When Kelly Moore from Louisiana, USA couldn’t find a camera bag that was equal parts beauty and practicality, she did what any frustrated consumer would do and decided to create her own. Thus, the Kelly Moore Bag collection was born. The Pilot Backpack is named in honour of Kelly’s husband, so don’t be fooled into thinking it is some specially designed airline bag. That’s not to say you can’t take it on a plane, but you might prefer something with more padding or a hard shell.

Straight off the bat, this bag is a stunner - no question of that. The combination of the sand coloured canvas body, genuine distressed brown leather trim and antiqued brass details create a cool urban design that doesn’t draw attention to itself as a camera bag. Diving straight inside to the main compartment, there is a large removeable padded basket with five padded, removable, adjustable Velcro dividers and one large divider that acts as a cover.

I like that the entire basket can be removed - it makes it easy to pack, and allows you to take out the basket to access your gear whilst keeping it in padded sections. This also allows you to use the Pilot as a regular bag with a much slimmer profile. The bag can hold up to a 10" lens, camera body, flash, phone, batteries and other accessories and up to a 15" laptop or an iPad in the laptop sleeve. All the exterior walls & bottom of the bag are padded for extra protection and there are bank card & CF card slots inside the large front pocket.

The main compartment is closed with a draw string and the flap secures with two magnet clasps. I am not a fan of this, as it is far too easy for someone to slip a hand in without you noticing. I would rather see a zip or anything more secure in place of the draw string. When the Pilot is fully packed, the lightly padded shoulder straps can become uncomfortable - they are quite slim, and with no hip or sternum straps providing extra support all the pressure is on your shoulders. One last thing to mention is, due to the heavy canvas, it gets hot on your back if you are wearing it for a long time, but even if the sweat patch on your top doesn’t look very stylish, the Pilot is still rocking it. RRP $299

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4 out of 5

Pros

Unisex gorgeous design

Removeable padded basket

Five adjustable, removable, padded dividers and padded lid

Padded laptop divider and padded exterior walls

Free standing

Cons

Low security magnet and drawstring closure

Uncomfortable shoulder straps (if the bag is heavy)

Hot

Expensive