The Chumpy Wallet

Lately I have been feeling a tad lonely. I needed a new buddy. So I bought a new one. My new buddy is great, he goes everywhere with me. He even holds on to and makes sure my valuables stay safe. Of course I'm talking about my Crumpler Chumpy. I seen the Chumpy on the internet and it looked pretty stylish, I was hoping it was going to be practical too. The Chumpy is made out of the same tuff-as-nails material that is found on Crumpler's messenger bags. I've been carrying this wallet around for almost a year now, it is holding up just fine. There is no signs of wear. There is plenty of places for my cards and even two pockets for some change. Take note, the change pockets don't snap shut. The Chumpy is very comfortable to have in your back pocket. Most of the time I don't even realize it's even there. When I first got the wallet I was a little leery of a soft wallet. The worries are all gone now. It's been a year now, I haven't had a single problem with the well being of my plastic cards or anything else I keep in there.

The only problem I have with this wallet is that it needs to be a smidgin longer for US dollars. USDs do fit inside the wallet, but at times it can be a tight fit. When putting money inside the wallet, I sometimes take out the money that's already inside and then put all the bills in at once. Or folding the bills will work too. That's it. Only a small little flaw on an otherwise great product.

Crumpler.com

Little bit of a squeeze.

Crumpler 's New Website

Crumpler now has a newly designed website. Gone with the crazy, wacky, fun, and goofy and in with the streamlined, classy, goodness. If you have been on Crumpler's websites in the past, you'll now that they were a pain in the rear to navigate. Those old goofy websites reflected Crumpler's not so serious, have fun in life, attitude. That's what drew me to Crumpler's products in the first place. They are a "fun" company, and they wanted us to know it. The new website is now more classy, without all the goofy pictures and crazy animations. This makes the websites load times much faster too, and it's a breeze to navigate. Don't worry though, Crumpler is not becoming another "suit" among bag makers. They still don't take themselves to seriously. They're still a laid back, beer drinking, Kangaroo boxing, goofy company. (Which is a very good thing). Take a look at their bags. Are they all black? Do they look like briefcases? Are their bags something your grandma would use? No. The bags are still playfully designed, and can still last through nuclear war.

New website. Same amazing bags.

Crumpler.com

Crumpler 6 Million Dollar Home - Quick Review

Crumpler bags, what can I say? Oh, I know! They are the best bags to grace our planet!

A while back I was looking for a well made photo messenger bag. I ran across a company called Crumpler, while their website is not all that great, their bags sure are. The thing I like about Crumpler and their bags, including the "6 Million Dollar Home", is that they are different. The company is in their own world, (a VERY good thing), and their photo bags don't look like your typical boring black photo bag. Because their bags don't look like a typical photo bag, theives might over look them.

Ok, now to the 6 Million Dollar Home. I had the bag for a few years now and all I can say is his is a great bag. The years that I had it nothing has gone wrong with it. Although I did notice when I moved my padded dividers around a lot, some of the velcro "hooks" came off and where stuck on the inside lining of the bag. I think these "hook" came from the ends of the velcro where it was cut. This is a very minor complaint though.

This bag can hold a lot of gear. I can put my trusty Sigma 50-500mm, upright in this bag. (Without the camera attached) A camera body with lens attached. My flash and another lens or two. There are also pockets to put memory, filters, wires etc... Those pockets are big but they don't have little holders for your stuff. So it can get a little messy.

This bag does seem to be somewhat water resistant too. You do have to be careful though. Where the flap folds over, it leaves two holes on each end on top of the bag.

It a very durable bag and you won't be disappointed if you get one. In fact you'll be so happy you bought one of these bags that you'll want to spread the word. From your rooftop, at 3:00AM, on a Monday.

Side Note: Photo's are on their way.

Crumpler Pony Box Review

UPDATE: The laptop pocket is made for 13" laptops, My 13" MacBook Pro fits in it and there really is not too much "wiggle room" . May Mac measures roughly 9" wide by 13" long. You might want to look up exact measurements on apple's site.

I went to England over the summer, long story short, they had a Crumpler store! Boy, was I excited! (Oh, took some killer photos too)

I bought a new Crumpler camera backpack among a few other things. Crumpler has a different lineup of products in Europe then they do in the U.S. (I had my eye on the Pony Box for some time now but I had no way of buying it.) Now I am more of a messenger bag type person but I will eventually break down and agree that a backpack is more comfortable if your out and about for long periods of time. The reason why I like messenger bags so much is you can get your camera and accessories out of the bag without putting it down. You can even get stuff out while your walking. Not so with a backpack... until now. What I like about the Crumpler Pony Box so much is that there is a zipper on top of the bag so that you can get your camera out without laying the bag down on the ground in dog pee. The only problem is that you can only reach your camera and maybe one other accessory, depending on how you setup the bag. Unfortunately you can only reach the very top of the bag through this zipper, in order to reach the rest of the bag the bag must be placed on it's front. Unlike other bags the part of the bag that rests upon your back is the section that opens up. Some people like this setup, others don't. Personally, I like it. I feel that my gear is more protected from thieves. In past experience Crumpler's robust material actually is pretty dirt resistant too.

Now, I am a big fan of Crumpler, so naturally I have many of their bags. For the few years I had them I really beat the living snot out of them. None of my bags have broke, worn out, or failed me in any way shape or form. Most of them still look new. Crumpler bags are tougher than a Sherman tank. So take my word, the Pony Box is strong. Not only is the material tough, it is also rain proof/resistant. Crumpler also supplied a rain cover for the bag for your trecks though the Amazon rain forest.

Rain cover inside the side pocket.

The bag can swallow up more gear then what it looks like it can. I can fit 50D's in just fine and my trusty side kick camera. (My side kick camera is a Canon 350D with battery grip.) The Pony Box gets really deep at the bottom of the bag. I can stand my 580EX II flash upright at the bottom and it fits just fine. I can also fit more in the Pony Box than I can in my "6 Million Dollar Home." That includes my biggest (dimension wise) lens, a Sigma 50-500mm DG. Although I did have to get pretty creative with arranging the padded dividers. The bag has a laptop sleeve built into the back of the bag. It isn't removable.

The sleeve will probably fit a 13" laptop, it did not fit my 15" laptop. Not even close.

There are also a lot of other places to put memory cards, wires, pens, pencils, etc... (See pics)

While we are talking about size, this bag is a great travel companion. The Pony Box fits in a plane's overhead bins and under the seats fine. It even can fit in a regional jet's overhead bin. (A crj700) Also, this bag doesn't look as big as a house, like some other photo bags. It looks tailored, so the airline employees don't take it away from you because it looks too big.

As with all Crumplers, this bag doesn't look like a photo bag. That way the bag doesn't draw attention to baddies. My bag is a reddish-brownish. It looks stunning in person.

The Pony Box is very comfortable too. The padding on the back of the bag is very good. I thought the straps didn't have enough padding when I looked at it. I was wrong. They have plenty of padding, very comfortable.

View of the very well padded back...

I only have two gripes with this bag. Firstly, the outside side pockets can be difficult to open. (One has the rain cover in it, the other you can use for your ipod) Secondly, the top half of the bag is not very deep. In order for the bag to be styled the way it is, it must be like that. Even though the top is not deep, there's still plenty of room in it.

What a great looking bag, huh?

With my Sigma 50-500mm for size.

Note the flash in the "deep end".

See the Sigma fits....

View of the quick access zipper.

View of the same quick access area, but with the extra storage flaps out.

I should let you know Crumpler's websites are kind of screwy, you just have to put up with it I guess.

Crumpler's USA site

Crumpler's UK site, Pony Box page

Side Note: I have been doing a lot of apologizing in my posts for my pictures. Well, this post is no exception. I am sorry for the snapshot quality photos. I just came back from my trip yesterday and I am very tired and didn't feel like doing studio shots. So I took these photos in my bedroom, where my bed is. At a later time I will take better quality photos for yoZzzzzzzzzzzz.

Also, check out the archive (to the right of this post) for more photography tips and reviews. There is car stuff too.