The LowePro FlipSide 400 AW is a nice backpack for people who want very good carrying comfort and protect the equipment they need on long walks or hikes in the mountains. I used it for a couple of long walks trough nature and I didn't have any shoulder ache. At that time the backpack was weighing about 8 kilograms.
With the Flipside series LowePro has invented a new way to access the main compartment. With most backpacks the main compartment is accessed by laying the backpack on it's backside. This has the disadvantage that the back straps and the backside can get dirty which isn't nice when you put it back on. With the Flipside series you access the main compartment from the backside. This makes it possible to access the main compartment without putting it down. To do this you have to close the waistband and swing the backpack to the front. This comes in handy when you can't put your backpack down. Personally I always put this backpack down because swinging it around is kind of a hassle for me because it weighs a lot. I tried the same with less in it, then it is easy to swing it in front of you. I have made a movie about this so you can see how it works. You can find this video further on in this review.The main compartment can easily hold a SLR-body with a battery grip and a big lens like a 70-200 f/2.8 or a 100-400 f/4.5-5.6 attached and 3 or 4 other "small" lenses. You can easily adjust the main compartment with velcro-dividers. The inside panel provides 3 memory card pockets and 1 bigger pocket. The front compartment is big enough for your manual, 2 flashes, filters and wires or whatever you want to put in there. At either side of the backpack you have a mesh pocket which comes in handy to hold a bottle of water for your long walks with it :-).
At the front it also has a tripod holder which isn't that practical in my opinion. If you want to keep optimal carrying comfort, you can only attach light tripods. Otherwise the backpack leans backwards a lot and the tripod swings left to right while walking. At the side of the backpack there is a strap so if you want you can attach your tripod there to keep optimal carrying comfort however attaching you tripod there is only recommended for shorter trips.
The All Weather cover is a nice feature, especially in a rainy place like Belgium. You can also use it to protect your gear from sand if you go to the beach or the desert. The All Weather cover protects it very well and it stays on really well. I use this backpack on my motorcycle and it easily stays on at 120 km/h. One thing that I have noticed is that when it rains really hard and you stay in it for a long time the bottom of the All Weather cover fills up with some water. Maybe LowePro can optimize there backpack even more by adding two holes in so the water can be drained from it.
Because it's a LowePro everything is made of good materials. The zippers are solid and covered up. The fabric is strong and dirt doens't stick on it that easily. The clips are made of a good and endurable plastic.
Pros
- Carrying comfort
- Build quality
- Flip "technology"
- Easy adjustable main compartment
- Tripod holder
- Quickly gets to small for the shopaholic within every photographer but you can fit a lot into it (see video Tajikistan)
If you have some more questions or comments feel free to contact me!
In this video I show you the main feature of the Flipside backpack, access to the main compartment from the backside.
When I was on a trip in Tajikistan I made a video about what I took with me on this trip. This gives you a nice impression about what you can store inside the FlipSide 400 AW.
The Front Pocket
The Side
The Back
The Inside Panel
The Inside
