Peak Design Everyday Sling V2 Long Term review

Peak Design Everyday Sling, which is becoming a hot topic again, thanks to the Amazon mocking discussion. This bag is my second peak design bag, and it was replacing my old Version 1 Sling years ago. I got this bag for about a year now, and it seems a good time to share my long-term review.

This review will not explain every little detail about the bag, while you could find this kind of information all around the web. Instead, will focus on the usage and afterthought about this famous bag.

I had a good experience with the Everyday Sling V1 for years, yet, the major downside of the bag is the strap. My bag is 10L (both V1 and V2), which usually for holding a 5Dmk4, 1 Lens, and other small stuff. On some weekends, I may bring my Mavic 2 Pro with some batteries instead. These kinds of gears are not extremely heavy, and yet not feather-light neither. A good strap is needed to spread the weight to the shoulder evenly, especially for a Sling Bag. The Strap of V1 is not comfortable at all. no matter how good the bag is, I could not use it for a long period without shoulder pain. This is somehow improved in Everyday Sling V2, with new material and design of the padding and strap. I bring along V2 with me in many urban walking/shooting, and my shoulder was saying OK to me, although this is not the most comfortable strap I have ever tried.

For the usage, the V2 is also water-resistant, so I feel safe every rainy day. The bag is also capable to hold all the gears I needed as V1 and able to fill in an iPad 11' if needed. It may not be a good idea to bring it to hiking, while the bag will swing around when I was walking in the uneven terrain. This bag seems to fulfill all my needs. 

Except for one major problem (again). The material!

My Everyday Sling V1 is in Dark Grey, and V2 is in Light Grey. The problem I am going to say will only be showing up after long-term use, and this is the real reason I am writing this review. It may no happen in dark colors, but it is so obvious in my light grey bag, and I am deeply disappointed. In short, my light grey bag turned into an ugly yellow one due to sweating. This sounds crazy and you may wonder if I am a super sweating person? No, I sweat as usual people and none of my countless bags had this problem before. You may also ask if I clean my bag? Yes, I clean my bag once I got back home with a wet towel, and let it dry for a day. I am guessing this a because of the special material Peak Design choosing for the bag. The bag is not using common nylon fabric, and it is like a rough-paper-texture feeling by my hand. I guess the water-resistant layer is under the fabric, and all the water/sweat will absorb into the outer layer without getting inside the bag. The strap, top of the bag, and some of the frequency-touching-area get this problem. They now look like a shirt not washing for a year, and they are dirty yellow-ish. (as you may not see so clearly in my photos attached, but very obvious in my bare eyes.). No matter how hard I tried to clean the problem area, the yellow is just stuck without going away. Tried using water, cleaning-wipe, or even adding detergent to the bag, and the problem still remains.

I have 3 Peak Design Bags, Everyday Sling V1, V2, and Everyday Backpack 20L. There's no obvious color problem for the V1, which is dark in color. My light grey V2, as I said, serious problem. And my Backpack, which is in Navy Blue, seems to also have a little bit of color shift if I look it closely. 

After these 3 bags, and after these years of usage, I guess I may no buy Peak Design Bag anymore. Their bags function OK. but not extremely comfortable in my back and shoulder. Their design looks good, but the color shift problem is countering this advantage. If I want an adventure backpack and a comfortable one, I will choose Shimoda Design. If I want a Sling Bag, the Moment Sling seems a better choice, which I am planning to buy in the future. Please look for my comparison and review, soon.

If you interested in the equipment I used, please check the links below:

- Shimoda Action X30 Backpack ----- https://amzn.to/2SJXdwC

- Shimoda Explore 40 Backpack ----- https://amzn.to/2FkkWk7

- Peak Design Tripod ----- https://amzn.to/2IajlhD

- Peak Design Everyday Backpack Zip ----- https://amzn.to/33IEAQ1

- Canon 5D Mark IV ----- https://amzn.to/2SJXz6q

- Fujifilm X100V ----- https://amzn.to/3kTMLPL

- DJI Mavic 2 Pro ----- https://amzn.to/33IKaC3

- GoPro Max ----- https://amzn.to/3nxqPvs

- Manfrotto PIXI Mini Tripod ----- https://amzn.to/2SECuKI