K&F CONCEPT Nature Wander 11 – A Terrific Bag For Daytrips and More
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Quick LookThere is no such thing as a perfect camera backpack, or at least that’s the takeaway from looking at my closet full of camera bags. After decades of product reviews, I have a lot of camera bags. Bags are one of the products that companies don’t want back, as there’s not a lot that can be done with a banged-up, well-tested bag. The K&F CONCEPT Nature Wander 11 is an impressively good backpack from a company better known for its filters and tripods.
20-liter camera backpack designed for photographers who need flexible storage, comfortable carry, and room for a laptop. Its 180-degree rear opening and customizable padded dividers let you configure the interior for your gear, while expandable compartments adapt to different shooting scenarios. With dedicated spaces for batteries, memory cards, and a tripod, plus a padded sleeve for laptops up to 15.6 inches, it’s built for photographers who travel light but still need serious organization.
- Excellent value for the features offered
- Flexible internal organization with removable dividers
- Comfortable ergonomic design for all-day wear
- Fits laptop, camera gear, and tripod simultaneously
- Water resistance requires a rain cover in heavy conditions
- 20L capacity limits larger gear collections
Quick Look
The K&F CONCEPT Nature Wander 11 is a well-designed day pack for photographers and videographers, that is comfortable enough to wear all day, and spacious enough for clothes for a few-day trip.
It’s capable of holding up to a 15.6″ laptop, and is made of water-resistant fabric with reinforced stitching and zippers. The removable dividers allow you to carry a body and several lenses, though you’re not going to be able to fit a long telephoto in the main compartment. You can, however, merge the top and bottom sections to hold more gear.
The K&F Concept Nature Wander 11 – One of my new Favorite Bags
There isn’t a perfect camera backpack, but there are camera bags that are perfect for different types of shoots. I’ve got a few large packs for multi-day shoots, some “everything but the kitchen sink” bags, bags for hiking, laptop bags with just a bit of space for camera gear, and so on.
While it’s not a perfect bag, the Nature Wander 11 has impressed me with its versatility. I have wandered with this bag, though less wandering through nature and more traversing urban landscapes.
K&F Concept is most known for its filters, and for camera accessories like the RGB light we reviewed.
Most recently, I took this bag to Las Vegas when I was covering the Consumer Electronics Show (CES) and had it on my back from eight in the morning until five or six in the afternoon. There was a lot of wandering the halls, and I walked between most of the venues, which often took thirty to forty minutes. Even with a fully loaded pack, it didn’t feel overly heavy.
In its most compact form, the Nature Wander 11 has a 20-liter capacity, with most of the space dedicated to the main compartment, which can be set up with or without the camera inserts. The second storage area is reached via the roll-top, a large opening that rolls closed when filled.
Both of these sections can be expanded to carry more gear. In the case of the main storage compartment, unzipping the sides allows the bag to expand. The top can be stuffed full of gear all the way to the top and then cinched up so the contents don’t fall out. Together, the bottom and top compartments can expand by six liters, adding more than a quarter of the capacity that’s afforded by the larger 20-liter bag.
There’s a tripod holder, a zippered side-entry pouch for access to camera gear without having to unzip the rear of the bag. On the other side of the access pouch, there’s a stretchy holder for a water bottle. The Nature Wander 11 also has space for a large laptop, K&F says it will fit a laptop up to 15.6 inches, thoough as a user of a Macbook Air I wasn’t able to verify this.
Straps and Comfort
The most obvious consideration in a backpack, naturally, is how it feels on your back. Too many backpacks I own press uncomfortably against me, chafing my skin, and leaving me sweaty at the end of the day.
The Nature Wander 11 has raised ergonomic padding sections to fit the bag to your back, allowing air to circulate. I returned to my hotel room after a long day I wasn’t soaking with sweat, even after walking the mile to and from my hotel to the convention center, along with hours of booth hopping at CES.
That alone is enough to make me pick this backpack over others in my collection. When wandering a tradeshow it’s a bit embarrassing to take off a backpack to put some press materials into it and have a back that’s all wet.
There is a cross strap that secures with a metal closure and has a satisfying feel when clipped across the chest. Since this pack isn’t designed to be worn for long periods of time, there’s no belt strap to take the weight off the shoulders. For a pack that’s intended to be used in “nature” and can carry so much weight, a waist strap would be a good addition.
To organize gear, there are dual side pockets, as both the bag entry side and water bottle side have storage pouches. Inside, there are dual mesh pockets and three pockets for batteries and other accessories.
The expandable roll-top section has enough room that I was able to pack a light sweater, a bag of cables, and my vlogging gear. On the flight home I added a sandwich and some of the samples I took home from the show. A buckle clasp holds the roll-top closed, and the closure strap has different loops so you can roll the top to several different sizes.
In one of the few misses with this bag, the roll top does not have a zipper. A zipper isn’t strictly necessary since the bag is rolled up and clipped closed most of the time. I like like to be able to zipper the section shut to make sure nothing falls out if I forget to roll and hook the bag.
The bag is available in both black and grey. I tested the black version, which won’t show dirt as much as the grey, but I think the grey is more attractive.
When the Nature Wander 11 Does and Does Not Cut it
“Wander” is the key to this bag’s use. It’s a great daypack, a perfect bag for working in your local coffee shop, and for sightseeing. The bag is very well designed, with attention to detail and featuring quality components.
I find it more useful in urban situations than wandering the woods. It’s not uncomfortable when hiking, but if I’m going out for more than an hour on the trails I would rather take a bag that’s got a waist strap and that has room for a water reservoir system.
I would take the “nature” moniker with a grain of salt. My favorite use of this bag was one where I’d walk for a few miles while taking photos, and then head to a coffee shop, pull my laptop out to transfer images, and check some emails.
I had considered taking it on a nine-day trip to Singapore, as the backpack is so comfortable, but it’s not quite big enough to bring all the items I wanted in the cabin with me, and I picked a larger, but much less comfortable bag.
Should You Buy This Bag?
The K&F Concept Nature Wander 11 is $99 list price, and often found for as low as $89 during online sales.
t’s a great value for the price. It’s a much more durable-feeling and better-designed backpack than a $90 backpack has the right to be.
If you want an excellent bag for a day that’s a mix of photography and digital nomading, this is a top choice. This bag is all pros and very few cons. It’s lightweight, ergonomically designed, holds a good amount of camera gear, and has organization tools often found on more expensive bags.
The relatively small size of the bag when in its smallest configuration and the extra few liters of space when expaned make it a great backpack for both quick trips and full-days spent out photographing.