Wotancraft Nomad Backpack Review
WOTANCRAFT is a Taiwanese camera bag/accessory company whose design aesthetic is heavily inspired by WWII-era military/vintage aesthetics. The company was founded in 2009, and since then it has achieved multiple awards and done various collaborations (e.g Leica). This review is on their newly released, Nomad 25L Travel Camera Backpack.
WOTANCRAFT’s Holiday/Christmas promotion is ongoing through December 31, 2019. Each order comes with an additional CORDURA accessory.
Full disclosure: The Nomad Backpack was provided to us by WOTANCRAFT for this sponsored review. While we are always appreciative of makers sending us bags, it’s under the condition that we publish our honest thoughts, whether positive or critical.
Quick Overview
Bag Features
- 25L volume (15L of padded space, 5L of non-padded space, and 5L from expandable roll-top)
- Nylon 6,6 Cordura water-resistant fabric on the exterior; “medical grade” microfiber Velcro lining on the interior for the padded compartment (see our guide on fabrics), YKK aqua-guard zippers
- Dual side-access zippers into the main, padded compartment that can be configured with included internal dividers
- Roll-top opening with access to both padded compartment and non-padded space at the front
- Separate laptop sleeve on the back with dedicated side zipper
- Top, side, and back panel handles (back panel handle also serves as a rolling luggage handle pass-through)
Optional Accessories
- Detachable hip belt pads with molle loops and zipper pockets (check out our guide on backpack anatomy for a reminder on what molle loops are)
- Medium Velcro zipper pouch
- Small Velcro elastic molle panel
- Molle attachment tripod wrap
Aesthetics
I don’t usually start a review with aesthetics, but with WOTANCRAFT and the Nomad Backpack it’s kind of the first thing you notice.
To be frank, when I first saw photos of the Nomad Backpack, I thought it was ugly at worst, and “interesting” at best. The silhouette, with it being wider at the bottom and narrower at the top, looked bulky. The olive green/distressed camo would not be my preferred colorway. These were just my initial impressions, and I think I felt this way because the Nomad Backpack just looks so different/unique from the rest of the bags in my collection.
Admittedly, after a few weeks of use, the look has started to grow on me and I think my first impressions were harsh. As with all things that are different from what we’re used to, there’s an adjustment period. While I would be surprised if the look has mass appeal, I could see it being perceived as stylish and distinct to a more niche audience. And let’s face it — WOTANCRAFT’s general aesthetic is clearly tailored to a niche audience.
Now onto some slightly less subjective observations.
Typically a roll-top backpack features an opening that is wider than its body, presumably for ease of getting things in and out of the deep cavity that is the main compartment. With the Nomad, it appears that the opening is narrower than the rest of the bag. I asked WOTANCRAFT about this and they noted that the width of the opening is actually the same as the width of the internal compartment, and that the side flaps is what makes the body look wider compared to the top.
Speaking of the side flaps, I also found these to be an interesting design feature. One of WOTANCRAFT’s design goals for the Nomad Backpack was to create a travel camera backpack that doesn’t look like a camera bag, and these flaps were meant to help achieve that goal. If you have the tripod wrap and a water bottle attached to the sides, the flaps can cover and effectively hide them from view, depending of course on the size of the items. The idea is that by covering both sides, the Nomad maintains a cleaner, minimal profile despite the relatively “pro” functionality hidden behind the flaps.
All in all, I would agree that the side flaps, in addition to the very distinctive/unique camo print, obfuscate the fact that this is a camera backpack. With the resulting proportions and visual pattern, it instead looks more reminiscent of a military sack. Whether you dig this kind of aesthetic, however, is up to you.
For me, I don’t prefer the wider proportion and found that I can tuck the flaps underneath the front panel for a slimmer look. Obviously any side attachments and L-zipper openings are more exposed, thus undermining the “doesn’t look like a camera bag” aspect. In addition, you trade-off the use of the flap pockets.
Construction and Craftsmanship
The materials that WOTANCRAFT uses in their bags are top-notch. The shell fabric is a higher-grade Cordura that is textured and feels similar to the shell fabric used in EVERGOODS’ bags, which I really like. The camo print is deceiving because it looks like a heavier-weight, cotton canvas, but really it’s a lightweight yet very durable nylon. The strap webbing, mesh, and plastic buckles also feel high quality. The zippers are all YKK aqua-guard with solid leather pull loops for the side access zippers. The G-hook to secure the roll-top, as well as the ones on the hip pads, are metal/aluminum.
The Nomad Backpack, despite its military sack appearance, is quite rigid. There are multiple internal aluminum bars/stays that maintain the structure and shape of the main compartment. This compartment is also thickly padded with dense EVA foam and lined with a soft Velcro. The result is a really protective, soft-feeling, well-padded internal compartment which is great because it’s meant to house expensive camera gear.
The wide, contoured shoulder straps are also padded just right and distribute weight nicely. Even with heavy loads, I didn’t feel pressure points on my shoulders.
Not to be taken for granted is the bag’s craftsmanship. It not only uses high quality materials, but is very well made. There were a few dangling thread ends when the bag arrived but those can easily be snipped off without compromising integrity of construction. There are many places where components are secured with large box stitching in addition to reinforced stitches. While I’ve only used the bag for about a month, I haven’t seen any signs of wear, nor do I anticipate any parts of the bag to start coming apart any time soon.
The Nomad Backpack is definitely one of those bags that are a large cut above your average big-box store backpack when it comes to materials and craftsmanship. You can tell that care and pride is put into making this bag.
Functional Design
Before I get into this section, I feel it’s important to disclose that most of my usage of the bag has been for work/everyday. I have loaded it with my DSLR with two lenses and other small camera knick-knacks (battery charter, lens caps, camera clips), but I haven’t used it extensively for photography or for travel, which is its intended purpose. Therefore, any criticisms that follow may be biased towards a non-primary use case, although I believe at least some of them are still valid.
Main Compartment
One way to think about the interior of the Nomad Backpack is to imagine a rigid camera cube inside of a canvas shell with the back directly attached to a backpack harness. There is thus another spacious “compartment” between the front wall of the camera cube and the outer shell. This setup lends itself to keep camera/tech gear separate from softer, compressible things like clothes and shoes.
There are three access points to the main, padded/rigid compartment: from the top via roll-top, and from both sides via L-shaped zippers. This might be obvious but there is no clamshell opening.
The roll-top is straightforward enough. There aren’t magnets to snap the opening closed like some other bags have, but there are firm but bendable stays lining the edges which, coupled with the 500D shell, prevent the top from being floppy and crumbling. This is a small but nice feature when you’re loading the bag and don’t want to have to use one hand to maintain an opening.
Two notes about the L-zipper openings/flaps:
- Depending on how high you wear the backpack, when you swing the backpack in front to open the side, the zipper can be pretty tucked away by your armpit, so you kind of have to reach under to find the zipper. Fortunately, the side zippers have long, sturdy, and easy to grab leather pulls. If you wear the bag lower or loosen the shoulder straps before swinging it to the front, this is less of an issue.
- Because the side flaps are basically the walls of the rigid camera cube, they don’t naturally/easily fold up to open; you’ll need to use one hand to hold the flap open while you grab items with your other. This may also be because the L-zipper doesn’t curve back upwards at the bottom corner of the bag.
Internal Dividers
In my experience, internal dividers are a nice idea in theory but take a lot of time for the user to experiment with before finding an optimal configuration. No exception here. Since I have been using this bag as both a camera and daily work bag, I’ve opted to use the dividers to split the compartment in half vertically using one of the larger dividers, rather than having them arranged as horizontal shelves. This way I can put taller objects in one half of the compartment (mainly keyboard, portable laptop stand, and headphones), and reserve the other half for further subdivision to house my camera and lenses.
I’ve also used the small, modular zipper pouch to house my laptop power adapter, dongles, etc. for work. For photography, I’ve used it to store my battery charger, camera clip, and lens caps/filters. For my setup I’ve placed it near the top where I can easily access it from the roll-top opening. This pouch is actually quite essential as there isn’t a convenient pocket on the base bag to put these smaller items.
The Nomad Backpack product page has many example ways to configure the interior of the pack based on your load, so we definitely recommend checking that out.
Smaller Compartments
This is where I think the Nomad Backpack falls short in expectations. Hidden under the flaps along the front face of the bag is a zippered pocket on each side. These can’t really be called quick access because they’re so tucked under the side flaps. On the flip side, they are anti-theft and might be good places to store your passport and thin wallet.
Why thin? Because these pockets are situated right against the rigid wall of the main compartment. They have virtually no dimension/volume which means you’re limited to flat items. One of the pockets is bigger/has a longer zipper opening, and its “volume” is along the front face of the bag, which makes it a little more forgiving in terms of space.
The other, however, has a smaller opening and its “volume” goes along the side of the bag instead, right where the water bottle pocket is. This one in particular is unusable for me because my fingers get squeezed so much that even getting a pen out is a non-trivial task. And if you’re actually using the water bottle holder, it renders this pocket even more useless.
On the plus side, both of these pockets are lined with a soft, cotton-like canvas, a nice contrast to the textured exterior.
Each side flap is also a compartment, accessible via a shorter side zipper. These flaps are actually quite roomy inside. WOTANCRAFT says each side flap is big enough to hold a standard bottle of wine, but I probably wouldn’t recommend it because it’s literally just the shell fabric — no lining, no padding.
A downside to the flap compartments is although they’re spacious, they have no internal organization so smaller items will just sink to the bottom. This is unfortunate because there isn’t any other place to quickly/conveniently store smaller accessories. Of course, whether this bothers you or becomes a nuisance will depend on what you need to carry.
Furthermore, closing the zipper on either flap is a two-handed operation. While the flaps have magnets to keep them affixed to the side of the bag, they’re not strong enough to keep the flap in place when you’re pulling upwards on the zipper to close it.
Other Nice Features
- Free-standing design — the base of the backpack is quite large and very rigid. It’ll remain balanced even if you load it unevenly. I wish more daily carry bags were free-standing.
- Molle and daisy-chain attachment points on the side and front — I use the side molle to attach the tripod wrap as well as to clip my keycard.
- Elastic water bottle pocket works well for large and smaller water bottles (even the 1L Nalgene). However bear in mind that the side flap won’t be able to full cover larger bottles.
Operational Gotchas and Nitpicks
- The water bottle pocket is on the side opposite of the side handle, so when carrying the bag using the side handle, if you have a water bottle, you can’t really set the bag down sideways.
- Laptop zipper goes behind the “wing” where the shoulder strap webbing is attached, which can be a slight hindrance depending on where you’re oriented when opening it
- The side handle slightly gets in the way of the laptop compartment zipper but not enough to get it stuck. Twisting the handle outward can also alleviate this a little.
- While the shell fabric and zippers are water resistant, there are no zipper garages so water can still leak in through the small opening at the ends. The L-zippers and laptop zipper are where these would’ve been appropriate in my opinion.
- The magnets that keep the side flaps in place are only effective if the load on the sides is small enough to allow the magnets to attach flatly. If the load is too large (e.g. larger water bottle or bulkier tripod), the magnets are essentially ineffective. Snaps might have been a more versatile component to use, since they don’t require as much surface area to be touching and are held together more securely.
Summary
The WOTANCRAFT Nomad Backpack is an interesting/distinctive bag in both aesthetic and functional design. If you find the visual look appealing, and you’re looking for a customizable camera + travel backpack that is free-standing and solidly constructed, then this should go on your list of considerations. It is currently selling for $299 USD for the base kit, which is a lot, but not unreasonable for a high-end camera backpack that you can trust to protect your expensive photography equipment in a discreet manner.
Utility — 4 of 5: This is a pretty versatile backpack. From 15–25L, it can serve as an everyday carry bag, and minimal travel bag while providing solid protection and customizable options for photography storage. However, for its volume, it is a bit bulkier and heavier than other bags.
Organization — 3 of 5: On paper this score should be a 4; there are a handful of external pockets in addition to the main compartment, and ample space for stuffing (not organizing) clothing/shoes. However, two of those external pockets are very difficult to access and utilize. Thus, there isn’t an ideal place to store a myriad of small accessories. They could go in the flap pockets, but the fact that everything sinks to the bottom is less appealing.
Construction — 5 of 5: Durable, premium materials and high quality craftsmanship. Plain and simple.
Aesthetics — 2 of 5: Obviously a controversial and subjective rating. Most of my dislike is with the overall proportions of the body. This isn’t really a bag I’d want to show off, but I’m probably not part of their target audience.
Comfort — 4 of 5: Camera bags can easily get quite heavy, and the base bag itself isn’t light. The wide straps, firm back panel padding overlaid with mesh, and optional hip belt do help distribute the load nicely. The back panel can bulge outwards a bit when the bag is packed out, and with a laptop it does feel like a flat board, but I didn’t find it bothersome actually and appreciated I could keep the bag high and tight on my back.
Life-Integration — 3 of 5: Despite its unique flap design, the Nomad is still fairly straightforward to operate. No fancy magnetic buckles or clasps. The most difficult thing to optimize is really the internal dividers, which is applicable to most camera bags, and significantly impacts one’s experience. The L-zippers as mentioned can be a little out of reach when the bag is on-body, but I think that’s pretty easy to get accustomed to.
X-factor — 4 of 5: WOTANCRAFT is not your typical backpack brand. It’s got a specific and distinct design vision and thus has a more niche user base (I’m speculating…what do I really know). If WWII-era aesthetics are your thing, WOTANCRAFT should be on your radar, if it isn’t already.
