Well...its been awhile since I have logged in here and shared my travels.
I have been in China for the last almost 3 years, living in the Southern China city of Xiamen.
And no different than before , things like this blog, Facebook, anything Google and even other sites are blocked form internet access from China.
Anyways I thought it was time for a folloup to my Think Tank Retrospective 5 bag posting that I had done back in October 2011 - my Quest for the Perfect Bag (click to jump to that posting).
The bag has been with me, since then , if not as a camera bag, then as my day bag. Its attended concerts, shows, events, meetings, flown around the world.
Sat on the floor of planes , trains and automobiles.
Held the things I have needed to hold, yes sometimes i wish it was a little bigger, but then that just makes you carry more stuff.
With a little bit of convincing it now holds my Ipad 4 and even a thin notebook , in the back zippered pouch, and yes the zipper still works fine.
Have been far from gentle with it.
It does get thrown around, banged about.
the bag sits on my left shoulder, just always has , feels weird on right side.
The bag has performed flawlessly, honestly of al the bags I have used, this one I have no problem praising it.
These days in China, the Think Tank Retrospective 5 is my day bag , its with me everywhere.
so it does need to carry those things that I deem essential or at least what I like to have handy.
In my bag most days are the following :
- IPAD 4
- Thin notebook
- Passport (essential must have always , here in China)
- Pens
- cleaning cloth for glasses/camera/devices
- Battery pack for charging Iphone (and yes it will power IPad if needed)
- IPad charging adapter and cable
- Camera (Canon T1i with Sigma 30mm f/1.4)
- Umbrella (never used umbrella until I came to China, now its always on hand)
This bag will not be leaving my shoulder anytime soon.
Unless the strap breaks, which is most unlikely.
Think Tank offers one of the best Warranty (click to read the warranty) , Lifetime warranty
Like all warranties it does have some limitations, normal wear and tear and abuse dont qaulify.
But then as their warranty states, build products that dont need fixing.
One the most obvious places for failure on any bag is possibly velcro closures. They consist of two pieces the hooks (hard ) and what we will call the receiver (soft fuzzy stuff) . What i have seen in most bags is the the receiver fails first, it either gets matted, worn out or falls apart.
Both sides of my velcro closures are in great shape, its actually threads , hair etc in the hook side that causes it not to work so well. Simple cleaning helps that out.
Now being in Southern China, I will tell you it get hot here. Hot as in 35c to 39c on summer days, and 80% plus humidity. Simply standing for the bus finds you wet , dripping.
For me that means my bag is getting it also , strap gets wet or damp, can feel it in the shoulder strap material. Also because I have a tendency to grab the strap with my left hand , usually at the strap adjustment buckle, its actually affected the metal plating on the buckle.
Again not the fault of the bag , just the corrosive power of nature at work.
The other buckles have some color changes but then again between me, the weather, the sun all is good.
The buckle is not going to fail anytime soon.
That the other thing about this bag, it comes with a distressed look already when new, really that hasnt changed , it looks as good as Day 1.
now basic wear and tear does come into play, small things that i know are my fault.
Nothing to do with quality of the bag.
One is because of how I wear the bag on my left shoulder, I found that the bag was hitting the rivet in my jeans pocket. That caused premature wear and eventually wore away the material , exposing the nylon interior shell.
The other wear point has been just below, on the bottom corner.
This was cuased by combination of the bag rubbing against my leg and the corner of the ipad , making a wear point.
Again nothing to do with quality of the bag.
Ao yes I want to repair the bag, not sure what the best way to do it would be , but will figure it out at some point.
Of course a new bag would be kinda nice , though admit that once I spend money on something of good quality , I will hold on to it forever.
The question is of course, would I buy another ?
Without thinking the answer is yes, really well made , well constructed, great materials, good layout.
Now I wonder if Think Tank could repair this or can i find some grey canvas or some kind of material to fix those two small wear spots ????
Later......
I have been in China for the last almost 3 years, living in the Southern China city of Xiamen.
And no different than before , things like this blog, Facebook, anything Google and even other sites are blocked form internet access from China.
Anyways I thought it was time for a folloup to my Think Tank Retrospective 5 bag posting that I had done back in October 2011 - my Quest for the Perfect Bag (click to jump to that posting).
The bag has been with me, since then , if not as a camera bag, then as my day bag. Its attended concerts, shows, events, meetings, flown around the world.
Sat on the floor of planes , trains and automobiles.
Held the things I have needed to hold, yes sometimes i wish it was a little bigger, but then that just makes you carry more stuff.
With a little bit of convincing it now holds my Ipad 4 and even a thin notebook , in the back zippered pouch, and yes the zipper still works fine.
Have been far from gentle with it.
It does get thrown around, banged about.
the bag sits on my left shoulder, just always has , feels weird on right side.
The bag has performed flawlessly, honestly of al the bags I have used, this one I have no problem praising it.
These days in China, the Think Tank Retrospective 5 is my day bag , its with me everywhere.
so it does need to carry those things that I deem essential or at least what I like to have handy.
In my bag most days are the following :
- IPAD 4
- Thin notebook
- Passport (essential must have always , here in China)
- Pens
- cleaning cloth for glasses/camera/devices
- Battery pack for charging Iphone (and yes it will power IPad if needed)
- IPad charging adapter and cable
- Camera (Canon T1i with Sigma 30mm f/1.4)
- Umbrella (never used umbrella until I came to China, now its always on hand)
This bag will not be leaving my shoulder anytime soon.
Unless the strap breaks, which is most unlikely.
Think Tank offers one of the best Warranty (click to read the warranty) , Lifetime warranty
Like all warranties it does have some limitations, normal wear and tear and abuse dont qaulify.
But then as their warranty states, build products that dont need fixing.
One the most obvious places for failure on any bag is possibly velcro closures. They consist of two pieces the hooks (hard ) and what we will call the receiver (soft fuzzy stuff) . What i have seen in most bags is the the receiver fails first, it either gets matted, worn out or falls apart.
Both sides of my velcro closures are in great shape, its actually threads , hair etc in the hook side that causes it not to work so well. Simple cleaning helps that out.
Now being in Southern China, I will tell you it get hot here. Hot as in 35c to 39c on summer days, and 80% plus humidity. Simply standing for the bus finds you wet , dripping.
For me that means my bag is getting it also , strap gets wet or damp, can feel it in the shoulder strap material. Also because I have a tendency to grab the strap with my left hand , usually at the strap adjustment buckle, its actually affected the metal plating on the buckle.
Again not the fault of the bag , just the corrosive power of nature at work.
The other buckles have some color changes but then again between me, the weather, the sun all is good.
The buckle is not going to fail anytime soon.
That the other thing about this bag, it comes with a distressed look already when new, really that hasnt changed , it looks as good as Day 1.
now basic wear and tear does come into play, small things that i know are my fault.
Nothing to do with quality of the bag.
One is because of how I wear the bag on my left shoulder, I found that the bag was hitting the rivet in my jeans pocket. That caused premature wear and eventually wore away the material , exposing the nylon interior shell.
This was cuased by combination of the bag rubbing against my leg and the corner of the ipad , making a wear point.
Again nothing to do with quality of the bag.
Ao yes I want to repair the bag, not sure what the best way to do it would be , but will figure it out at some point.
Of course a new bag would be kinda nice , though admit that once I spend money on something of good quality , I will hold on to it forever.
The question is of course, would I buy another ?
Without thinking the answer is yes, really well made , well constructed, great materials, good layout.
Now I wonder if Think Tank could repair this or can i find some grey canvas or some kind of material to fix those two small wear spots ????
Later......
