Sandmarc Hybrid Sling Bag review – A mobile deployment platform for all your tech & digital photography gear

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REVIEW – Tech heads and digital phototgraphers are gonna REALLY love this one. Sandmarc has a specialty niche in the iPhone photography and accessory market, and the Hybrid Sling Bag is their small-carry solution for organizing all of the photography-related things. It’s also pretty great as a general digital gear and travel bag. I spent a month playing around with it to get into all the details. Let’s learn more. To the review!

What is it?

The Sandmarc Hybrid Sling Bag is a 3-liter-capacity sling made for travel, small tech gear carry, and iPhone photographers.

Tech specs

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9.25″ long by 4″ deep by 6.5″ high
12 oz total weight
3L Capacity
840D Ballistic Nylon & Water Resistant Tarpulin build
YKK Zippers
Aluminum hardware
Shoulder strap adjustable from 42.25″ to 68.25″

 

Design and features

The Sandmarc Hybrid Sling Bag rocks a chunky, utilitarian design that looks tough & ready to rumble. 840 D ballistic nylon is the primary build material, deployed in a black-on-black color scheme broken up a bit with a mix of weave and smooth textures on the exterior. A hint of blue stitching on the front face of the bag, that little juke in the cut of the lower fabric, and the Sandmarc logo patch add just a touch of style.

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The profile screams “bulldog” to me, especially in the walkaround. He’s blocky and well-planted from every angle. 

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The beefy construction details match the bulldog-like look of the bag. 840D ballistic nylon is the main material choice backed with a waterproof lining. There’s a layer of thin but dense padding on every external surface, and an additional tarpulin layer the base that adds more waterproofing and protection from drops and bumps. 

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YKK sealed waterproof zips are also used throughout the build. This little bag fears no weather.

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You’ll find solid metal hardware throughout the bag like we see in these zipper pulls. 

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This space design in this sling is built around three separate compartments, each of which has its own design to optimize organization & it’s own dual-zippered access to get to the goods.

The front compartment would be what I would consider the “quick grab” space. It is roughly 1″ deep with zips that travel about 3/4 down the sides of the bag. This space includes a big zippered pocket on the front face for all the assorted little bits.

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Three drop pockets on the rear face of this space allow for taller items, and you still have the center space here to drop a phone or sunglasses.

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The middle zips open all the way down to the base of the bag so that you can fully open this section clamshell-style to get to all the corners. This section can actually lay flat like a briefcase. 

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The rear face here features a a set of elastic loops at the top of the panel and a trio of shorter elastic drop pockets on the bottom There’s also a horizontal elastic loop here you could use for a pen.

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The front face of this chamber has three identically sized padded packets with velcro closures that you could use for chunkier small items like camera lenses. There’s also a full horizontal pocket for pens or tools above these padded pockets, and a cleverly disguised airtag pocket tucked up the corner.

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I’m showing a wide Sharpie in the photo above for size reference, but that horizontal pocket could also fit a slim multitool or similar sized items. Below are a couple of close-up shots of the padded pockets. If you’re a photographer you’ll immediately recognize that these pockets and the assorted elastic straps/drop pockets throughout the bag are tailor-made for photography accessories. Sandmark is a bit of a specialist in the area of making iPhone lenses, filters and accessories for photographers. 

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I’m actually using these spaces for my EDC loadout here which usually includes charging cables, a small Apple power brick, a pocketknife, my earbud, pens, etc. I dropped my earbuds and power brick into those padded pockets for this journey.

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The final space on the rear of the bag is accessed by a dual zip that runs about an inch down the sides of the bag. This is a wide open pocket that I see as your secure space for a small tablet, an e-reader, a notebook, a wallet, or travel documents.

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Accounting for the external padding & whatnot, you’ve got a safe space for items up to 5″ by 8″ and maybe a bit more depending on the device dimensions. 

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The shoulder straps are anchored below those zips on the rear compartment of the bag and use metal for the buckles and clips. I quite like the hardware here. It’s elegant but very durable. The clips swivel 360 degrees to prevent the shoulder strap fro getting tangled up.

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The strap itself is adjustable from 42.25″ to a whopping 68.25″ to fit just about every body type and carry style. A simple, firmly padded shoulder pad is built into the strap in a fixed position at the midpoint of the strap itself. Simple slider buckles on each side provide adjustment for your fit.

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You can also remove the shoulder strap completely and use this bag as a tech organizer in your backpack or suitcase.

Performance

The Sandmarc Hybrid Sling Bag truly shines as a mobile platform for your small technology gear, especially if you’re an iPhone photographer with all the accessories. Your use cases outside of that will vary depending on what you’re carrying on a regular basis.

One of my favorite features about this bag is the organization & access options while you’re on the move. We’re in the time of winter festivals and shopping, and this bag has been making the rounds with me on daytrips. Because all the spaces can be accessed through double zips on the top of the bag, there are no fumbling flaps or buckles to get to my stuff. I love that I can pop into that front compartment to quickly change my glasses for sunglasses, for example…  

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… but then I can release that center organizer to get to all the other things without taking the bag off. All the stuff in this space has closures or elastic to keep it from falling out when doing these maneuvers in a crowd. 

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The utility here will be very dependent on your loadout, however. If you have lots of little bits and baubles there is a place for everything, but there’s no space for bigger items like a water bottle that you might want for daytripping. I was able to stuff a knit skullcap and a pair of gloves into this center space with the sub-pockets emptied on a recent excursion, but that’s the most I will get.

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It’s a similar challenge with the front compartment. You can get a slimmer set of sunglasses in there in a thin case, but a thicker padded case (or hard case) won’t fit.

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I do love the extra utility as a tech organizer, particularly for plane trips. You can pop your earbuds, boarding passes, phone, etc. all in this bag and use it as your personal item when you don’t need a bigger bag. I do wish it had a secondary carry handle of some sort, though. The big chunky design does not work well for one-handed grabbing unless you grab the strap. 

Speaking of straps, big props for a generous shoulder strap length on this bag! You can wear it over the shoulder, across your chest, at your hip, or in messenger style with plenty of room for adjustments. The strap pad is fixed in position, however, so you may need to play around with the lengths on either side to get positioned on your body where you want it.

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I can attest to the durability of this bag in my brief experience with it so far. We’ve seen rain, assorted scuffing and scraping, spilled beverages, and even a drop or two during daytrips with nary a scratch to be had to either the bag or my stuff. 

What I like about Sandmarc Hybrid Sling Bag

  • Tank-like build is great for travel & outdoor adventures
  • Multiple zones with separate access allow for compartmentalized organization
  • Nice combination of spaces and pockets make for flexible use cases
  • Very easy to get in and out of on the move

What needs to be improved?

  • The durable build makes for a chunky bag, which may or may not fit your intended use
  • Made for organizing a lot of smaller things, which may not work for everyone
  • Would love to see a secondary grab handle in future designs

Final thoughts

There’s a lot to like in the Sandmarc Hybrid Sling Bag if it fits your style of carry. The multi-chambered design is ideal for planned organization, and it’s an easy bag to live with as a daily companion. Just keep in mind that it is a chunky beast that really favors a tech- and accessory-heavy daily carry with some features specifically tuned for iPhone photographers and their gear. 

Price: $79.99
Where to buy: Buy it at the Sandmarc web site!
Source: The sample of this product was provided for free by Sandmarc. Sandmarc did not have a final say on the review and did not preview the review before it was published.

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