Why do most gadget bags open the wrong way ?

[semi-ambivalent]

I have A Domke F2 and the Domke US postal Service shoulder pad, and has never slipped off my shoulder.

You know, I tried one of those with my first bag and didn't like it. Can't now remember why. Glad to hear it works well for you; perhaps it's time to try one again.

[r-brian]

My Galen Rowell bags open from the body side out. Galen helped develop them and I guess hanging from the side of a mountain by one hand, he wanted a bag he could get into. RIP Galen.

[NB23]

Haha!

I once carried my Domke F2 "backwards" for a day just to see if it was any better. It certainly made access easier but I rationalized that if I fell or the bag was stripped off my shoulder the contents would spill out easier than if even an unclipped cover was covering it. But one day does not a valid test make; I use it in the usual fashion and swear occasionally. I'm more concerned about the mystical affinity my camera straps have for the handle of the parking brake and seat adjustment levers in just about any car I've even owned.

s-a

[BrianShaw]

The main compartment is zippered on the top down the middle, so you don't have to lift the flap to get to your lenses.

Now that's the right idea for a bag that can be worked out of while still on the shoulder!

[Sirius Glass]

I will only buy camera bags that are top loading backpacks. I will not even waste my time to look at the popular dump my camera on the ground style backpack.

[MattKing]

Urban Disguise bags are easy to work out of while hanging on your shoulder. The main compartment is zippered on the top down the middle, so you don't have to lift the flap to get to your lenses. I have the UD50 and UD30.

I have an old camera bag that I picked up used from a thrift store. Instead of one single zipper down the middle, it has a 2 inch wide flap with zippers on each side. The zippers are connected with a single tye, so one just pulls the tye, and both zip or unzip.

It works great for an OM body, but medium format or 35mm with built in winder bodies are wider/deeper than is optimum for the compartments under the zippered flap.

I have an athletic/gym bags with the same sort of closure and better room inside, but it lacks the dividers and padding I want.

And of course, as I am left handed, the double zipper zips in the wrong direction .

[tom_micklin]

I don't know if it's just me but I've often wondered why shoulder carried gadget bags (of which I have a few) have lids that have the hinge on the side that's next to your body when it's on your shoulder which means that you have to hold the lid open with the hand on the opposite side of your body to get to the contents with the hand on the same side when it would be far more user friendly to have the lid hinged on the opposite side to the body so when open it would stay open and give much easier access to the contents with just the one hand.

I've used f64 bags for years for exactly that reason. They open on the body side and access is very easy. I like them especially for large format. Getting at film holders, etc.

Tom

[Sirius Glass]

Years ago, I had one shoulder camera bag that opened the way the OP described and the top served as a stable level tray. I could never find another one like that.

[LarryP]

Benji I have the same problem, must be those right handed bags we're having to use. On an unrelated note being a lefty has at least one advantage , if you're not keen on loaning something just tell them it's left-handed .Most people then look confused and decide they don't really want to borrow it. I usually wear the bag "backwards" if I'll be in and out of it frequently.

[MFstooges]

I don't know if it's just me but I've often wondered why shoulder carried gadget bags (of which I have a few) have lids that have the hinge on the side that's next to your body when it's on your shoulder which means that you have to hold the lid open with the hand on the opposite side of your body to get to the contents with the hand on the same side when it would be far more user friendly to have the lid hinged on the opposite side to the body so when open it would stay open and give much easier access to the contents with just the one hand.

Most of these bags have compartment on the top flap for thin stuffs like filters etc. When carried reversed the top can open more than 180 degree. I found out the hard way when forgetting to zip this compartment, I opened the top an it spilled couple stuffs down the cliff.