Wotancraft Pilot Leather Travel Camera Bag 3.5L Upgraded Review

Meticulous and exceptional: those are two words that come to mind when I see Wotancraft mentioned.

Having previously reviewed the original Pilot Travel Camera Bag, I’m now excited to share my thoughts on the updated leather version. How does it compare to the original, and is it worth the difference in price?

Let’s take a deeper look!

What is the Wotancraft Pilot Leather Travel Camera Bag?

The Pilot Leather Travel Camera Bag is available in three sizes. In this review, we’ll look at the middle size of the three, the 3.5L.

This bag was designed for those who value both style and functionality, appreciate high-quality Italian leather, and want something truly special.

It was created with photographers in mind, yet it’s perfectly suited for both travel and daily use.

Currently available in a classic, beautifully opulent black, the Pilot Leather Travel Camera Bag is a discreet choice that still makes quite a statement.

Equipped with a Fidlock magnetic buckle, quick-adjusting shoulder strap (with padding and grip), and an internal divider with a lid, it’s ready to go when you are and readily adaptable to what you carry.

Wotancraft Pilot Leather Travel Camera Bag Specs

The 3.5L Pilot looks great and is sized well to be neither cumbersome nor too small, yet still capable of fitting popular gear.

Design and Build Quality

Blending form and function, the Pilot Leather Travel Camera Bag 3.5L Upgraded opens up wide and sits rather beautifully when secured.

Wotancraft embraces a vintage military aesthetic throughout their lineup, while also maintaining a strong level of functionality, as one would expect from versatile products.

Crafted from high-quality vegetable-tanned Italian cowhide leather, the Pilot Leather Travel Camera bag is designed to elegantly fade and patina over time, revealing the story of its time with you on its surface.

In addition to the beautiful outer materials, the Pilot Leather also features ultra-strength bonded Nylon 6,6 thread to keep it together, and a relatively sturdy structure through inclusion of high-density EVA foam padding.

This not only helps protect your equipment but also facilitates ease of function by maintaining its shape.

It’s boxy, yet slender, ensuring it’s always accessible and easy to retrieve or stow equipment, all without excessively protruding from your body or getting in the way.

Multiple points of functional style adorn the Wotancraft Pilot, from high-quality YKK zippers and leather grab points to the padded shoulder strap.

In keeping with the functional theme, you’ll find an adjustable shoulder strap with neoprene scuba fabric shoulder padding, a small paracord attachment point, and smooth YKK water-resistant zippers on the extra pockets.

Unfortunately, as is the case with leather, it’s not waterproof. While the bags can get wet and drops may bead off, you should wipe away any water to limit soaking and absorption.

Storage Capacity, Compartments & Organization

Taller rather than longer, the Pilot Leather 3.5L retains vertical height to allow stacking of gear or loading a longer lens downwards.

Messenger bags are generally simple in style, and thankfully, there are additional pockets on the Wotancraft Pilot Leather Travel Camera Bags to help with compartmentalisation.

On the 3.5L Pilot Leather Upgraded, you’ll find one front zipper pocket and one back zipper pocket. The lid covers the front pocket, rendering it inaccessible without releasing the Fidlock clasp and making it the more secure of the two zipper pockets.

The back zipper pocket is the easiest access point, but bear in mind it’s also the body contact point, so pointy or bulky objects may push between the bag and your body, also causing the leather to mark further at that point.

Thanks to the boxy nature of the Pilot Leather Travel Camera Bag, the capacity available in the range can be easily utilised and maximised. It won’t sag or obscurely change shape with the contents.

The 3.5L Pilot Leather has two external zipper pockets and comes with one lid divider to help organise and stack items inside (as the drone example shows).

My 3.5L Pilot Leather easily fits a Sony A7 IV with a Tamron 28-75mm f/2.8 lens attached (lens hood reversed), both sideways and vertically.

The Mini Pouch is great for storing spare memory cards and/or a spare battery.

The internal compartment is taller than I expected, and as such, holds more gear stacked than I initially thought. As such, it turns out it’s also great for a DJI Mini 3 Pro bag, even including the multi-charger if you stack the items using the included lid divider.

In addition to the standard set of pockets, Wotancraft offers a wide range of additional internal modules you can purchase and equip to the Pilot range of bags (original, backpack, and leather versions included).

The various internal modules are secured by Velcro and can help organise memory cards, cables, coins, and more.

Protection and Security Features

This Fidlock clip had me stumped at the beginning: I couldn’t remember how to use it from the earlier Pilot bags! But once figured out, it’s a great solution to keep sneaky hands from accessing your items on the go.

The shell of the Wotancraft Pilot Leather Travel Camera Bag contains high-density EVA foam padding for both structure and protection. In addition to the safety of your gear, access to the main compartment and front pocket is protected by the Fidlock clasp.

Once you figure out how to release it, it becomes easy. But I’ll admit it took me a bit of fiddling around to get it to open the first few times (lives up to the name)!

So, without a doubt, anybody trying to access the bag while you’re wearing it—without knowing how to open a Fidlock clasp— shouldn’t be able to without you noticing.

Accessibility and Ease of Use

The wide opening top lid and the boxy shape of the Pilot Leather ensure easy access at all times. The stylish leather pull releases the clasp to adjust the length of the shoulder strap.

Once you’ve figured out how to release the Fidlock clasp, the lid will open up nice and wide to give you clear and unhindered access to your gear.

The lid has weight of its own, so will drop down and cover your items should you not want to clasp it.

The YKK zippers also are rather easy to find and run along the track quite smoothly—thus is the reputation of YKK. The front and back pockets aren’t excessively tight and will hold most smaller items with ease. The front pocket is only accessible once the lid is open.

A simple tug of the shoulder strap will release the clasp, allowing you to adjust the length with ease.

The padding can also be easily slid along the shoulder strap to place it in a comfortable spot. It can be removed by releasing two buttons on the padding itself.

Comfort and Portability

Comfortable and removable shoulder padding, deep tall boxy shape, and soft padding under the leather keeps the Pilot Leather comfortable and easy to use.

Wotancraft ensured that a decent set of padding was included on the shoulder strap through the use of neoprene scuba fabric.

It’s soft and grippy, keeping the padding in place while you go about your adventure. It’s also removable should you prefer just the strap itself, for whatever your reasons may be.

Also, the whole shoulder strap is detachable, should you wish to use the bag with your own, or without one at all. It’s easy to grab and go with the handle on the top side of the bag.

The rigidity of the structure means it’ll maintain its shape as you pack it, while being soft enough to slim down the profile should you need to.

The soft nature of the leather ensures further comfort while the bag rests upon your body, and the internal structure keeps the bag relatively sturdy.

Thankfully, the Pilot Leather Travel Camera Bag is not harsh or rigid by any means, nor uncomfortable to wear for long periods of time.

Versatility and Travel-Friendliness

Relatively lightweight for a leather messenger bag, the Pilot Leather is built tough with stylish, durable materials, ensuring it’s travel-ready for years to come.

Wotancraft seems to take pride in developing versatile carry solutions for your gear, and making them travel-friendly is also part of that. It’s also in the name of the bags if you hadn’t noticed.

The Pilot Leather Travel Camera Bag is a versatile bag, designed for travel, ready for everyday carry, and optimised for camera gear.

The additional modules may help you spec up the bag for travel, but the non-permanent nature of them ensures they can be removed for everyday purposes.

Remove the interior dividers and drop in your lunch containers for work, or your books and stationery for studies. Then mix it all together for a weekend adventure outdoors!

Being relatively lightweight (they’re not the lightest messenger bags on the market, but good quality leather never is), they won’t eat into your carry-on capacity too much, nor weigh down your shoulders too badly (though that’s generally dependent on your camera equipment).

Alternatives to the Wotancraft Pilot Leather Travel Camera Bag

Leather is always an excellent choice, but is the additional cost something you can personally justify?

If you’re very interested in Wotancraft’s ability to create high-quality products, but the leather part of “Pilot Leather Travel Camera Bag” is something you’re not yet able to justify, that’s fair enough. We all have our preferences and varying levels of justification for our purchases.

As one would expect, the original (updated) Pilots are cheaper than the leather option. They’re the functional and utilitarian option, rather than the luxury high-end version.

These provide you with an entry into Wotancraft ownership, along with all the benefits of their ecosystem of additional external modules, at a lower cost.

In comparison to the Pilot Leather, they’re slightly lighter in weight (~100-200g / 0.2-0.4lbs depending on size) while maintaining the same high level of versatility and durability in regards to function, weather and wear. They’re not waterproof, so you’ll still need to wipe away remaining water to limit risk of absorption.

The Pilot Leather also differs from the original Pilot thanks to its more luxurious external materials and minimalistic design. The Leather proudly features Italian Cowhide Leather and eliminates the straps that wrap around the body of each Pilot bag.

The Wotancraft Pilot Leather Travel Camera bag is designed to evoke a higher-end, stylish, and refined aesthetic, rather than a utilitarian one.

Price and Value for Money

Suitable for work, adventure, and play: the Pilot Leather Travel Camera Bag is as versatile as it is stylish.

Leather goods usually come with quite a price tag, but are also often designed to last a lifetime. So, if you know you’re getting high-quality workmanship, they’re usually a safe bet.

When it comes to Wotancraft, the company has years of proven quality workmanship behind it—specialising in leather goods for the last 16 years since the release of their Ryker bag.

It’s rare to find a second-hand Wotancraft product online; they’re usually a “keep for life” product.

So, if you see value in leather products, you’ll likely see value in the Pilot Leather Travel Camera Bag. It’s a beautiful combination of form and function with incredible attention to detail and craftsmanship, and it retails for around US$259.

Leather messenger bags for the office or everyday use come at a range of price points—and often, the higher the brand profile, the steeper the price tag. While I can’t speak for all of them, I can say this: with Wotancraft, the quality is certainly there.

But should anything seem amiss, they are backed by a 3-year repair warranty.

In saying all of this, though, if you’re feeling a little more money conscious, the original Cordura Waxed Nylon version of the Pilot Travel Camera Bag is still a very safe choice (with a 3-year warranty too).

FAQs

The Leather Mini Pouch is handy for coffee change, a spare battery, memory cards, keys, earbuds, or any other number of various small EDC items you may have.

What if the Pilot gets wet?

It’s OK if you’re caught in the rain, but be sure to dry and remove as much of the water from the bag as possible to help reduce the chance of absorption into the leather.

Will the bag show marks through usage?

Yes, the vegetable-tanned leather will slowly patina over time through normal use. This is a characteristic of the leather finish.

Can I use Wotancraft’s modules with the Pilot Leather Travel Camera Bag?

The Mini Pouch integrates through a simple clip on the side of the bag. The internal modules attach using Velcro within the main compartment. The external add-on modules I don’t believe are compatible, as they attach to the straps seen on the original Pilot. Unless you’re creative and figure out how to attach them to the shoulder strap.

Wotancraft Pilot Leather Travel Camera Bag 3.5L Upgraded Review | Conclusion

Elegantly blurring the lines between form and function, Wotancraft has done it again with the Pilot Leather Travel Camera Bags.

Wotancraft has done it again; they’ve reimagined greatness and improved upon it. The Pilot Leather Travel Camera Bag 3.5L Upgraded is a beautiful enhancement of what I already found to be a great bag.

It suits my city work lifestyle while being a great carry solution for light weekend duties and adventures, fitting my camera nicely and keeping it secure while I go about everything else.

I really enjoy using it; it really does look and feel great to carry. For me, the leather option was worth the upgrade.

Highly Recommended

Wotancraft Pilot Leather 3.5L Upgraded

Quick-access camera bag that’s exquisitely crafted from Italian leather, making it stylish, durable, and comfortable to carry.

Check Current Price