This is going to sound like a paid testimonial, but it’s not. I haven’t even spoken to someone from LowePro in going on three or four years now, but time was that I did, fairly regularly too. They’re good folks over there, you can tell that they actually use the products they sell. I remember the first time someone talked to me about the Slingshot AW200 that I still use to this day; he was incredibly excited about it, and in under five minute he had me searching for some way to give him money so I could shut him up and go start using the thing myself. True story.
But the title of this blog is all about a wallet, so what’s that about? Well, above you can see something that looks just like my old wallet. It was over ten years ago that I acquired that at a photo convention in Toronto. It was a giveaway in a goodie bag, a fairly innocuous little thing. I made a joking promise to myself at the time: I’d keep using this wallet until it broke.
You see, I’d been through leather wallet after leather wallet, and like most 20-something guys I managed to find some way to destroy them. I had cheap wallets and expensive wallets and everything in between. I thought this nylon stop-gap would bit the dust quickly and I could get back on my cycle of cow-hide cash collectors.
Ten years I managed to keep that promise, and in that time I came to trust LowePro with all of my camera gear. I’ve bought their bags for my point and shoot models, for my DSLR, and even for the camcorder that rarely sees the light of day anymore. My go-to bag is a Slingshot 200AW - It’s an over-the-shoulder number that had space for my Sony A33 (previously my A350), along with some lenses and extra gear. It’s also got a raincoat that I love; it pulls out from a hidden compartment in the back, something that never fails to impress the folks I’m traveling with at the time.
I’ve also got a good old fashioned Day Trekker that’s my choice when I tote more gear. At one point I think I was carrying a DVD burner in there for my old laptop so that I could archive stuff on the go.
Both of those purchases were made knowing that I had this wallet in my pocket that I simply couldn’t kill… and both of those bags have stood similar tests of time. The Slingshot has been on three continents, in Ontario-dry-cold, Vancouver-wet-cold, Mexican-moist-heat, European-tepid-summer, and Las Vegas-oh-god-why-am-I-here-in-July scorchingness–and it still looks clean, zips and packs like a champ, and even smells fresh.
Like I said, this probably sounds like it was paid for. But to be honest, you couldn’t pay me to love something like this. This one comes from the heart. So on a rainy day in April, as I stare up as my shelves and hooks stuffed with LowePro gear, I just wanted to say thanks. There are plenty of gear carriers out there, and LowePro isn’t going to be on the top of everyone’s list by a long shot… but they are on the top of mine.
And if you were to check in the drawer beside me, there’s a secret that I keep in there. I broke my promise before it broke its stitching: that wallet still isn’t dead.
Created to go from carry mode to ready mode in seconds, the SlingShot AW rotates from back to front for fast and easy access to camera gear. The newest design incorporates even more of what busy shooters are looking for: extra space for personal items, faster access, improved organization, and the ability to add a tripod.
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