I have been looking for a new camera bag for my DSLR Canon 40D for some time. I checked out Lifespike for some suggestions on what to look out for in a camera bag and even seriously considered Chris’s recommendation of Think Tank Photo Urban Disguise 30. I even posted a personal question to Sacha as well and he mentioned that besides Think Tank, I could also consider Lowepro or Crumpler which have pretty decent Camera bags as well.

The minute Sacha mentioned Crumpler, I was reminded of my first 1st Crumpler carrier, which was a gift to me some 4 years back, from someone near and dear to me. I still remember that when it was given to me, it even had a small box of complementary Crumpler matchsticks, complete with the Crumpler logo on the box. Needless to say, the carrier is still in pretty good shape even after all these years and its still one of my faithful must-have items in my bag till this day.

After much deliberation, here is a breakdown of why I ended up choosing the Crumpler "5 Million Dollar Home" for my Canon 40D baby cam :-

Size
I am very particular about the size of my bag as I am carrying a Canon 40D, which is not exactly the smallest of cameras, even if it is one of the best around. I am a novice photographer, so I don’t have any additional lens for now, just my kit lens. And the only thing that I am really carrying around besides my camera is extra cards and battery. So I  really need for now is something that is compact and versatile with some room for expansion.

Material / Bag Structure
The durable canvas material makes this a very hardy bag and the many pockets that the bag has, make it easy for me to stash away my battery, card, manual, etc. The bag also has an adjustable divider so that means I can adjust the divider to accommodate that 1 or 2 additional lens when I do decide to take the plunge.

Color
Ok, ok, the truth ? What really sold me on the bag from the moment I entered the store, is the color of the bag. The Blue… Oh My Gosh... it is such a perfect pleasing shade of blue with slight orange trimmings! I know, its such a female thing, to be attracted to a product because of its style and color, but seriously…the person who came up with that color is an absolute genius.  But then again, colors and design has always been the selling point of Crumpler, right ? So I am living proof that Crumpler's unique design and color does matter !!

Price
Everyone whom I have told that I got a Crumpler bag, their standard reply is "Oooo, pricy bag !" Its guess it is kinda pricey (at SGD$100) for a bag of that size, but then again this is the bag which I felt was the perfect size for my needs and even wants, so I am really happy with this.

Some History on the Brand :-
Crumpler was founded in Melbourne in 1995 by Dave Roper and Will Miller, ex bike couriers and founders of Minuteman Messengers, a bicycle messenger business), and sculptor/ furniture maker/bike courier Stuart Crumpler. At that time, there were very few bags designed for bicycle riders and even then they were not very appealing and clunky. As such, the 2 founders wanted some bags for the their riders that were durable and easy to access. They had originally approached some other bag designers but that did not work out as they were either slow or inefficient in the delivery of the end products.

Finally, they hooked up with Stuart who was a sculpter and furniture maker. Seeing as Stuart had such a unique last name, Crumpler, they decided to use that as the brand name as well. The orange canvas bag with big reflective logos was one of the first courier bags designed by Stuart in his kitchen in East Kew, Melbourne in 1993. This pattern was later refined into Crumpler’s best selling “Seedy Three” style bag.

To me, what makes Crumpler stand out is their logo. The Crumpler logo is a stick figure, which was originally used by Stuart Crumpler on the furniture he designed before the company was founded. In fact, rumour has it that the logo is even on some of the furnitures from his old school ! So if you happen to have any of the original PVC orange bags or furnitures designed by Stuart with the stick logo, you might be sitting on gold mine now as they are highly sought by collectors.

From the beginning the bags were designed for bike messengers, in particular those working for Roper and Miller's bike courier company, Minuteman. As the bags seen around the city were durable and colorful, there was soon commercial demand and the range grew to include more options in colors and sizes. The company then started producing colorful laptop computer and camera bags. The colorful bags were both unique and highly influential in times when the dull black technical style bags prevailed. In fact, the appeal of the bright colors of the bag prompted the company to offer, and recently reintroduce, an artisan based customization service.

Like many businesses, Crumpler aims to be innovative as well. It pioneered what is now referred to as 'viral marketing', initially spray painting its memorable logo on bicycle paths in the city, has made its 'Beer for Bags' weeks a regular event.

No wonder it has been said that “Crumpler can’t be hyped and people know they’re good bags once they’ve got one – and then they tell their friends – there’s nothing else like this Crumpler bag thingy, you should get one – or you’re really just bagging yourself out.”

In an effort to go global, Crumpler has awarded distribution rights to places outside of Australia. So your Crumpler bags should be readily available around the world. If you happen to be around in Singapore, Crumpler Stores can be found at Wheelock Place,  Paragon and Raffles City Shopping Center.

The only one thing that is seriously begging for improvement is their website. Crumpler web sites can be cryptic and difficult to navigate; disabled users may find them almost impossible to use. Vincent Flanders' Web Pages that Suck listed it as the second-worst web site of 2006.

Summary
In summary, the bag is awesome if you don’t carry a lot of equipment. It would fit a DSLR with kit lens and 1 or 2 more additional lens. It does not have a shoulder pad but the shoulder strap at the bag is angled so i think that’s what makes it more comfortable even without the shoulder pad. You can also even take the shoulder strap out and use the little holder on top of the bag. 

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