Peak Design Everyday Sling 5L – A Review

2017-11-12 Ken

Carry ons, backpacks, wallets and other bags

The Peak Design Everyday Sling 5L is finally here!

The other day, I talked about how Peak Design has been releasing new products for this winter.

Go see post : “Peak Design Has Been Releasing New Bags”

One that day, I placed an order for the Peak Design Everyday Sling 5L and it has arrived so I’ll be doing a review on it today!

It took about a week for it to arrive after ordering it from Peak Design’s website so not too bad.

The cost of the bag was 100USD so I didn’t have to pay any consumption tax or any customs.

I haven’t taken any pictures of the bag on somebody’s back yet so I’ll upload those once they’re ready.

The Peak Design Everyday Sling 5L – Review

Everyday Sling 5L – Functions

To get an idea of what kind of bag the Everyday Sling 5L is, it’s best to go check out Peak Design’s website first.

When I got the original Everyday Sling 10L, their video convinced me to buy, and that’s what convinced me with the 5L too.

I used the Everyday Sling 10L for about six months after getting it on Kick Starter and I saw the following four to be the strong points of the bag:

the sling utilizes the outside of the bag, not just the inside
you can dock it with a carry-on bag
you can get stuff in and out of the bag without taking it off your shoulder
it has a handle for easy carry

For details, go check out my review of the original Everyday Sling.

The Everyday Sling 5L is like a little brother of the original and inherits a lot of its brother’s strong points, but it has lost the first and second points due to its downsizing.

I’ll get into the details but first, an unbagging to get things going.

Here it is!

Not too bad!

Not too bad, however, the materials feel a little cheap compared to the Everyday Sling 10L.

The straps had shoulder pad are flimsy.

On the flipside, its super light at 500g so it’s a tradeoff.

It’s about the same size as the cote&ciel Isarau that I’m using now.

The external straps of the Everyday Sling 10L are gone with the 5L

I mentioned earlier that the 5L lost the first strong point of the Everyday Sling 10; the sling utilizes the outside of the bag, not just the inside.

The Everyday Sling 10L had external straps which could be used to cinch down items such as a Gorilla Pod.

These straps don’t exist on the 5L so you can’t strap on items on the outside of the bag in the same way.

I carry around the Joby (Hybrid) a lot so the first thing I did was to check if it fits inside the 5L.

The Joby fits perfectly if you place the dividers so that they’re out of the way.

There’s still plenty of room left over after stuffing the bag with items that I usually carry:

earphones
sunglasses
Camera (G7X Mark II)
Moment Battery Case
Moment Wide Angle Lens
Shoulder Pod

Lets try out another way of packing.

This time, I set the dividers in its default position and put the other items in first.

Then I folded down the dividers and placed the Joby and Shoulder Pod on top.

This works perfectly if you want quick access to the Joby.

The 5L doesn’t dock with a suitcase anymore

This was the second point that I mentioned.

The handle on the Everyday Sling 10L was placed on the backside of the bag which allowed it to be docked on the handle of a suitcase.

The handle of the Everyday Sling 5L is for some reason placed on top of the bag so you can’t really dock it.

The handle itself has gotten cheaper too, the handle of the 10L feels so much better.

The strap adjustment handle has gone through some changes too

One of the strongest features of the Everyday Sling is its strap.

You can instantly change the length of the strap which allows you to bring the bag from your back to in front of you easily.

The Everyday Sling 10L had a cool metal adjust tab but that’s changed to a nylon pull of the 5L.

This has some issues.

It’s ok when you loosen that strap but it doesn’t function well when you tighten the strap.

You have to pull out and then pull down quickly towards your waist.

Even when it works, you can’t tighten it all the way so if you want to do that, you have to use both hands.

I don’t think it’s that cumbersome but the 10L was much better in this department.

Up until this point, I’ve covered the areas where I felt the 10L was better than the 5L.

I think the 5L still has its place in my arsenal because sometimes the 10L is just too big for the occasion.

Lets now look at where the 5L shines!

The Everyday Sling 5L can fit a DJI Spark!

Move the direction of one of the dividers and it fits the drone perfectly.

The other items other than the drone and remote fit nicely too:

extra battery
cables for charging etc.
extra propellers
USB cable

You can also fit sunglasses and earphones in the leftover space so it’s probably more convenient than using the bag that comes with the Fly More Combo.

The Everyday Sling 5L transforms into a fannie pack!

This is the killer feature of the 5L that the 10L doesn’t have.

You tuck in one of the strap ends and connect using the carabiner like fook and the 5L transforms into a fannie pack!

This is an interesting idea.

What I like most about Peak Design are these small innovative ideas.

The issue here is whether the straps loosen up while the bag is being used.

I’ve found this to be a common problem with Peak Design bags because they use smooth straps.

Only time will tell but I will definitely look into this.

Using the Everyday Sling 5L!

I went out to buy dinner at Tokyo Station just so that I could use the Everyday Sling 5L and check out how it performs in real life!

It’s light and feels great.

The bag is thicker compared to the Isarau but is still small enough so that you don’t have to worry about bumping it into someone when weaving through the crowds of people at Tokyo Station.

When you take a seat on the train, you don’t have to take the sling off, you just loosen the strap and bring the bag in front of you, so that’s really great.

The Sling becomes a workstation when you’ve got it in front of you, so doing something like putting a wide angle lens onto your iPhone becomes a task that you can do without having to worry about dropping anything.

A Moleskin Cahier L size (13x21cm) fits perfectly too so you can still carry your notebook around.

The outside pocket is pretty tight so it won’t fit much but the Bellroy Travel Wallet fits perfectly so I have a use for it!

Summary

The Peak Design Everyday Sling 5L, I like it!

In my opinion, the Isarau looks better, but it costs three times more so considering that, the Everyday Sling seems like a bargain.

In terms of usability, the Everyday Sling seems to be the winner at first glance but I’ll continue to use both bags to see if there is a clear winner.

Where to get the Peak Design Everyday Sling 5L

They sell them on Amazon!

You can also get it directly from the Peak Design Website.
If you’re just getting the Everyday Sling 5L, it’s $99.95 so considering the USD:JPY exchange rate and shipping cost, it could be better to just get it on Amazon.

If you’re getting the Everyday Backpack or multiple items, you should consider getting it from the Peak Design website.
They ship to Japan too!