Review – ThinkTank Photo Roller Derby

Okay, . . . Pop Quiz:

                                     You are about to travel roughly 8,300 miles with this, and a few other little things.

Here’s what this is: 

3 Full frame DSLRs

70-300 lens

150-600 lens

12mm lens

24-105mm lens

Velvet85 lens

Right angle viewer

4 (or more) batteries

Battery charger(s)

Card reader

Hoodman

External HD

Mouse

Surface computer

8-inch tablet

 

You are going to travel through multiple airports, have layovers and spend nearly 24 hours to reach your destination.  

SO, How do you transport this?

That was the reality I faced last month before my trip to Kenya from St. Louis, MO.  Believe it or not, my regular backpack, the ThinkTank Photo Streetwalker Harddrive would hold everything, but my old back . . . could not.  The weight was too much.  I contacted ThinkTank Photo for suggestions and they steered me towards their Roller Derby bag.   I checked it out and then didn’t hesitate and bought it.  I was not disappointed.  If you’ve read any of my reviews over the years, or been to one of our workshops, you notice that all I use are ThinkTank bags.  So, it wasn’t a tough decision once I found the right bag.  Not only did it transport my gear safely, but in style. 

Here’s the Roller Derby

Now, the first thing I noticed and liked about the bag is It doesn’t look like a Camera Bag! 

Instead, I just look like another one of those travelers who doesn’t want check bags.  That’s Great.  The last thing I want to do when traveling is advertise that I have a bunch of expensive cameras in a nice portable case. 

The next thing I noticed is it has dual, four-wheel spinners.

Rolling through an airport, or wherever is easy on two or four wheels.  I guess that should be on four or eight wheels.  The eight-wheel spinners made travel through the airports a breeze.  

Security is also built in.  There is a cable in the side of the bag that you can use the secure the bag to whatever you’d like.  I wanted to take a nap at the Zurich airport, so I just locked the bag on the chair I was snoring in.  

The inside of the bag is a brilliant design, just like other ThinkTank bags, totally customizable.

Everything adjusts to whatever configuration you need. On the inside of the door or lid is two zippered compartments that are a mesh material so you can see what’s inside.  

Here’s what mine ended up looking like crammed full.

By the time I was done with the trip, I flew a total of 17K miles, drove all around Kenya, and my gear traveled safe and in style.   This bag is perfect for anyone who is going to travel with too much gear to carry in a backpack.

Seriously, this is the best piece of gear I’ve purchased this year.   

If you want to see more information on the ThinkTank Photo Roller Derby, click here