Wotancraft Pilot 18 Backpack Review
Wotancraft, a Taiwanese bag maker, recently released a couple new backpacks: the City Explorer Commander Travel Camera Backpack and the New Pilot Travel Camera Backpack, which is what we are reviewing today. We previously also reviewed their Nomad Travel Camera Backpack. As you can tell, their specialty is in travel camera backpacks. I’ve been using the Pilot 18 as my everyday backpack for work for a little over a month now, and I’ve also used it a handful of times to carry my camera gear.
Disclaimer: This bag was provided to us by Wotancraft as a sample to review. We are grateful for the chance to try out the bag, but as always, our reviews contain our honest opinions based on real usage, including both positives and negatives.
Note that Wotancraft has a whole line of bags called the Pilot series. Most of the bags in the line are sling bags. The Pilot 18 backpack is a new version of the Pilot 20 backpack. This review is focused only on the Pilot 18 backpack.
Overview
The Pilot Backpack has a classic look with a ton of camera organization. It has a top flap opening and the interior has modular pieces that allow you to customize the compartments to fit your specific camera gear. The exterior has a variety of places to attach additional pouches. The pack is built very robustly and durably. There is plenty of padding and it’s comfortable to wear. Overall, it’s a great bag, especially for a casual photographer. As an office bag, it could use a bit more organization, but if you use org pouches it works well.
Strengths
- Strong construction with high density nylon, water-resistant zippers, and EVA foam
- Modular components allow you to customize how you store your camera gear
- Expandable volume with the top flap is really handy
Weaknesses
- While the organization is great for camera gear, it’s rather lacking for everything else
Access
The Pilot Backpack is primarily a top-access backpack. The opening has a flap that acts like a lid and is secured with a Fidlock magnet. The webbing strap with the magnetic buckle is adjustable, so you can overload the main compartment. I use the expanded volume frequently, since the Pilot’s 18L of space isn’t huge and I sometimes bring gym clothes along with my work stuff.
The top opening has some flaps on the side edges, which help prevent gaps from forming at the sides when the top flap is closed. It’s very helpful for keeping your gear protected from the elements. Unfortunately, they also tend to restrict the width of the top opening and can get in the way when trying to put something wide in the main compartment or take something out, like a laptop or a binder, and even the camera insert that comes with the backpack. Perhaps it’s a necessary trade-off to protect your camera gear.
At the bottom of both sides of the Pilot Backpack are also zipped side-access openings. Similar to Peak Design’s Everyday Backpack, they let you access the main compartment without having to open the top flap. This allows you to get your camera out without having to put the backpack down. You just swing it around your front on one shoulder. This is where I would keep the camera that I am primarily shooting with.
I definitely wish, however, that the main compartment could be opened all the way — either a full clamshell opening or front panel opening. It would be significantly easier to get the camera insert and dividers in place and see how you are setting everything up. With the current access design, it can be a pain to get the camera inserts through the opening and down to where you want it to sit because of all the Velcro.
Organization
- Camera insert and dividers — The Pilot comes with a camera insert and a few additional dividers. The camera insert sits in the upper half of the main compartment since it has side walls that would block access from the side access flaps if you were to push it all the way to the bottom. My main complaint about the setup is that there is not much room to carry other things when the camera insert is inside. The good news is that you can still access the laptop sleeve. For camera organization, it provides more than enough for a casual photographer, and I’d say it’s better suited for someone who needs to carry multiple bodies and lenses or many accessories, like a professional photographer. You can fit at least 2 bodies and 4–5 lenses, plus additional accessories. The whole camera insert is about 9.5 x 6.5 x 5 inches.
- Side access pockets — On the inside of the side access flaps are small mesh pockets (4 x 4.5 inches), which are useful for small camera accessories or holding your lens cap while you’re shooting.
- Laptop compartment — Along the back wall of the main compartment is a padded laptop sleeve about 9.5 x 16 inches, which is good for 16" laptops. Though the bottom of the backpack is padded, the laptop sleeve doesn’t have a false bottom. That said, the bottom of the backpack is heavily padded already, which offers protection for the laptop.
- Internal zipped pocket — At the top of the back panel of the main compartment is a mesh, zipped pocket. It’s a perfect place for your pens, keys, etc. It’s about 10 inches wide and 4 inches tall.
- Front panel compartment — The entire front panel of the backpack is a flat admin compartment about 8.5 x 14 inches. Inside are two zipped, mesh pockets toward the upper half of the pocket. Since these are zipped pockets within a zipped compartment, I tend to keep things that I don’t need often in here, like a small first aid kit.
- Water bottle/Tripod pockets — Both sides have a water bottle/tripod pocket that can fit a medium-sized bottle, such as a medium S’well bottle. They’re not large enough for 1L Nalgene bottles though. When carrying a tripod in it, you’ll need to use an attachment strap that loops through some MOLLE/PALS webbing, unless you’re carrying a very small tripod like a Gorilla.
Overall, there are not enough organizational pockets for me to use as an EDC for work without additional org pouches. There are no pockets comfortably large enough for a laptop charger or my glasses case. The top internal compartment could technically fit them, but then the pocket bulges out and starts impeding the main opening. The front panel compartment can also fit them, but then it also starts bulging out. So, everything gets dumped into the main compartment except small items like writing utensils. So, some sort of org pouch helps.
In the backpack, I can easily carry my laptop and charger, a notebook, a wireless keyboard, and a large pouch with headsets, wireless mouse, and my glasses case. This leaves me with plenty of space for a change of gym clothes, and even a Nalgene bottle in the main compartment.
Additional Features
- Waist belt — The Pilot has a pretty robust waist belt with plenty of padding. Unfortunately, the belt sticks out a lot when you’re not using it. Fortunately, it is removable and attached via Velcro field, although it can be a bit difficult to remove.
- Sternum strap — Standard adjustable and removable sternum strap with side-release buckles. I’m not sure why they didn’t use the Fidlock magnetic buckles like they did for the top lid.
- Bottom attachment straps — Allows you to attach a tripod or a jacket.
- Grab handle — Padded grab handle at the top of the back panel.
- Luggage passthrough — Basic passthrough, which is just a webbing strap across the back panel.
- MOLLE/PALS webbing — There are two columns of MOLLE/PALS webbing down the front of the backpack, down the upper half of the sides of the backpack, and along the bottom half of the shoulder straps. Wotancraft sells small attachment pouches that attach to these, though I like the cleaner look without the attachments.
Wotancraft does do a nice job with small touches, such as zipper garages for the side access zippers and drainage holes in the water bottle pockets in case of spills, bad weather, or if you just need to give the bag a deep clean.
Construction and Comfort
The Pilot Backpack is 18 L in volume and is 11 x 17.5 x 6.3 inches (28 x 45 x 16 cm). It comes in at 3.3 lbs. without the insert and dividers. With the inserts and dividers, it’s about 3.5 lbs. The exterior is a dense bonded nylon using 6, 6 thread. Wotancraft doesn’t list the actual density on their website, it feels like something around a mid-range density, maybe something around 500 D nylon with a tight weave and a water-resistant coating on the exterior. But most of the exterior has multiple layers of materials including a layer of firm foam. In the few spots that the exterior isn’t surrounded by the foam padding, the nylon is lined with microfiber on the inside. That microfiber lines the entire interior of the main compartment. The hardware all feels very durable as well. The zippers are YKK #8 RCT.
The shoulder straps are contoured and on the underside are lined with EVA foam and a soft mesh. The shoulder straps are a bridge style — i.e., they are actually one single piece and connected at the top. I typically don’t like this style because it tends to limit the flexibility of the shoulder straps, which can put pressure on your trapezius muscles or neck. But the foam padding doesn’t extend into the bridge, so flexibility isn’t much of an issue.
The back panel is lined with the same EVA foam and mesh with a quasi-airflow channel down the center. I call it quasi because it’s not deep enough to make a real difference. Nonetheless, the foam is a great choice and the backpack is quite comfortable. Wotancraft shows it as an option for a hiking pack. It doesn’t quite compare to true hiking packs like Osprey, Gregory, or Deuter. But it’s still comfortable for a camera backpack.
Additional Usage Notes
The Pilot Backpack’s bottom is shaped like a box and the exterior is somewhat firm, so it holds its shape very well. This means it doesn’t expand outward when you overpack the backpack, though you can expand the volume upward by loosening the lid’s magnetic buckle’s strap. This also means that the backpack stands up on its own well. Very well.
Lastly, as mentioned above, when using the camera insert, there is little space in the main compartment for non-camera gear. For casual amateurs like myself, who just carry one body and two lenses at the most, you can just use the dividers to create a separate partition at the bottom of the main compartment, and then not use the camera insert at all. This gives you the majority of the main compartment to use for other things you may need to carry (e.g., a jacket).
Summary
Overall, the Pilot Backpack is a comfortable and great looking backpack. The organization is exceptional for photography but not ideal for EDC or the office. That said, it can still work well for those purposes, but you’ll just need to use an org pouch or two. This is a well-designed bag for a photographer who is traveling or on a day hike.
Features: 5 of 5 — The Pilot Backpack has a lot of features and plenty of modularity. The design is thoughtful, and they keep small details in mind.
Organization: 3 of 5 — For the purposes of carrying camera gear, the Pilot is excellent. But for all other purposes, it’s relatively average. Though the modular components can add additional organizational options, on its own, you’ll likely need some sort of org pouch to use it for work.
Construction: 5 of 5 — The materials used in this backpack are all top-notch choices and the craftsmanship also seems excellent. Even though the nylon could be denser, there is so much padding surrounding the bag, that it still feels like a tank, a necessary design for camera gear.
Aesthetics: 5 of 5 — The Pilot Backpack, like all of Wotancraft’s bags, has a very classic look, especially the khaki brown color that I’m using. Some people might not love a very boxy look, but I thought it worked well in this case.
Comfort: 4 of 5 — Plenty of padding all around the back and shoulder straps, plus the sternum strap and removable waist belt.
Life Integration: 3 of 5 — Like all modular packs, it takes some time to figure out how you want to arrange things, especially with the camera insert and dividers.
X-factor: 3 of 5 — The Pilot Backpack is a great bag, but Wotancraft is also a relatively small team and doesn’t have the biggest global following. But their work is excellent.
