What an absolutely indestructible bag. Truly, an absolute savage with an outstanding name. We sold bundles of these back in the day, based around their absolute durability, and their ability to carry lots of kit comfortably.
Bought back in 2008, and please note the wear points in photos 6, 7, and 8. It's where the leather outer has rubbed the trim. They've never bothered me and they don't affect the integrity of the bag. I'd recommend sealing it with a controlled flame (ie a lighter) if you want to seal it.
I can happily do this for the buyer, or I can apply McNett Seam Tape.
The thick denier nylon is called Chicken-Tex in Europe, and it's super durable.
The zippers are wide and durable with proper zip pulls.
There are tons of pockets to organise/lose all of your belongings. Clearly seen in the photos.
Crumpler are a stand-out, Australian brand who went all out to build indestructible courier and camera bags for urbaneers, and professionals. With great names for each of their bags. Clearly their designers over the years have field tested the bags and made them as easy to use as possible.
The review I've included below is for the DSLR compartment version, everything else is exactly the same as this bag 'The Ugly Divorce'
PLEASE NOTE: THE MAGAZINES AND KIT IN THE PHOTOS ARE NOT INCLUDED IN THE SALE, THERE FOR SIZE AND SCALE INDICATION.
THE REVIEW (one of the most thorough you'll ever read)
Instead of the rubber Crumpler logo which we have all come to expect, this limited edition has a shiny metal badge.
So first, the measurements: the Limited Leather Daily is approximately 16″ wide x 13.5″ tall x 8″ wide, and roughly guessing – it weighs about five pounds with the camera insert in place. It has a leather front flap with leather sides, and the parts of the bag that aren’t made of leather are made of what Crumpler calls “Rooster Tex”, but it’s basically what I would otherwise call Ballistic Nylon. It’s a very tough material that is dirt, stain and water resistant; which is a good thing, considering that I went for a totally non-characteristic off white. The entire bag’s exterior is either double layered or slightly padded, which makes the bag feels substantial and protective. The shoulder strap is about 15″ long, and it is padded; the only things that seem to be missing are a handle on the back of the bag and a slash pocket; ah well – I have to find something wrong with it, right? 😉
The strap on the bag is an amazingly heavy duty 2″ wide webbed nylon affair, which can be adjusted to wear either on the shoulder or bandolier style. It has a heavy plastic quick release clamp for getting in and out, and any excess strappage can be tucked under the loop worked into the side of the bag for that purpose.
You’ll notice that there was a female pinch clip on each end of the back’s bottom, it’s for attaching to the “third-leg stabilizer” strap.
Whether you use the stabilizer strap or not, there will always be at least one pinch clip dangling…or will there?
Of course not, this bag is much too refined. Special pockets are built into each bottom corner to accommodate any unused clips. This is yet another example of how the Limited Leather Daily has tried to anticipate every user’s need, without making one user conform to another’s. The male clip, attached to the third-leg strap, can be removed by undoing the plastic quick release clamp and letting out the strap.
As you can see there are also two pinch clips on the flap, so I find it redundant and mildly irritating that two largish patches of Velcro were also used. I guess if you are too lazy to use the clips, you will welcome the convenient security of the quick-grab Velcro. 😛
On the front of the bag is a large double-zippered compartment with a mesh and nylon compartment built into the flap and accessed by a 8″ zipper. Along the back wall, there are two 7″ x 7″ mesh and nylon pockets which secure at their tops with small patches of Velcro, in between those pockets are three pen holders.
Built into the back wall is a padded laptop compartment which measures approximately 14″ wide x 10″ tall x 1″ deep.
Technically this pocket is made to fit up to a 14″ laptop, but the site mentioned it would fit some 15″ laptops. Taking a chance that my svelte MacBook pro was one of them, I ordered…and luckily it fit! I like how the flap can either be Velcro’d down to secure the laptop, or it can be tucked under the Velcro retaining flap built into the top wall for that purpose; this gives unfettered access to the laptop, which should be very handy when checking in. Notice how there is all sorts of lovely room in the huge compartment in front of the laptop? When the DSLR bag is in place, that is all gone. But the beauty of the this bag is that when you don’t need to carry the DSLR, you’ll have lots of room for…whatever.
Notice how the bag’s bottom is wide and flat enough that the bag will stand up on it’s own without flopping over? Crumpler definitely gets bonus points for that. I also like that the entire interior is composed of ripstop nylon – there will be no snagging allowed in here!
Looking into the spacious main compartment, you’ll see that there are three pockets built into the walls opposite the laptop sleeve. The two on the sides are approximately 8″ wide x 8″ tall, and they are held shut at their tops by small patches of Velcro. The one in the middle measures 7″ wide x 7″ tall, and it has a flap cover which secures with Velcro.
This ripstop nylon case is what I keep referring to as the DSLR bag; it can almost be seen as a bonus, since it functions as a top handled storage bag for cameras and accessories even when they are not in the larger Limited Leather Daily. The DSLR bag measures 14″ wide x 9″ tall x 8″ deep, and it has a single zipper which opens to reveal…
A soft, padded compartment which can easily hold a DSLR with lens installed, an extra lens or an external flash, and other small accessories – depending upon how it is configured. The padded interior walls are held in place with Velcro, so they can be attached wherever needed to make the compartment best work for your needs.
I see the removable 7″ tall x 5″ wide x 3″ deep accessory bag as yet another bonus, because it can also be used inside the main messenger bag to carry items which might need to be separated from others or that might benefit from being kept in a more padded environment. When the accessory bag isn’t in the DSLR bag, there is room for another full size lens.
The Limited Leather Daily is a very good looking, very big, very well made, very versatile, and yes…very expensive bag. There’s really no way for me to help you make the decision on this one: you’ve either gotta have it or you don't!!!
The Crumpler Limited Leather Daily is available from Crumpler Europe; you can find them on other retail sites. If you want basically the same bag, but without the removable DSLR bag, you can get the amusingly named Ugly Divorce bag, but honestly – it’s the same price, so you might as well get the extra goodies. 😉
MSRP: £199 (approximately $400) – search around for less expensive retailers, though
What I Like: Extremely well made; gorgeous color combinations; holds a lot of stuff; included and removable DSLR and accessory bags; should last forever
What Needs Improvement: No top handle on the back of bag; no pocket on back side of bag; good luck finding it outside of Europe and the UK :-