If you’re a “serious” photographer, you’ll probably pick up lenses like a gun dog picks up ticks. And you’ll likely find yourself taking them everywhere you go, too. Which is where camera bags come in. Lenses — and here my “tick” simile breaks down — are fragile things, easily put out of action by vibration, dust, or moisture.

So your camera bag is your (and your lenses’) first line of defense. To be honest, I’ve never had one I was entirely happy with. But TNO Contributing Photographer Pat McKay may now have found The Answer. Let’s let him tell the story:

I needed a good bag to carry [a new] lens around and settled on the Glass Taxi. It's proven to be a great camera bag. (I'm a big fan of Think Tank products. I own three of their bags.)

There are a lot of things to like about the Glass Taxi. First of all, it can be configured in any number of different ways depending upon what you want to bring with you. Second, it's very comfortable to wear even if you carry a lot of weight. And third, it doesn't scream camera bag when you're walking around or on your bike. It looks more like a daypack or hydration pack.

Currently I have the bag configured to carry the DSLR and the new telephoto with hood attached, along with several other zoom and prime lenses, as well as a flash. The bag handles all this with aplomb.

Pat’s glowing endorsement doesn’t leave much room for doubt, does it? But let’s take a closer look at some of the fine points:

The bike is Pat’s Long Haul Trucker, and he occasionally wears the Glass Taxi as a backpack on short rides. Mostly, though, he carries it when afoot in the field. Not that it wouldn’t look good on the boulevard, too. Check this out:

Of course, a pretty face isn’t everything. A backpack is only as good as its harness, after all. And here, too, the Glass Taxi comes up trumps:

Nor do the appointments disappoint:

The padded partitions can be reconfigured to accommodate just about any lens inventory, and there’s also a handy mesh pocket inside the flap to hold those essential bits and bobs that would otherwise get lost in the dark corners.

Bottom line? The Glass Taxi is ready and willing to take you (and your camera kit) almost anywhere you’d want to go, swiftly and with style. Thanks for the heads-up, Pat!

Further Reading

• The Inquiring Eye, a collection of photography articles from TNO, including …
• “Shouldering the Load: A Rugged Camera Bag That Won’t Break the Bank.”
   
• Backcountry Photography, a collection of Tamia’s photo articles for Paddling.net.

Questions? Comments? Just click here!

The arrival of spring is often heralded by icy rains and gale-force winds, but every now and then there’s a break in the weather, when benign breezes and warm — but not hot — temperatures are the norm. And that’s just how it was when I shot this photo. Carpe diem!

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I don’t like throwing things away. But much of what I buy today isn’t intended to handed down. It’s made to be thrown out. Take my eight-inch GSI Outdoors nonstick skillet. Don’t get me wrong. It’s not bad. It does what it says on the tin. I need to use very little oil when frying. And it’s also both lightweight and compact, as well as being deep enough to be really handy. Plus the folding handle makes it easy to pack. In short, it’s perfect for bicycle tours and amphibious jaunts, where weight bulks large and bulk weighs heavily.

But… It’s not cast iron. Sooner or later the coating will start to peel off, and then I’ll have no choice but to toss it away. Still, I’d like to postpone that inevitable day for as long as I can. Only rubber or soft wood spatulas touch the nonstick surface when cooking, and I’m careful to use a very light touch when cleaning up. I’m careful when I pack the skillet, too.

Yet there’s one source of wear I can’t avoid. When the handle’s folded for packing, the end chafes against the plastic coating:

And to make matters worse, the hinge is a bit wobbly, allowing the handle to pendulum back and forth when not locked in the extended position. In time, these gentle nudges will take their toll. So I started looking around for a suitable bumper to protect the skillet’s nonstick coating, and I found one in a kitchen drawer: the synthetic cork from a bottle of Chateau Marshalsea. After that chance discovery, it was the work of only a moment to secure the cork to the handle with an elegant twist of a rubber band.

And here’s the finished product:

OK. It ain’t elegant. Not a bit. But it works. The cork is just soft enough to blunt the handle’s impact on the skillet’s plastic coating, yet still firm enough not to deform excessively. Simple and good, in other words. And cheap. ‘Nuff said? I think so.

Further Reading

• “The Portable Pantry: Is This the End of the Iron Age?“

Questions? Comments? Just click here!