Wotancraft Canteener Sling 3.5L review- the compact street photographer’s bag

Introduction

By now, it should not be a surprise that I am a fan of the well-crafted bags from Wotancraft, using them over the years and experiencing how well they have held up and added value to my life.

Recently, they debuted an everyday carry utility bag in a never-done-before-by-them design. As expected, I was curious about it, so here brings us to my review of their Canteener EDC Utility Sling (3.5L).

I have also reviewed the Wotancraft Pilot 2L (Leica Singapore exclusive edition) and the Wotancraft Scout camera bag. Click on their names to take you to the respective reviews.

I actually ended up getting both the 3.5L and 2L versions from Drew & Barry, Wotancraft’s authorised distributor in Singapore.

So, what is the Wotancraft Canteener Utility 3.5L?

*for brevity’s sake, I will refer to the Wotancraft EDC Utility Sling bag as the Wotancraft Canteener from here onwards.

Interestingly, the Canteener series (3.5L and 2L) was born out of Wotancraft’s designer, Albert, who needed a simple and practical daily bag to use as a sling. This personal project soon ‘rolled down the slippery slope’ to become a production model.

Taking inspiration from military canteen pouches, Wotancraft followed the requirements for the bag to be sturdy, tear and abrasion-resistant while being multifunctional, and the Wotancraft Canteener’s design soon took shape.

Technicalities

Dimensions: 20.3 x 10.4 x 19.5 cm / 7.99 x 4.09 x 7.67 inch (WxDxH)

Strap: quick release and adjustable from 74.5 ~ 135 cm / 29.3 ~ 53.1 inch

Weight at 240g

The Wotancraft Canteener is made from Wotancraft’s propriety dualcoat water-repellent 500D nylon canvas, ultra-strong bonded nylon with 6,6 threads, Italian cowhide, and YKK zippers.

Design and Performance

To me, any bag I deem to be well-designed must be lightweight and durable, and most of all, it must possess a well-designed storage system that enables me to fulfill my packing habits.

One seldom-mentioned and impressive fact is that Wotancraft included a set of dividers and a padded base for the Wotancraft Canteener. Having the padded base removable means one can fully flat pack the bag for travel, and the divider ensures the most compulsive packer in us can breathe freely.

The Canteener with its removable padded base is a bag one can fully flat-pack into your luggage.

Made from Wotancraft’s specially developed 500D Nylon Dual Coat Fabric, the Wotancraft Canteener is versatile with a tough and water-resistant coating for different usage scenarios.

On this topic, a fun piece of info is that Wotancraft does make full waterproof inserts for their other bags. Note: True waterproof and not the usual weather-resistant ones we see.

Coming back, the front of the Wotancraft Canteener sports two deep pockets with clips to secure one’s items. Small items like keys, camera batteries, or even filters will easily go in here.

The stitching in the front center also allows one to clip the small pouch accessories from Wotancraft.

The Wotancraft Canteener comes with one of the best-in-market YKK zippers at the back for your documents, etc. cetra, and a quick adjust strap-clip that allows you to go from a good 74.5cm to 135cm as needed.

The Wotancraft Canteener has a wide opening, allowing one to easily access (and find) items. If there is adverse weather or one wishes to have some privacy, Wotancraft has well thought of a drawstring top design to keep the contents covered and hidden.

Packing the Wotancraft Canteener was a pleasant surprise, with the 3.5L’s actual capacity way more than my expectations.

Below is a Leica M10-R with a larger Leica Summilux 35mm preASPH along with my wallet, Airpods Pro, water bottle, and a USB-C portable battery all in, and I still had all the space to spare in the back zipped pocket and two front pockets.

On Wotancraft’s site, they do show that they can pack a way larger amount of stuff into the 3.5L Canteener, but as usual, I am not fond of packing my bags to the very brim.

For good measure, I also tried the 2L variant below, and it easily swallowed the Leica SOFORT with ample left for, say, a small water bottle and on.

While the Canteener at 3.5L or 2L will never hold as much as a full-fledged camera bag like the Wotancraft Scout, the Canteener is designed for an everyday carry bag when one goes minimal with camera equipment.

Wotancraft now has a full range of bag capacities and styles to suit everyone’s unique usage needs.

Conclusions

One can say there is no end to the bags one can have. Still, the Wotancraft Canteener surprises me with a well-thought-out design that is easy to handle and pack in a small, inconspicuous size that I can easily bring along for a street photography session or simply when I am keen to go simple with a lens one-camera setup.

Thank you for reading.

Here is a shoutout to check out Drew & Barry, Wotancraft’s authorised distributor in Singapore.

Disclaimers:

1. I photographed all the product photos except 1 here. I believe any reviewer with pride should produce their own product photos. 

2. The Wotancraft Canteener 3.5L and 2L are my personal sets.

3. This review is not sponsored; I write as a passion and hobby, and I appreciate that photography brands are kind enough to respect and work with me.

4. The best way to support me is to share the review, or you can always help support the site by contributing to my fees to WordPress using the PayPal button at the bottom of the page.