Every travel photographer knows the headache and worry of making sure their gear is protected.
With my first camera I have to admit I was less than careful with my equipment. My FujiFilm xT-10 took a decent beating from being stuffed in and out of bags and falling on unstable tripods.
After a couple years my camera suddenly stopped working and I decided if I was going to invest money in new equipment I needed to take better care of it.
If you know me, you know I never buy anything impulsively (especially when it comes to my photography), so I started researching.
After several weeks I finally decided on F-Stop's Ajna Mountain Series bag.
The Ajna is a 40 liter backpack and retails for 260 USD, but this is only for the outer shell of the bag.
To store your camera equipment you need to purchase an Internal Camera Unit (ICU), which secures and protects your gear.
The ICU comes in a variety of sizes, but I purchased the Pro-ICU in large for 99 USD.
This fits perfectly in the Ajna and gives me extra room at the top of the pack to store other things I might need on my travels like clothes and snacks.
It's large enough to fit your camera, at least two extra lenses, a drone, while still having enough space for memory storage, extra batteries, and charging cords. A 13-15 inch laptop also fits comfortably in the sleeve in front of the ICU.
The bag itself has multiple compartments for storage around the outside and I can even fit my 17-inch travel tripod in one of the side flaps.
The straps are sturdy and comfortable and the bag comes with both a chest and waist strap, which helps alleviate some of the weight of the bag off your shoulders.
The Ajna is technically carry-on size, but it depends on the airline and how much equipment you're bringing, which can easily tip you over the weight limit.
I have both been asked to check it at times while other times I've been allowed to bring it on on board.
The nice thing about the F-stop bags is that the ICU can be zipped up and taken out of the pack, which allows you to check the bag, while bringing the ICU on the plane as a personal item. This means you can keep your gear with you at all times.
My favorite thing about the F-stop mountain series bags is that you can only access your gear from the flap against your back.
Anyone looking to steal your equipment would have to get the bag off of you in .order to get to your gear, so I always feel much safer when in big crowds of people.
The only issue with this is that I find I have to actually take the pack off anytime I want to switch a lens or put my camera away, which can be a bit of a nuisance to do again and again.
To be honest though, I'd rather deal with a bit of inconvenience if it results in keeping all my equipment safe.
The only other downside to the Ajna is it's bulkiness. While it is a great backpack to bring when traveling in more rural areas, it sticks out in a big city.
In larger cities I will occasionally walk around with it during shoots where I bring all my equipment, but I find that most days I will bring my camera and a spare lens in a smaller bag to draw less attention.
On short trips outside these big cities though, I find that the Ajna is the perfect size to pack everything I might need for the day or even the weekend.
If you are specifically looking for just a daypack, I would recommend purchasing one of F-stops smaller bags in the mountain series collection, like the Kashmir, which is closer to the size of a school backpack.
Disclaimer: This review is in no way sponsored by F-stop. It's my honest opinion about F-stop's Ajna pack based on my own experiences traveling with the bag. .
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