

A hip pack can almost always be a sling bag, albeit not necessarily a good one, but a sling bag is virtually never a hip pack (like a square is a rectangle, but a rectangle is not a square). Simply put, a hip pack is the rebranded fanny pack, while a sling bag is something different (it’s the hipster cousin, remember?). We repeat: sling bags and hip packs are not the same things. You’ll see people on the internet equating sling bags with hip packs (or waist packs, fanny packs, bum bags, belt bags, whatever you want to call them), but sling bags and hip packs aren’t one and the same. What’s the Difference Between a Sling Bag and a Hip Pack?

While we’ll touch on those, we’re mainly going to focus on sling bags for travel in this guide. There is a massive variety of sling bag styles out there, including tactical slings (for outdoor sportsman stuff), high-fashion slings (think Gucci), and backpack slings ( spacious enough for a laptop). We tend to think you’ll know a messenger bag when you see one. Messenger bags are usually bigger, boxier, and don’t contour to the body, but there’s no exact science. One small clarification is that while sling bags and messenger bags have a similar thing going on with the single, crossbody style of strap-the two aren’t synonymous. The buckle tends to be off-center, the straps connect diagonally, and the body of the bag tends to have an oblong shape-we say “tends to” because there are quite a few exceptions, which we’ll get into later. Here’s the definition we’ve landed on: A sling bag is (drum roll, please…) a bag that’s designed to be worn comfortably across the chest or back and secured to the body with a cross-shoulder style strap. We’ve Tested a Lot of Slings – which one will prove to be the best sling bag? It’s taken a team of six bona fide gear reviewers analyzing 50+ sling bags and hip packs for over two months to come up with an answer we can all get behind (and there’s still some ambiguity). This question is not as straightforward as it seems. We’ll go more in-depth in the written content and keep this page up to date.īe sure to subscribe to Pack Hacker on YouTube and never miss a video.
#MILITARY CANVAS MESSENGER BAG FREE#
Video Overview: 10 Sling Bags For Every Occasion | Should You Travel With One?įeel free to watch this guide overview in video format. So we highly suggest reading our complete guide to figure out your best fit (your future favorite one might not have made this list). Remember, there’s no one sling bag to rule them all, there’s just the best sling bag for you.
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In this guide, we’re going to walk you through how to choose the best sling bag for your situation, which means diving into all of the different aspects and explaining what works best for a variety of situations. Think of them as the middle ground between a backpack and your pockets.

Sling bags are, yes, a fashion statement, but also a convenient way to carry the essentials while traveling the world. The ’90s are back and with them, the slightly edgier, far more hipster cousin of fanny packs-sling bags (and scrunchies, but that’s a guide for another time).

We’ve teamed up with Eagle Creek to give away a selection of top travel gear!Ĭheck it out → How to Choose the Best Sling Bag for Travel and Beyond
