On a trip to Jamaica earlier this year, I traveled with a professional photographer. That is, I didn’t have someone in tow taking photos of me – he was the boyfriend of another travel writer also on the couples’ group trip. The photog carried a Crumpler “Million Dollar Home” messenger-style bag, and I coveted it — especially when he told me it was the best camera bag he’d every used. Comfortable and sturdy, it kept his equipment safe and readily at hand.

On return home, I researched all the bags the Australia-based company offers — and it’s a lot of them. Outside of the Million Dollar Homes (ranging from One Million to Eight Million, depending on the size), Crumpler makes roller gear bags, messenger bags without camera inserts, sturdy totes… and the camera/backpack laptop bag I asked to test. I’d been looking for a quality carry-on bag that could securely house my DSLR, my long lens, an extra battery and cleaning kit (and other small accessories), as well as my laptop that I never travel without.

I thought I’d struck the mother lode when I received the Sinking Barge Deluxe to test. Alas, it was just a little “too much bag” for this very amateur photographer, whose 15.4-inch Dell laptop with add-on, extra-life battery is just too stinking big to fit in the laptop sleeve. (Marketing materials say the laptop compartment would fit a slim, 15-inch MacBook pro, but I think non-Mac laptops that size would have a very tight fit.)

The workmanship and quality of this bag is excellent; it better be, since it has a lifetime guarantee. This is one hardy bag, with an exterior made of water-resistant ripstop nylon. But what makes this bag truly unique is all the crazy padded “pods”and separate, pull-apart padded “snake walls” and “capping straps” with Velcro that allow you to custom-fit your equipment inside the bag (see photo below).  Truly, I could not believe the number of separate pieces that came out of this bag when I first opened it. I highly doubt I’d be able to put it all back together as intended without some sort of instruction manual.

With all of these different padded pieces, and the thick padding on the laptop compartment and the bag in general, gear is very safe in this backpack, for sure. I’m guessing that even if the bag fell from the top of a plane’s overhead compartment, you wouldn’t see any breakage. But with this tight fit, it is tough to get items in and out. At least I had hard time getting items in and out of the bag when I used it as a carry-on bag in April.

I stored my laptop inside the bag, yet outside of the Velcro-topped laptop compartment, and put papers, my book and other flat items where the laptop is supposed to go. I put my DSLR and extra lens in one of the removable pods that rested at the bottom front of the pack, and stuck little items — like my lipstick, mints, small wallet and other necessities — in the most exterior outer pocket. It all fit, with very little room to spare.

The bag is not light, with all of the padding and thick material, you need to be prepared to heft a load when electronics are stored inside. Fortunately, when I carried the backpack on my two shoulders, weight was distributed well; I had no trouble carrying it on my back.

Still, I don’t think for frequent-travel carry-on use, this bag is best for me — I need more of an all-purpose bag that will carry all my additional “stuff” while traveling. I did find a use for the removable zipper bag (and snake walls and capping straps) that came with the Sinking Barge Deluxe — that’s what I’ve popped in my Briggs & Riley Large Shopping Tote for my most recent plane trip. It kept my DSLR camera and extra lens nice and secure!

Crumpler’s Sinking Barge Deluxe designed for folks (with small-ish laptops) who take their photography a bit more seriously, who might be actively shooting in the outdoors and need to carry their gear in a product that will keep it unequivocally safe (and who could use the cool tripod carrying pouch that attaches to the side). If that’s you, then I recommend this Crumpler bag. It retails for $275 on sites like eBags.com. Or you can consult the global online store finder on Crumpler’s oh-so-slow-and-almost-makes-me-want-to-pull-my-fingernails-out Flash site.