Customer Reviews

Think Tank ~ Street Walker Hard Drive

5 star:		(15)
4 star:		(0)
3 star:		(0)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

I own numerous Think Tank products, and like all the others, this one is high quality, thoughtfully designed and overall, a great buy.

Compared to the Think Tank "Glass Taxi" (which I also own), this one is similar but perhaps 50% larger inside, with an additional compartment giving you room for a laptop. This backpack fits a pro-sized DSLR with a large, heavy zoom lens attached in the middle compartment, and then numerous other lenses and accessories along the edge compartments. There's room for a second body, flashes and so forth. It includes adequate foam dividers, making the interior layout infinitely adaptable, as well as a number of small pouches and pockets inside and out for a variety of other items. Tripods or monopods can be attached to the outside, and Think Tank's very good Speed Belt can also be used to help distribute the weight and also to attach additional items if you need things that don't fit inside. It also comes with a waterproof cover that can be attached quickly in the event of sudden downpour.

The PC compartment is a little snug if you have a large laptop. My travel laptop tends to be a compact Lenovo tablet, and it fits - but barely. I don't believe any 17" laptop - or anything really thick - would fit comfortably.

To give you an idea, right now inside the bag I have:

- Nikon D3x with 80-400 zoom attached
- Nikon D300 with MB10 grip
- Nikon 70-200mm 2.8 zoom
- Nikon 14-24mm 2.8 zoom
- Nikon 24-70mm 2.8 zoom
- Nikon 16-85mm DX lens
- Nikon 10.5mm DX lens
- Nikon 60mm 2.8 AFS macro lens
- Lensbaby Composer
- SB900 flash
- Lenovo tablet PC
- My Amazon Kindle
- Various memory cards, filters, cables, spare batteries, etc

Outside the pack, I have either a Monostat Carbon-Fiber monopod or else a full-sized Gitzo tripod. Note that a tripod tends to obstruct access to some of the exterior pockets.

Fully loaded, this bag gets to be really heavy, but the excellent straps are well padded and are easily adjusted to distribute the weight fairly well. It includes waist or chest straps, and with Think Tank's larger Speed Belt attached, there's even better support. I often use it without the waist or chest straps as a shoulder bag, and unlike some other brands I've tried, the Think Tank stays put without any tendency to slide off my shoulder.

In spite of holding all this equipment, it's still a fairly compact bag and so far I haven't had any trouble getting it on crowded airplanes. It fits in any overhead bin, as well as under the seat in front of you, although larger tripods could make this difficult. If I'm flying, I lean towards packing my tripod in my luggage and this makes it much more streamlined.

Construction quality is very good, and all zippers, pouches and so on seem rugged and likely to stand up to a lot of day to day use.

Overall, highly recommended.

UPDATE: After spending a few weeks lugging my gear in the Streetwalker Hard Drive all over Hawaii, I'm more convinced that this is the perfect combination of size and features. Any bigger, I wouldn't have been able to carry it (as is, the weight is pretty tough to handle on all-day outings). Any smaller, I would have needed to leave some essential item home. And in the heat of the moment, it has proven trouble-free and easy to get to any of the contents with a minimum of hassle. I like it so much that I decided to sell my Glass Taxi, which I also liked quite a bit. Great job Think Tank!

I debated a long time between the Think Tank Streetwalker Hard Drive and a similar sized Kata bag. In the end reviews and capacity tilted me towards the Think Tank. It has proven to be everything I wanted. The capacity is very high easily accommodating my D300, D50, 17-55/2.8, 70-300, 18-200, 50, 2 speedlights and all the assorted gadgets needed. Plus it conveniently carries my MacBook Pro. The quality of the bag is also very high

I was looking for a bag I could take with me when I travel - something airline approved that could fit all of my gear under the seat in case the overhead bins were full. I wanted a backpack as opposed to a shoulder bag, roller-carryon or Pelican case. Lastly, I needed something comfortable enough to wear all day backpacking through the city or at an event. After looking at what seemed like hundreds of options, I went with the Think Tank StreetWalker HardDrive. Hopefully, you find this review helpful.

Most of what I am paid to shoot is on location portraits/headshots and events. Over the years, I've collected a closet full of bags, but never one that could carry everything comfortably. Until I purchased this backpack about 6 months ago.

PROS:
* Comfortable - I wore this on my back for three consecutive 12 hour days during an event (FYI: I'm 6'3", 175lbs, with a 33" waist). Thanks to the awesome shoulder straps and waist belt, it felt like 25 pound pillow. The back of it has so much padding and it's vented, so you don't really get too hot.
* Waist Belt - It puts the bulk of the bag on your hips when you need it. When you don't, it stores neatly out-of-site underneath a padded section creating a sort of unintentional lumbar support.
* Accessible - The front unzips fully so everything is within reach. It's easy to work out of this on a table or on the ground.
* Durable - Meaty zippers, tough ripstop exterior and great stitching!
* Safe - The best padding I have ever seen in a bag! Includes enough Velcro inserts to customize it to your exact needs.
* Laptop Compartment - Fits up to a 15" laptop. I carry my 11.6" netbook when I travel, and store it with the screen side facing my back, as the weight of the gear might push against this compartment. So far, no problems. Very well padded!
* Tripod - When you need it, there is a hidden tripod pocket that un-Velcros out the bottom and two sets of straps to buckle it down.
* Dual Water Bottle Holders - Sure you could use these pockets for anything, but I use them for water or snack bars.
* Exterior - Something I've come to appreciate is the exterior structure. It's well padded from being thrown to the grown or into a trunk. And the top handle is well built and just perfect for grab and go carry. Also, the large front pockets is brilliantly organized.

CONS:
* Price -As I tell my clients when asked about competitor pricing, "People know what their product is worth and charge accordingly." You get what you pay for and it is so worth the investment. Just buy this backpack, you'll love it!

FLYING WITH IT:
I've been on just over a dozen trips with this bag. When I travel, I stow everything but my cameras, lenses, flashes and laptop. All of that goes it my carry on. Like with any other camera bag, be prepared to empty everything into the trays before you send it through the security x-ray machines. Trust me, it just makes it a faster and more pleasurable experience for everyone. I have never had a problem getting onboard with it; even when the gate officer is tagging roller-bags because they ran out of overhead room. Keep in mind that this bag will fit under the seat in front of you if that's all the room left.

WHAT I CARRY:
Some people just love peeping into another person's bag. So, if you were wondering what I fit and carry when I travel, here's the list. This is not what I carry everyday, as I usually only use this bag for travel. This is just a list of what I take with me when flying. Typically it weighs in about 25lbs, when fully loaded it's pushing >35lbs.
* Camera: Canon 7D gripped, 7D ungripped, batteries, charger, cables, CF cards
* Lenses: Rokinon 8mm Fisheye, Tokina 11-16, Canon 28mm, 60mm Macro, 85mm, 135mm (all with hoods reversed)
* Flashes: (3) Canon 430ex II's, Sto-fen's, Strobist gel pack, lots of AA batteries and 2 battery charges
* Laptop: Acer Aspire One 722 - 11.6" netbook, Western Digital external hard drive
* Misc: Sekonic L-308s light meter, YongNuo RF-602's transceivers, RF trigger, LensPen, Color Checker, dust cloth, water flask

I recently purchased the Think Tank Speed Racer V2.0. Once I've had a chance to work with it, I'll post a review on Amazon. Based on these two purchases, Think Tank is good money well spent, and IMHO the best bang for the buck. Add me to their customer for life list. Thanks for reading!

I was in Seattle recently and was at Glazers camera...excellent store with good people. I bought a Similar Lowepro but returned it the next morning. Reason why: well I thought that the LowePro was very well built with excellent material but the shoulder straps were SKINNY BEYOND BELIEF. I loaded the case with gear and was met with a very painful experience. I even telephoned Lowepro about this and was met with: "you are the first person who has ever complained about the straps". Well I am 54 years old and have learned in life that these are not the words of an honest person. And the TRUTH is that when I returned it to Glazers someone was returning the same Lowepro for this very same, very comfortable ThinkTank Case. The straps are wide and well padded...very nice. It's just an all-around nice case with plenty of storage and the laptop compartment is pretty well padded also (going to use it for my iPad though).The shoulder/back area is better padded also. There is an included rain cover for the case which I suspect I will be using on my trip to England mid-January.I do not work for ThinkTank...check my reviews ..i buy random stuff from Amazon. thanks...peace

I have numerous ThinkTank products and I use this for the following situations:

1) For travel as a one bag solution, this can be stowed underneath the seat with a bit sticking out or on the overhead compartments as a carry on. It does get heavy after including my 15.5" Sony EB notebook (w/ cord + mouse), 3-4 lenses, a speed lite flash, an external hard drive, 2-3 neutral density filters, some detached hoods, camera battery charger, rechargeable double AA charger for speed lite, adapter/converter for Europe, puffer/cleaning materials, various snacks and travel guides. It is to note, to squeeze my Sony 15.5" notebook with protective sleeve inside I had to re-adjust the interior slr body hinge to accomodate the laptop. I do not use a pro-body or one with a battery grip so I can't say for sure with the hinge in place to make room for laptop, if a pro size body will fit.

The trade offs or compromise with this bag is that after some time it does get heavy/tiresome to walk around with and taking it on and off to swap equipment. I do prefer to drop off some equipment like the laptop and non camera equipment in a safe locked up location in my lodgings before sight seeing. Like others, the waist belt can be substituted for a more supportive belt than the current stock one in place. I currently use this bag without the waist strap and just walk around with the upper body sternum strap.

2) Portrait sessions where I don't have to walk around so much but still have to carry numerous equipment. Generally I like to travel light and will use either a Retrospective 10 (getting the 5 that was recently released) or Speed Demon, but for either of the two situations stated above where I need a 1 bag solution to carry multiple equipment this bag does the job.

3) For general storage of camera equipment when items are not in use to keep things organized in one bag.

I would still prefer to use a shoulder bag for general shoots around town or a waist pack for long hikes.

This backpack bag is darn nice, well built, spacious and flexible on the interior, and truly does hold the new MacBook Pro 17" laptop despite the claim that it is for 15" laptops. You can fit your DSLR, lenses, accessories, batteries, chargers, laptop, drives, and all that inside this thing and still carry it on your back. If you load it up with a the 70-200mm zoom expect that it will be heavy. Recommended!

I wanted a camera bag/backpack to house all my camera equipment and accessories. This bag suits that purpose well - it is a bit bigger that I expected, but I like it. The build/quality is very good as well.

Excelente producto, D300 con battery grip con F2.8 300mmVRII + D7000 con battery gip con F2.8 70-200mm VRII, Coolpix P7000, teleconvertidor 1.7, lente extra, espacio de sobra para baterías, tarjetas de memoria y otras cosas personales.
D300 + F2.8 70-200, D7000 + F2.8 17-55, F2.8 macro 60mm, F4.5-5.6 10-24mm, SB900, SB700, bolsa lowepro para cable u otros items, Coolpis P7000 + McBook 15", en el compartimiento exterior campo suficiente para items personales, celular, tarjetas de memoria, baterías, incluso se le puede adherir porta tarjetas de memoria TT directamente a los compartimientos externos.
Igual se le puede acoplar el cinturón pro speed para el skin set en caso de tener que cargar mas equipo extra.
Pasa desapercibido a pesar de cargar mucho equipo, no pareciera ser un backpack de foto. Me ha tocado que soportar fuertes lluvias y en casos no pude ponerle el cobertor que trae incluído, no tuve problemas con el equipo.
Lo recomiendo.

I wasn't wrong when I decided to buy this bag. I have been using this on my travels and I am extremely pleased with this bag.

PROS:
* lots of space
* lots of thoughtfully designed pockets and there are more than I need them.
* I can bring along my laptop in this bag.
* Ergonomic is great - does not hurt my back carrying my stuffs for extended periods of time.
* It doesn't look like a camera bag so potential robbers will not know you're carrying expensive equipment inside.
* It has a place for your tripod.

CON:
* Zipper sometimes get stuck in the bottom corner of the bag when opening it wide open but it can easily be solved.
* I wish some of their pockets are have color code to know where you put your used memory cards over the new cards.

Overall this is a must-have camera bag for photographers.

I love this bag. It's big enough to carry almost all of my gear, but small enough to use as a carry-on. I would not recommend this for a backpacking bag, but's a great travel bag.