Final Thoughts and Conclusions
The Lowepro Primus AW was a surprise in a couple different ways. For starters, it’s bigger on the inside than it looks and secondly, I’m now a believer that recycled materials are just as good as non-recycled ones. Granted, I didn’t take it outdoors in the dirt, but I did take it into the humid and hot climate of a Taipei Summer which consisted of quite a bit of monsoon style rain. I also tugged and pulled on every strap on this bag many, many times while I covered the COMPUTEX Taipei trade show going from appointment to appointment. I also opened and closed, zipped and unzipped, packed and repacked this bag countless times on the showfloor which is far more times than I would probably open my bag in the outdoors. Although durability is no longer suspect, there would be a few areas that I would improve upon.
For starters, whoever specced the grip for the side zippered compartment didn’t open it enough times to watch it fail. The loop kept disengaging from the zipper portion, leaving me holding this piece with no way to undo the rest of the zipper. Eventually, I just took a set of plyers to the zipper and clamped it closed, but that’s something that I really shouldn’t have to do. Speaking of the side zippered compartment, although it worked for smaller DSLR bodies, it did not work for my Nikon D200 with a grip. I could neither pull it out nor get it back in with any lens. It does say Pro Digital SLR on the feature list, but I think that should now include an “except” the side zippered pocket. It did work fine with the waist strap access method, but does put you in a bit of an awkward situation where someone could bump the front of your bag and have you crying over spilled glass. Very expensive spilled glass.
Things that the Lowepro Primus AW did really right for me was the water bottle holder and the tripod holder. Both features worked better than expected. Although the backcountry avalanche viability of the hatch pocket is still under deliberation, I did find that this compartment was surprisingly useful to me, especially at a trade show where people tend to stuff your hands with crap that you have to put somewhere. I also found both storage compartments bigger than they looked and did like the dual purpose of having the compartments inaccessible with the bag on, both for security and for keeping the straps clean when laying the bag on the ground. Speaking of the straps, as the bag became increasingly bloated from marketing propaganda, the 8 point harness stepped up to keep things stable, yet comfortable.
Overall, the Lowepro Primus AW does so much right, but is only a few tweaks from being perfect. Although it isn’t built for a laptop, I would like to see something in the future which would allow a photographer or videographer to take along a small compact notebook which was signalled as a coming trend at COMPUTEX. I’d also like to see a redesign of of the side zippered pocket to make it truly workable with a Pro Digital SLR. Other than that, the Primus AW is another solid bag from Lowepro and I highly recommend it to anyone that loves to shoot in the outdoors. The features are well matched for that and the Polar Bears around the world will thank you as Lowepro will donate a portion of the sale of each bag to Polar Bears International. All this and a fuzzy feeling inside.
Pros
- Much improved Tripod carrying system over previous attempts.
- Water bottle holder is functional and secure
- More room than meets the eye in the dual compartments
- Location of compartments provides extra security for your stuff
- Well designed 8 point harness is stable and comfortable
- I’m now a believer in recycled material. It’s no weak sauce material.
Cons
- Zippered side pocket dysfunctional with a Pro Digital SLR
- Hatch pockets use for avalanche gear is suspect
Overall Rating: 8.5 / 10.0
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