Review: WaterField Designs’ Tech Folio Laptop Backpack

The WaterField Designs Air Duffel fairing well in Ethiopia.

Product Description

Before I get into this review, full disclosure. WaterField Designs sent me this backpack at no cost. They didn’t pitch me. I reached out to them while looking for a travel ready computer bag in waxed canvas and leather. I am not an affiliate, I earn nothing from sales, and there are no kickbacks hiding behind this post.

I told them upfront I would share my experience, but only if I could be straight about it. No brand hype. No soft edges. Just what works and what doesn’t. So that’s what follows. What follows is simply my real world experience after putting it to work, not a polished sales pitch.

Over this past year I took a family vacation to Switzerland, Italy and Turkey and we even snuck in a four day Mediterranean cruise. Then in July I traveled for work to Prague for a series of meetings. I needed a personal item that could keep up with multiple trips, long days in airports, trains, and historic streets. This review is about how the Tech Folio Backpack performed across all of it.

I got this backpack to hack. I love the quality of Waterfield Designs waxed canvas and I wanted a smaller lighter personal item for travel that I could use at my destination as a camera bag. Unfortunately, it did not work. But like that old girlfriend told you, “It is not you it is me.” It was not the bag that failed. It was my unrealistic expectations.

I always carry reading glasses for in flight screens. The built in key teather let me clip my case inside the bag, secure and easy to access.

In Florence I worked under the statue of Dante with the bag at my feet. In Venice I swapped between rolling it and wearing it on my back when the terrain got too rough. Even fully loaded, the straps stayed comfortable. It also breathed better than expected. Waxed canvas is not usually known for that.

Taking the bag over the Salt flats of Tuz Gölü, Turkey. It held up amazingly well.

Rugged days in Turkey

Cappadocia gave us sunrise balloon flights and underground churches. The next day we crossed the salt flats at Tuz Gölü. I dragged the bag through dust, rock, and salt crust. The finish just shrugged it off. This is a bag that can take abuse and look better as it ages.

It even played camera bag when I needed it. The compact Leica Q was not an issue. But that is the limit.

So why not a camera bag?

I was never able to find a camera insert or packing cube that made this bag easy to shoot out of. That was a deal breaker for what I originally wanted it for. However, when I travel light with just my Leica Q, it performs flawlessly.

The large back compartment unzips fully and lays flat like a suitcase. That’s what made me think I could drop in a camera insert and turn it into a travel camera bag. I tried. Hard. The geometry fights you. It’s too deep, and the space isn’t shaped to cradle a camera kit. Access quickly becomes awkward.

If you’re a photographer who needs fast access to multiple bodies and lenses, this isn’t the pack for you.

If you’re a traveler who occasionally carries a camera, it works just fine.

This was the space I hoped to convert into a camera bag. I never found an insert that worked well here—probably unrealistic expectations on my part.

Pros & Cons

Specifications

Note, the Slim version of the Tech Folio Backpack is structurally identical to the Non-Slim version. The only difference is its width.

Price & Options