Photography by Tom Zeman - REVIEW: ThinkTank Airport Addicted

I like to travel light whenever possible. Every once in a while this isn’t possible, as was the case on a recent trip to Arizona and Utah. In addition to all the usual stuff, I needed to bring a longer lens as well. Previously, the bag I used for this purpose was one of Moose Peterson’s MP-1’s, but I no longer use it for two reasons. The first is that the bag, while a good concept at the time, is not well designed nowadays. I used it on a trip that required a connecting flight through Atlanta. Somehow, the terminals for my flights are always on opposite sides of the airport when I connect though Atlanta. Since the MP-1 doesn’t hold a laptop, I had the MP-1 and a computer bag to lug around. The very thin shoulder straps of the MP-1 injured my shoulder, and it’s still a nagging problem after two years. The second reason is that I wanted a bag that would hold a laptop, eliminating the need for the computer bag.

That meant I needed a bag that would hold all my gear, a laptop, all the laptop accessories, and have room for long lenses. All this would have to be housed in a padded, durable package, that while not up to mountaineering standards, wasn’t going to exacerbate my shoulder problem. Enter the ThinkTank Photo Airport Addicted.

Upon removing it from it shipping box, the first impression is that this is a very high quality product. The materials used are first rate, and it has plenty of padding, but not excessively so. The straps, which can be conveniently tucked away without undoing them, are well padded, and while not up to the standard of a trekking bag, are plenty comfortable for those slogs around the airport. It looks more like a high quality carry-on bag than a photo bag, and the labeling is very discrete. The color is a no nonsense, non-attention getting black.

The bag ships with a generous package of assorted dividers, way more than you can use all at once, so you can configure the interior in precisely the way that suits you and your gear. The laptop compartment has an included padded laptop sleeve. Because of the space allocated to the laptop compartment, the interior of the bag has a “shelf” on the top end floor, so the floor toward the bottom of the bag is a good two inches deeper.

After a little experimenting, I was able to get the bag set up the way I wanted. It held two camera bodies, a laptop, three lenses (including a 180-300/f2.8), flash, spare batteries, flash cards, chargers for the cameras and laptop, two portable hard drives, all the cords, accessories, and miscellaneous items for both cameras and laptop, three GPS devices, AND all my personal items for the flights. It weighed in at almost fifty pounds.

My flight out was no problem. The bag fit easily into the overheads on both planes. It’s a challenge to heft that high, but there are handles on both ends and the side, so there are plenty of place to grab on. It was heavy, but not having a second bag for the computer was a real luxury. (I had also bought the smallest folding luggage cart I could find, so I could wheel it around the airports.)

The bag was my constant companion during a week of hard use. It got hauled around, sat on the desert ground, and once there was a roughly one mile hike over rough terrain. I wouldn’t want to go any farther than that, but it wasn’t too uncomfortable. Frankly, I beat the hell out of it. I thought it was scarred for life, but after wiping it down with a wash cloth in the hotel room, it looked just like new.

The flights home were a little more eventful. An equipment change resulted in a smaller than expected aircraft for the first leg of my flight. The Airport Addicted is a big bag. While it has about the same footprint as the MP-1, it’s much thicker. It wouldn’t fit into the overhead compartment or under the seat. Fortunately, an understanding flight attendant stowed it in her closet for me. The second leg was on an even smaller aircraft, and the bag had even less chance of fitting. This time the flight attendant was a bit dim, and if not for a very understanding pilot, I would have had to stow it below.

At nearly $400, this is an expensive bag, but the very high quality, and many thoughtful design touches make its hefty price tag acceptable. It did a great job protecting my equipment and proved to be very durable. Utilizing its full capacity will result in a lot of weight. Fortunately, it’s reasonably comfortable, especially for such a heavy load. While it fits aboard full sized aircraft, smaller commuter aircraft are a definite 'no'. Great care needs to be taken when selecting your flights.

The MP-1 has been retired and may be showing up on Ebay. I’ll be using the Airport Addicted whenever I need to travel with a longer lens. I’ll still travel lighter whenever I can, but this is the full-sized truck when I really need it. I just need to be very conscientious about choosing my flights when I travel with it.

You can find more information and order ThinkTank products at www.thinktankphoto.com.