Peak Design 25L Outdoor Backpack review

Astrophotography requires a bag that can handle rugged terrain and satisfy photographers’ needs. After all, you want to be able to carry your best camera for astrophotography around with confidence.

At first glance, the Peak Design 25L Outdoor Backpack seems like it could be the perfect solution. Peak Design is known for its quality camera bags and photography equipment, so I was keen to see how a bag designed for the outdoors would compare. I tested it with an S-medium camera cube, but you’ll need to purchase a camera cube separately for photography purposes.

Peak Design 25L Outdoor Backpack: Design

★★★1⁄2

• Odd color choice (white) for an outdoor bag
• Easy roll-top entry
• Deep pockets that comfortably fit a tripod

It’s clear that a lot of thought went into the Peak Design 25L Outdoor Backpack, with its accessibility, versatility and quality of materials. Designed as an outdoor bag that photographers can use with one of the compatible camera cubes, it’s suitable for hiking to remote dark-sky sites with all of your photography equipment and everything you need to stay warm and hydrated.

It has two deep side pockets that can easily hold a tripod and a water bottle, a laptop sleeve (that can also be used for a hydration pouch) and an easy-to-access roll-top opening to reach your gear without having to open the back panel. The zippers are easy to grab and very strong, but there’s not much padding to protect your gear.

Peak Design 25L Outdoor Backpack: Performance

★★★

• Wide straps, which are uncomfortable for users with a small frame
• Easy access to gear
• Cinch feature that keeps the bag secure

There are two sides to the coin when it comes to performance. The first includes the bag’s practicality and ease of use out in the field. We found it easy to access our gear and really liked the roll-top entry with the cinch hook to tighten and loosen the top compartment. There are mesh pockets in the straps to keep your phone or a power bank, which made it very easy for us to access our phone during a hike. We would have liked this bag to be compatible with a Capture clip, though.

The other side of the coin is comfort. Although we found this backpack fairly comfortable to wear for long periods when we wore a coat while walking around a nature reserve, we can’t say the same for when we wore this bag on an 8-mile (13 kilometers) hike in just a long-sleeved shirt. For most users, it will likely be fine, but for people with small frames, the straps will be too wide. We found the straps digging into our arms while we walked, and as a result, the straps didn’t fit over our chest properly when we had to tighten the sternum straps.

Peak Design 25L Outdoor Backpack: Functionality

★★★1⁄2

• No internal storage
• Utility as an outdoor bag
• One large compartment

Although the Peak Design 25L Outdoor Backpack is very functional as a general outdoor bag (which is what it’s designed for, after all), it’s not very useful for photographers without a camera cube.

There’s no internal storage — not even small pockets for cards, batteries or filters. And even when a camera cube is inside, you need to fully open the rear panel to access your gear. This adds an extra cost to an already expensive bag. Therefore, the Peak Design Outdoor Backpack is best suited to users who do as much hiking as they do photography, so it can be used for both activities.

How we test

I wore the Peak Design 25L Outdoor Backpack on multiple outdoor trips, including a walk around a nature reserve in a padded coat and an 8-mile waterfall hike in a thinner T-shirt.

I fully assessed all of the compartments, straps and attachments for quality, practicality and comfort in a range of conditions to give a thorough review of how the bag would perform for different uses.

Should you buy the Peak Design 25L Outdoor Backpack?

The Peak Design Outdoor Backpack better serves as a general outdoor or hiking bag as opposed to a dedicated photography bag, so if you’re looking for a versatile bag that can also comfortably fit your camera gear as and when you need it, it’s a good pick.

That said, there are other more affordable alternatives that could do the job just as well. For photographers who want to use it specifically for remote shoots, I’d only recommend it if you already have camera cubes.

If this product isn’t for you

If the Peak Design Outdoor Backpack didn’t hit the mark, consider the Peak Design Everyday Backpack, which has internal storage. This makes it better for photographers, because there’s no need for a separate camera cube. Plus, there’s space for a Capture clip.

For something more lightweight, consider Peak Design’s 7L sling bag. It’s surprisingly roomy, but there’s no internal padding. You also may want to look at the Wandrd Prvke, which is a favorite among photographers. It has internal storage and an easy-to-access roll-top entry that make this bag a great option for traveling.