SUPER Honest Review of my House of Flynn Backpack- Monterey Photographer

Let’s start at the very beginning. When I was helping Bradley (my now husband and then boyfriend) shoot weddings (we don’t do that anymore but that’s for another day). I needed a camera bag. He recommended a shoulder bag so I could easily open it and have all my lenses ready to go. Here are the problems with that: it killed my shoulder, you’d move and stuff would fall out, I couldn’t put away my camera unless I took it apart. Next, I knew I needed a backpack. Let’s face it they all sucked! None did what I wanted, and the ones that might have worked looked super masculine. I didn’t need anything super girly, but I wasn’t about to pay hundreds of dollars for something ugly. I looked for about a month and decided to throw in the towel and just get something to get me by. I found a $30 camera backpack on Amazon, and at least it was grey. To my surprise I really liked this backpack. I used it until it died, but it did have some things that weren’t ideal. First it couldn’t fit my 15 inch laptop. Which meant, when I traveled I needed to take 2 carry-ons. Also, you had to unzip the whole bag to get anything out. Which meant you had to take it off and set it down. But all-in-all for the price point it was a very good bag.

 

Amazon camera backpack

Once it was on it’s last leg I started to search again, but this time I know about House of Flynn bags. Once I saw their backpack my heart went pitter-patter. It was perfect! It was stylish, came in a ton of colors, had plenty of room for my computer, camera, and lenses. But most importantly it had a top hatch compartment that could fit my whole camera assembled with my 50mm on it. That meant I could put my camera away whole, without having to risk unzipping the rest of the bag, or finding a place to set it down! Are you hearing the angels singing…I am!

So, you’re probably thinking this bag is ALL rainbows and sunshine. I’m gonna give you the skinny. Truth-be-told I love this bag, but! There are some things to look out for because it might not be the right bag for you. If you are worried about weight this bag is a little on the heavier-side. I feel like that is the trade-off for quality, it’s gonna be a little heavier. Also, since it’s large and has more space if you totally fill it up you’re gonna feel like a pack mule. So, if you want a lighter backpack don’t fill it up as much.

Second thing to watch out for is color. I’m a stickler for color. Keep in mind that all devices display color differently, and when you order something on the internet color can be a very subjective thing. The first backpack I ordered was supposed to be this beautiful rose color. It was actually called Roaming Rose. If my soul was a color this is the color it would be. When I got the box I was so excited, but when I opened it I almost cried (I’m an easy cry). This beautiful rose color was a weird purple grey. I just spent all that money on a bag and I hated the color. I contacted them, and they said I could return it but I would have to pay for the shipping back and wouldn’t get refunded for the shipping on the order. I think I ended up eating $30 total, and I was very hesitant to order again, VERY hesitant. But I knew this was the bag I wanted, so I gambled again, but a little smarter this time. This next time I went with a safer color, I got grey. I scoured their Instagram to see what the color would really look like and knew that the bag would probably be a little bit of a warmer grey with a little green in it versus their website, but I made peace with that, lol. When it came in it was the color I was expecting. Moral of the story, if you’re as picky about color as I am don’t rely on the website images. Check out their social media like Instagram, and Facebook groups and look at actual customer images. If you’re not a super picky… cough *particular* person than you’ll definitely be ok.

 

And yes I understand that the left image is on a professional camera and the right is with my phone, but that is really the color it was in person y’all.

In the end I really love my backpack. It’s made really well, has super comfortable straps. I love all the zipper compartments, and it really is everything I need in a camera backpack.

House of Flynn Backpack

Want to know whats in my backpack?!?! Check out the video below!

  1. Caitlin says:

    Has the house of Flynn backpack been discontinued? I have been searching for it and can’t find it anywhere

    • Brenden says:

      I have no idea!! Id recommended checking out their fb group or even emailing them directly and asking. With Covid and everything they could be having a sourcing problem or they might have stopped make them.

  2. Pinzira says:

    I needed to replace the Nikon case that came with one of my Nikon DSLRs. The old Nikon kit bag was getting pretty ragged. I searched quite awhile before I came across the Amazon Basics bag. Seemed almost too cheap (compared to others) for it to be of good quality. I was very pleasantly surprised. Very good construction, excellent padding and the design is almost identical to the original Nikon bag I discarded. You couldn’t dunk it in water but the case seems pretty tight and the top cover extends over the main part of the bag to keep rain out. The internal partitions are easy to move around to fit your gear and the padding is excellent.

  3. Amy says:

    I had a bad experience with them. The quality and customer service were disappointing

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