Aeronaut 30 questions (15 MBPr, DLBP)

[chubbyunicorn]

Hi guys/gals,

I'm a 25 year old semi-pro photographer from NZ planning my first major overseas trip. I'm having to do a lot of planning bag wise as I will be carrying a messenger style camera bag for the duration of my trip. I'll have a home base where I can store all my clothes and just take enough stuff for a 4-5 day trip.

Anyway, long story short I have narrowed it down to an Aeronaut 30 with a Daylight backpack rolled, flattened, folded inside.

First question, is this possible? It would be a tremendous help to actually see photos of it in various compartments of the A30. I reckon with the lightweight fabric, non-padded back, and seatbelt shoulder straps, it would be fine to do.

I do a lot of photo editing on my 15 inch MacBookPro Retina and will being able to pack it into the A30 is absolutely essential.

My second question is if someone with the same laptop be able to take photos inside the A30 and the DLBP? I carry it in a slim leather sleeve so not much bulk. It's also slightly smaller than the non-Retina 15in MBP if that helps.

Thank you so much for any help.

[Ilkyway]

Hallo and welcome to the forum. The Daylight Backpack fits fouldet in half or rolled up in the main compartment. In the side pockets I would fould it up twice but it should work rolled too if you take care to fold the sides unward not outward.

If there is some time later I will take pictures. Do you have ecpeariance with 30 Liter volume luggage? Your trip sounds big, if it imcludes 4 day mini-trips maybe the A45 would be better?

When you give us more details we would live to help you "pack".

Ilkyway

[K9TB]

I rolled the DLBP and had it in the big side compartment with other stuff. the DLBP is very sqishable. I just heard about storing it where the backpack straps get tucked away, but I haven't tried that yet.

[moriond]

I rolled the DLBP and had it in the big side compartment with other stuff. the DLBP is very sqishable. I just heard about storing it where the backpack straps get tucked away, but I haven't tried that yet.

@K9TB Storing the DLBP in the backpack compartment of the A30 doesn't work as well as using this compartment with the Western Flyer or Tri-Star, or even the larger Aeronaut 45, because the Aeronaut back pockets are hour-glass shaped rather than rectangular. This means you'd have to fold the DLBP before you can insert it into the backpack zippered pocket of the A30, whereas that wouldn't be necessary if you were using the backpack strap pocket of a Western Flyer or Tri-Star -- the whole DLBP would just slide in flat.

HTH. Can someone with an A30 and a 15" Retina MacBook Pro check this configuration? It will probably fit if one side of the bag is unzipped, but I don't know how awkward it will be to get the laptop in and out of the main compartment. I only have 13" MacBook models, and I suspect that if carrying a 15" MacBook laptop inside my luggage were a priority for me, that I'd use my Tri-Star,

moriond

[tpnl]

@chubbyunicorn

See @badger's post below for 15" MBP fit (look at the Observations section just after the second picture):

http://forums.tombihn.com/photos-vid...html#post72220

Also, seeing as a 15" MBP just fits in a A45 middle section, I think it would intrude into the side compartments a bit. But, laptops being fairly thin items, it may only have minimal impact. See the video below for the A45 showing a 15" MBP (about 6 min in).

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0nXibDqW-Gc

Note - the above video is for an A45 - I would suspect the A30 to be an even tighter fit but doable as @badger says.

I do not have an A30 yet so I can only quote what I have seen others post. However, estimating based on the packing cube sizes of the A45 (13.8") and A30 (13.4"), the difference in the length of the middle space is only a bit less than a half inch - probably ok to squeeze something the size of a 15" MBP in given the fit shown in the A45 video.

Hope this helps

Cheers!

[moriond]

Another possible option to consider, if you're willing to consider a backpack bag with much easier access to your 15" Retina MacBook Pro, is to use a Smart Alec. The capacity is 26 liters vs. the A30's 30 liters, but if you get the upper modular pocket (highly recommended) you gain an extra 2.5 liters, while maintaining the wide open structure of the central Aeronaut compartment. This could work well in combination with your messenger bag carried cross-body on your shoulder.

There's a blog post on using packing cubes in the Smart Alec (basically, they recommend using the Western Flyer packing cubes). You can also use the Smart Alec as a Camera Bag as @taminca showed, or, if you want to go minimalist, the Daylight Backpack will fit flattened into the Smart Alec, and hold your 15" Retina MacBook Pro when you're out and about. If you choose this option, I would get the Cache for 15" Retina MacBook Pro, and suspend it from the rail loops of the Smart Alec for easy suspension and pull out, and so the laptop sits against your back when carried. Then, just pull out the padded cache and transfer the laptop in its cache to the bottom tiered pocket of the Daylight Backpack. If you want a bit more room in the cache for a light shell, get the size 4Z cache (which can fit the older 15" MacBooks) instead of the cache for 15" Retina MacBook Pro, as I've heard some forum members say the fit of the current caches seems to run a bit tight.

I was reminded of the Smart Alex option when reading @giulof's 1 week out of town for work thread. He uses an Aeronaut 45, and carries a 15" laptop. In the first iteration he brought along the A45 for general luggage, a Daylight Backpack for light, around town use, and a Smart Alec for work-related purposes. In a later iteration, he made the trip with just a Smart Alec.

Both Daylight Backpack and Smart Alec are well sized for the 15" Retina MacBook. The A30 can handle the 15" laptop, but I think, as @Badger mentioned, only at the expense of digging into the side compartments. it's part of the reason that the DLBP doesn't fit easily into the backpack compartment of the A30 -- both the hourglass shape of the back and the slightly shorter length. I think you can get the laptop inside, it's mostly that it's a little harder to maneuver it into the opening of the A30. I tried putting in a size 4x Brain Cell (earlier model for 15" MacBook Pro than the 4Z; fits easily into the Smart Alec or my Synapse 25) into my A30. This did fit into the bag with one end unzipped, but it was awkward to get in. The laptop in a minimal cache will be easier, but still more awkward to put in compared to a 13" Retinal MacBook Pro, as @Badger indicated.

I could fit my 15” MBP into the A30, but it was a bit of a pain with the other stuff in there. There was ample, ample room for a 13” laptop though

HTH

moriond

[chubbyunicorn]

Thanks for all the great feedback, everyone!

@Ilkyway, Thanks for offering to take photos! It would be a massive help The one main reason I am set on the A30 is because the bulk of my trip will be around Europe from a home base somewhere in the UK. Having had zero experience with transport in that part of the world, the description of the A30 being able to fit in the strictest of carry-on airlines is what appealed to me. Now if this is the case in actual real world use, then it would be a big help. But really I will probably be taking the train to save and because I don't really like planes :<

One thing that I haven't really considered about the A30 is that I'll probably have about 25 litres as usable space since while I am leaving 90% of my gear at home base, I use a Crumpler Haven camera insert (7.8 x 8.6 x 3.9") for my Fuji X100S + Nissin Flash and a few bits and bobs.

To be honest, I really have zero experience packing at all! That's why I will probably invest in some packing cubes (hello slippery slope) but I tend to dress a little bit better than the norm since it helps with getting people to pose for street portraits

@K9TB, that's great news! It's part of the reason I like it since a lot daypacks I looked at online don't look very squishable (Topo Designs etc) and am I right in assuming it won't damage the bag or its parts by having it rolled up?

@moriond, I definitely understand your concern since the A30's entrance way doesn't look like it would work well getting a 15'' laptop in and out but I really just need it to get in and will most likely not be taking it out on the way to my destination. It's more of a 'will it fit?' concern over a 'how easy is it to access my laptop'.

@tpnl, Cheers for the great links. Yeah, I was up all night measuring stuff hoping to get a better idea of how it scales and fits. I'll have a look at those videos!

[Ilkyway]

@ chubbyunicorn: here it comes but I have to say, that these are not my best work. You have to take into account, that the bag is empty. The Daylight Backpack would use up way less space in any position when it has to share the room with other items. My favorite would be rolled up.









It is folded in half in the main compartment, folded twice in the side compartment and rolled up (obviosly) again in the main compartment. The A30 can handle it, no problem.

Two additional thoughts:
1. the Dyneema version of the Daylight Backpack is even more packable (I do not have it, but I have other bags in Cordura and Dyneema).
2. an under-packed A45 fits into European striked sizers. The bag is squishable. I flew from German to Spain in the summer with an A45 and an A30 and tested it though I ended up checking the bags for other reasons.

I do not want to talk you into an A45, if you are a light packer the A30 is great but the A45 can be packed lightly and than fits any carry on sizer and than you have that extra space if need be.

Ilkyway

[Pokilani]

Just to add another option that you've probably already read about... I fold my dyneema DLBP in half and then skip it into the back section with the backpack straps on my A30. Works great!


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

[chubbyunicorn]

@ chubbyunicorn: here it comes but I have to say, that these are not my best work. You have to take into account, that the bag is empty. The Daylight Backpack would use up way less space in any position when it has to share the room with other items. My favorite would be rolled up.

[ATTACH=CONFIG]10252[/ATTACH]

[ATTACH=CONFIG]10253[/ATTACH]

[ATTACH=CONFIG]10254[/ATTACH]

[ATTACH=CONFIG]10255[/ATTACH]

It is folded in half in the main compartment, folded twice in the side compartment and rolled up (obviosly) again in the main compartment. The A30 can handle it, no problem.

Two additional thoughts:
1. the Dyneema version of the Daylight Backpack is even more packable (I do not have it, but I have other bags in Cordura and Dyneema).
2. an under-packed A45 fits into European striked sizers. The bag is squishable. I flew from German to Spain in the summer with an A45 and an A30 and tested it though I ended up checking the bags for other reasons.

I do not want to talk you into an A45, if you are a light packer the A30 is great but the A45 can be packed lightly and than fits any carry on sizer and than you have that extra space if need be.

Ilkyway

Thank you so much! That's great a help I agree with you where the rolled up option seems to work the best. You've got me intrigued on the A45 though. I'm a 5'9'' tall, a̶t̶h̶l̶e̶t̶i̶c̶ heavy-ish so I am thinking the A45 might not look too weird on me as well. I've got to do my research on how strict European airlines actually are going to be in enforcing their limits.

[K9TB]

I did what Ilkyway showed in her third picture. To answer your question, I really don't think this can damage the DLBP. I'm very careful with my bags, and I wasn't worried at all. There's no stress on any one part of the bag. Remember this is the Daylight backpack option. I would never in a million years try to roll up one of my Synapses! The right bag for the right job.

[chubbyunicorn]

Hi folks,

Thanks again for all the input. I think I'll go with the A45 after reading this thread, especially as Ilkyway mentioned that an underpacked A45 should be squishable enough to force down to size cages. I also wear USA sized 12 shoes (13 in some cases) so it will probably be better fit in the larger 'naut.

I also figure since I am absolutely mortified of flying in the first place, most of my trips will be via train and they don't seem to be terribly fussy with sizes.