnets, and snap closures. The standard snap closures used on most camera bags are used to fasten the interior water resistant compartment into the bag and to fasten adjustable straps. Extremely strong velcro (very loud velcro) is used to close the main gear compartment over the water resistant bag. The water resistant bag itself is closed with magnets and by rolling the top of the bag.
The interior gear pocket is protected by a "waterproof" bag of a neoprene type material. This bag is removable (helps with drying the rest of the bag) and fastens securely into the main camera bag. The gear compartment itself is small, barely large enough for a SLR with standard lens and one additional longer lens. The protective bag closes with magnets, which will probably not damage cameras but is a massive problem for anyone who carries a portable hard drive for additional storage.
To test the water protection of the bag I first removed the interior lining and tested it alone by spraying it for several minutes with a garden hose. Water did find its way into the gear area. The next tests I dropped the fully assembled bag with lining into water (it does want to float which is a good thing). I then pushed the bag underwater for a few moments. Not only was the main bag saturated, the "protected" gear area was considerably wet.
The bag is well-constructed and sturdy, certainly capable of protecting gear from most shocks and it is well-designed for carrying as a backpack for long distances. There are no zippers on the Seattle Sling, only velcro, magnets, and snap closures. The standard snap closures used on most camera bags are used to fasten the interior water resistant compartment into the bag and to fasten adjustable straps. Extremely strong velcro (very loud velcro) is used to close the main gear compartment over the water resistant bag. The water resistant bag itself is closed with magnets and by rolling the top of the bag.
The interior gear pocket is protected by a "waterproof" bag of a neoprene type material. This bag is removable (helps with drying the rest of the bag) and fastens securely into the main camera bag. The gear compartment itself is small, barely large enough for a SLR with standard lens and one additional longer lens. The protective bag closes with magnets, which will probably not damage cameras but is a massive problem for anyone who carries a portable hard drive for additional storage.
To test the water protection of the bag I first removed the interior lining and tested it alone by spraying it for several minutes with a garden hose. Water did find its way into the gear area. The next tests I dropped the fully assembled bag with lining into water (it does want to float which is a good thing). I then pushed the bag underwater for a few moments. Not only was the main bag saturated, the "protected" gear area was considerably wet.
