Bagged Down

Clever Supply Co Sidekick Pro

Nice. No division between them, but The Sixes fit perfectly.

New bag day! My Clever Supply Co Sidekick Pro arrived today. Despite the number of bags I already own (including two from Clever Supply), this bag seemed to fill a size niche I’d hoped to find for a while. It looked like the bag that would allow me to carry two smaller cameras, notably The Sixes (my X100VI and my M6), at once, as a daily carry (with wallet, keys, extra battery, extra roll of film, etc.)—but without being so large as to look and feel like a camera sling when I’m walking through the grocery store. This could supplement my Long Weekend Monterey Sling, which I absolutely love, but which allows me to carry only the X100VI.

So I backed the bag on Kickstarter as soon as I saw the email about it and it arrived today. The cameras fit great, the bag itself is exactly what I’d hoped for. It fits the Leica M6 with Voigtländer 50mm f1.2, the Fujifilm X100VI, wallet, a pen, keys, extra battery, and an extra roll of film. Perfect.

However. The bag has a couple flaws that mean I won’t be able to use it.

I really blue it.

First, as soon as I put it over my shoulder, the back of the bag acted like sandpaper and instantly became covered in blue fuzz from my sweater. I’ve never seen a bag, including my other Clever bags, do that. A little lint over time here and there, sure. But this thing just grabbed all the fibers. Immediately. First time. As I tried it in different positions, it got more and more blue. And this isn’t a fluffy sweater. It’s slim, formfitting, and doesn’t shed on anything else. I even aggressively rubbed other bags against the sweater to see if they’d collect anything. Nothing. This is the first time I opted for the black version of a Clever bag, so it’s probable the tan version doesn’t have that problem.

It’s easier to access the back of the bag than the top. Maybe for cleaning off lint?

The worse problem is the strap. It is stitched directly into the bag, which is how the smaller size of this bag works, that doesn’t surprise me. Other bags—including the bigger Camera Sling from Clever—include a flap of some kind that lets the bag hang nicely against your body. But running the strap through the stitching at the back of the bag is probably okay on its own. The problem is that the strap is too low on the bag, which puts the center of gravity too low, and the bag tilts forward no matter how you wear it (possible exception, really tight around the waist might keep it from flopping forward). At its tightest shoulder slung position (which makes it difficult to get into the bag because it’s up under your armpit), it hangs at about a 45° angle. If you manage to get it loose enough to be able to get into, the top of the bag is nearly perpendicular to the ground.

Since none of the models wearing the bag in the Kickstarter campaign photos seem to be having this issue, I can only imagine that there was a quality control or testing problem somewhere in the process. The smaller Clever Supply Sidekick bag doesn’t do that. My Peak Design sling doesn’t do that. My Long Weekend sling doesn’t do that. My Bellroy sling doesn’t do that. My Patagonia Black Hole fanny pack doesn’t do that.

With padding like this, who needs cameras?

I have other gripes, like that the weirdly thick “Clever Camera Cube” completely blocks access to the inside pockets and takes up roughly half the interior space on its own. This aligns with the poorly designed, extra thick dividers in their Camera Sling, which feature leather flaps perfect for catching your camera on every time you put it in your bag (the flaps are meant for SD cards, but given how easy it is to catch your camera on the empty flaps, I imagine your cards would just snap in half.) And why does everything have to be so thick? Exterior padding, sure, but what is being protected inside the bag with so much padding? Interior dividers typically just need to prevent gear from rubbing on each other, not enforce geopolitical boundaries.

So now I have a useless but brand new bag (tag’s still on, hasn’t left the house) that looks like Cookie Monster’s snack sack. I would throw it on eBay, but I’m not sure I can sell it in good conscience, knowing its flaws.

The good news is this got me thinking about what would work well for a bag this size, so I did more research, pulled out the measuring tape, laid out the items the bag would need to hold, and identified a bag that should work brilliantly. My partner already has one, so I even tested it. More on that a different time.

I hope this doesn’t come off as Clever Supply hate. Their products have been a bit hit or miss for me, though I generally like the Camera Sling and use it often. Their leather strap was underwhelming (but did inspire me to make my own). Generally speaking, I think Todd is a good guy, their service tends to be top notch, and I appreciate the mission to create products that are a little different and visually beautiful. I can’t recommend the Sidekick Pro, but your mileage may vary. In fact, I know where you can get a black (and blue) one for a good price.