Think Tank Urban Disguise 30 Question for Current user.

Got a great deal on one of these, used but excellent condition. Have been looking for a one camera bag, deep enough to hold the 80-400, wide angle zoom and camera with 24-120 mounted. This one will do the trick nicely. As with my other Think Tank bags, this one has a rain cover, but it came stuffed in one of the side pockets. Can anyone tell me where it was originally stored in the bag?

I've no experience with this one, but an Amazon picture (it seems to have disappeared from Think Tank's site, suggesting it's discontinued) shows it just sitting in the main compartment. That's how I've received the rain covers on my Airport Acceleration 2.0 and Shape Shifter (although I can fit the latter one in the tripod pocket), unless I'm having a very Friday-based memory failure.

 

Were you expecting there to be somewhere clever to store it, like the LowePro ones that tuck into the outside of the bag and stay attached? Otherwise I can't imagine why you'd want to know.

 

To be honest, I assume every camera bag I've looked at has been pulled apart by someone visiting the shop (which is exactly what I do when checking whether my kit fits in). I'm just grateful if it's got all the bits. Bag manufacturers could be helpful and provide a diagram of the dividers in shipping configuration, at least, but I don't think I've met any that do.

Were you expecting there to be somewhere clever to store it,

Yes, as both of my other Think Tank bags do have that characteristic. Not a big issue, posted the question after I had searched at some length on the net. Nothing obvious as a clue on the bag. On several occasions, far from shelter the rain cover on my Suburban Disguise has saved the day, though the bags themselves are fairly rain resistant. Anyway, I have an idea that will work and be out of the way of equipment if no one has an answer.

Ah, interesting. As I said, the rain covers I've had were just loose in the bags (with velcro, for the Acceleration), I think, so I didn't know they had clever locations. (Maybe I should now look...) I've let mine be drizzled on harmlessly too, but they've also let water in when fully drenched (even when I tried to keep them under an umbrella), so the covers are still useful. Not that they stop water running down your back and into the bag!

I'm looking at my TT UD 30 right now. The original intended storage for the raincover is in the front most pocket inside the main compartment. The blue velcro attaches to the the red loop. As an alternative you can also re-purpose the back slot, which is intended as a sleeve that goes over luggage. Just zip it up and you can store the raincover or gray card or other flat accessory in that slot.

 

BTW, congrats on the bag -- it's my favorite small shoulder bag.

I'm looking at my TT UD 30 right now.

Thanks so much! Here's a laugh - for some unknowable reason That is just where I had stuck it, though I didn't mentally associate the red loop and the blue velcro.

Have several dividers and will be configuring for one camera, I think, with one lens mounted, two in the case. It is much slimmer than my faithful Sub Urban Disguise 30 which will handle an absurd amount of gear. Again, thanks!

I have avoided bags like the "Urban Disguise", and other messenger type bags because the large flap gets in the way when you need to retrieve or replace equipment. I don't care much for Velcro closures either, although ThinkTank has some versions which use magnets. TT made a line of shoulder bags with a reverse-opening top flap. The main zipper overlapped the body of the bag, providing a labyrinth rain seal, and other zippers had rubber covers. I don't see them in the current catalog. TT's spin-off, Mind Shift, targets outdoor activity.

I have avoided bags like the "Urban Disguise", and other messenger type bags because the large flap

Just a small correction - the flap only covers the extra front pocket. The main compartment has a convenient central zip top. All of my Think Tank bags have excellent rain covers that completely enclose the bag if necessary. I got soaked at Bandelier - the camera bag absolutely dry.

For what it's worth, zips worry me far more than most other protection mechanisms - they're basically a small and hopefully blunt metal saw that has a good chance of being run across at least the screen on the back of a camera, if not a hapless lens. (This is why I've always had screen protectors on cameras - which have always picked up scratches - and now I have a camera with a touchscreen I got a velcro wrap to cover it.) On most bags the big external zips are hidden in the corners where they can't touch anything, but zips over internal pockets are annoying - I try not to face screens towards them. A large zip through which you're supposed to pull a camera, as opposed to round the edges of a flap that opens completely out of the way, would worry me - it's trying to push itself closed, pushing the zip into contact with whatever you're taking out. I have a LowePro bag that I believe has a velcro top aperture, though I admit I usually just open the top (and I'm only storing filters in it anyway). It seems to be discontinued, since I can't find it on their site.

 

Designing my own camera bag is another one of those things I'd do with infinite time and money...