The Little Camera That Could: An Uncomprehensive Review of the Ricoh GR III

Over the years I’ve experimented with various “small format” camera systems, ranging from smartphones and GoPros to high end point-and-shoots and micro-four-thirds systems. My objective has always been similar: incredible image quality in a small, compact, and easily portable format.

Technology has improved a ton over the years, and last year I decided I once again wanted to try finding a pocket friendly camera that could take high quality images that met my (very high) standards. After a bunch of research and a glowing review from a trusted friend, I picked up a Ricoh GR III.

I’ve now had this camera for a year and it almost perfectly fits into the niche I was looking to fill. I wanted a camera that could take DSLR quality photos but fit in my pocket – something lightweight, portable, and packable but that packed a punch. The Ricoh GR III is just that.

John hiking along the top of Cascade Mountain in the Adirondacks last summer. Ricoh GR III, 1/1000s, f/5.6, ISO 200, handheld.

What I love about the Ricoh GR III:
Image quality: This camera produces the sharpest, most detailed images on it’s APS-C sized sensor, consistently far better than any lens combo on any of the DSLR’s I have owned.
Low-light shooting: The built in image stabilization combined with impressive performance at high ISOs means this camera is a great low light companion. The Ricoh GR series cameras have been hailed as perfect for street shooters, and for me the GR III is ideal for walking around a city or town at night when I’m on vacation. I probably wouldn’t want to lug a DSLR around an unfamiliar city for the off chance that I could capture some interesting images of shops and iconic landmarks, but it is nice to have the option to get really high quality photos while out and about doing touristy things, like grabbing drinks or dinner or going to a show.
Size and Design: The fact that this camera produces among the sharpest and most detailed images I have ever seen and it quite literally can fit in a (large) pocket is incredible. While not the prettiest thing to look at, the camera’s small size, sleek shape, and simple ergonomics make it super portable and packable. The lens retracts entirely into the body, so there are no sharp corners, harsh edges, or protruding angles to snag when you try to slip in into or out of a case. The Ricoh GR III is easy to hold and shoot with one handed, although selfies with it are a bit awkward.
Adjusting Exposure: It is extremely easy to apply exposure compensation (with just the flick of a finger) or adjust individual f-stop, shutter speed, and ISO settings on the Ricoh, making it among the fastest to adjust small format cameras I have tried.
Fixed focal length: While the lack of a zoom lens would be detracting to many, I actually love it. For me, the 28mm equivalent fixed focal length lens is just right for much of the grab-and-go type of shooting I wanted to do with this camera. My entire motivation to find a small format powerhouse was so that I could quickly create great images when an opportunity presents itself but not end up distracted with too many options and settings. I kind of wanted something I could shoot with as easily as a iPhone but with the image quality to rival a DSLR, and that’s exactly what the GR III is.
Snap-mode: One of the GR series unique features, and the one most praised features among street shooters, is the ability to use snap-focus. You basically preset a focus distance and with a push of a button the camera will automatically jump to focus at that distance, waisting virtually no time on acquiring focus. Street shooters LOVE this because its super fast. As primarily a nature, wildlife, and sports photographer, I’ll admit I have not used the feature much, but it certainly as the potential to come in handy, especially for sports or action shooting where you “pre-focus” on an object or zone, which is a pretty common technique.
Macro mode: You can change to macro mode with the push of a single button, and the macro mode is pretty good, allowing close focus on smaller subjects. The 28mm equivalent focal length is not common in macro photography – it is too wide for very small subjects and tends to include a lot of background, but having the option to take a close up photo without adding an accessory lens is a great thing.

Ferns in my backyard, captured with the Ricoh GR III and processed in Lightroom.

Where the Ricoh GR III could be improved:
Color rendition: I use Adobe Lightroom for editing and post processing, and find that the native colors produced by the GR III’s DNG files are a bit wonky. Images tend to cast blue and in editing it can be difficult to correct for this and get natural colors and skin tones depending on the scene. To be completely fair, I do tend to use this camera in less optimal lighting conditions. Still, the colors leave a bit to be desired if you are used to working with Canon profiles. I’ve heard that Capture One does a much better job of producing accurate and pleasing colors with the GR’s DNG files, but I’m not about to invest in entirely new software and change my entire workflow for one camera.
Exposure metering: In my experience I find the GR tends to underexpose images by up to a full stop fairly regularly. This could be because of the camera’s preference to preserve highlight detail, but I find I often get better results when I dial in +0.3-1.0 full stop of compensation, at least when shooting RAW/DNG where there is adequate information stored in the highlights and shadows to be recovered later.
Auto ISO setting: In auto ISO mode, I find the Ricoh tends to default to lower ISOs that require some really steady handholding and still subjects. Granted this isn’t completely unique to the Ricoh, but in fully auto mode I’d trade a stop of ISO for a stop of shutter speed any day, and for a camera that’s niche lies among street photographers, you’d think a halfway decent shutter speed would be a priority. Whenever I put this in auto ISO mode I typically change it back to a manual ISO setting within a shot or two if I’m shooting in less than full sun.
Price: $900 for a point-and-shoot is a bit steep, regardless of features and quality. The fact that you can buy a current model entry level DSLR or mirrorless kit with a lens for half the price is something to think about, but a mirrorless or DSLR with lens attached won’t fit in my pocket, so there’s that. Also, the Ricoh includes very few extras at this price point.
Charger not included: One of the accessories Ricoh failed to include with the camera is a seemingly necessary one – a battery charger. Instead you must charge the battery in camera using a USB accessory cord, or buy the charger for an additional $45. While I don’t mind that Ricoh chose not to pack the GR III full of accessories most user are unlikely to ever take out of the packaging, a battery charger would be a worthwhile inclusion, especially considering the GR III’s poor battery life, which almost necessitates the need for a spare battery and frequent charging.
Battery life: The battery is good for about 200 shots. Since I tend to use the camera infrequently and rarely as my main camera, this is manageable, but where this camera has the potential to truly shine is for multi-day trips where lugging around a full DSLR setup would be impractical. However, this would require charging the camera on a daily basis and possibly carrying around multiple extra batteries if this was being used as a primary camera. Add to the fact that the battery needs to be charged in camera or with a $45 accessory, and this is an area where I think Ricoh needs to do better. Note: On a recent 3 day/2 night summer backpacking trip a single freshly charged battery lasted me the whole trip, but I was shooting conservatively. I also have yet to take more than a few shots in sub-freezing temps, so cannot comment on how cold affects battery life at this time.
Aesthetics: This camera is ugly. This isn’t 100% bad, as its unexciting uniform black body means this is a very discreet camera and less likely to be targeted by thieves than say, the retro cool design of the Fujifilm X100 series, which falls into the same high-end point-and-shoot niche. Still I wouldn’t mind it if the camera itself was a little more pleasing to look at. Note: You can switch the front ring on the camera for a pop of color if you like, which does improve the looks slightly. But again, that costs extra.
No weather sealing: This is a very small, lightweight, and portable camera, so some compromise in the environmental durability category is understandable. However I’m used to shooting with professional Canon DSLRs and lenses, all of which resist rain and dust, and my GoPro, which I can throw in a puddle or drop off a cliff. Even my iPhone is splash resistant. Because I rely on the Ricoh as my “go anywhere” camera, it would be really nice if I didn’t worry so much about the weather forecast every time I have it on me. I’d love to see a future version have some level of weather sealing, especially at the current price point.
LCD screen has poor dynamic range: I tend to shoot the Ricoh side-by-side with my iPhone, and for high dynamic range scenes I have to very consciously remind myself that the post-processed Ricoh image will look just as good or better than the optimized iPhone jpeg straight out of camera. Because the iPhone will automatically take a HDR images when the scene requires it, photos on my iPhone always look MUCH better straight out of the camera. High dynamic range images on the Ricoh by comparison look flat and lifeless when previewed on the LCD screen.
Ricoh profiles are ONLY available in-camera: Ricoh has a handful of processing presets available in camera, some of which tend to be pretty popular among street and lifestyle shooters (the B&W presets and “Positive Film” profile are most popular). Unlike Fujifilm, you cannot get these presets as Profiles for Lightroom, so if you want to get the same look out of a RAW file you are kind of out of luck, or you’ll need to spend time trying to dupe them. What IS cool though is that, as long as you still have the native DNG file on your SD card, you can convert any of your DNG files IN CAMERA to output a JPEG with any of the built-in profiles.
Better support for worldwide audiences: Ricoh is a Japanese company, and as such things like customer support, the user manual, and instructions for firmware updates can be difficult to understand and implement because the Japanese to English translations are not particularly good. Also, for features like snap-focus measurements are only listed in meters, which isn’t as intuitive to me as having the option to select focus distances by feet. Even just adding in a feet equivalent next to the metric setting (for example 3m/10ft) would make the device a little more user friendly.
Delayed release of necessary features: For whatever reason, when the Ricoh GR III was released it lacked some of the features supported by its predecessor, the GR II, and did not integrate very well with the Image Sync app designed for it (nor did it work particularly well with preferred third party apps like GR Viewer). One such feature was the ability to remotely shoot using a synced smartphone. I’ve come to really love using my iPhone as a camera remote when I want to be in the shot, and the fact that I was only able to get this feature to finally work just recently when the camera released nearly a year-and-a-half ago is pretty frustrating.

Mount Monadnock, NH, New England, New Hampshire, North America, USA, United States, blue, blue hour, dusk, hike, mountain, sunset
Blue Hour on Mount Monadnock : Prints Available

Blue hour on Mount Monadnock, captured with the Ricoh GR III. Ricoh’s colors tend to have a blue cast, which can be difficult to edit for daytime images but produce beautiful “blue hour” photos when shooting at dusk. The image stabilization is an extra bonus in low light. Ricoh GR III, 1/15s, f/4, ISO 800, handheld.

Previously, the cameras I had tried had all had a bit of what I wanted but still felt limited, and I tended to use them little and hold onto them for a short amount of time before realizing they didn’t quite fit what I was after. Despite the Ricoh GRIII not being perfect (clearly my list of improvements is nearly 50% longer than the list of things I really like about the camera), it very much fits the bill of what I was looking for, and I find myself using it quite regularly. The quality of the Ricoh GRIII is hard to beat and no other camera comes even close in such a small package.

NH, New England, New Hampshire, North America, USA, United States, biking, cycling, gravel biking, rail trail, summer
Cheshire Rail Trail : Prints Available

The Ricoh is small and light enough to carry on almost any adventure, including a long gravel bike ride.

The Ricoh GR III is my go-to camera for hikes that are more about the adventure than photography. This image needed a significant amount of post processing to pull the details from both the highlights and shadows, but the end result has a ton of detail and little noise.

PS: I got my Ricoh from Hunt’s Photo and Video. I met the owner at a trade show many years ago and pretty much buy all of my new photo gear from them now. If you are based in New England and want the best prices, great service, a wide selection of products, and to support a local photo business that gives back to the community, I highly recommend shopping at Hunt’s!

GoPro HERO5 Black Review Update: Doesn’t Play Nice With Water

Apparently GoPro and I have different definitions of waterproof. About 19 months ago, I received a brand new in package GoPro HERO5 Black as a gift. I was so excited! I had the original GoPro Hero and said I would get an upgrade once GoPro introduced RAW into their cameras. The HERO5 Black is the first that did it, and my super wonderful partner heard me talking excitedly about it and surprised me with one for my birthday. There is a lot I like about the new GoPro (note: there is an even newer model out now, the GoPro HERO6 Black). On the HERO5, the image quality is MUCH improved over the first generation GoPro, menus are easier to navigate, the device is more intuitive, the profile is sleeker and smaller, and the voice control feature (which is something I didn’t even know I wanted) is a game changer and makes hands free operation so much easier. It also works well in colder temperatures and is easy to operate with gloves on, unlike my phone, which is the only other camera I have that fits in my pocket. Where this device fails is its ability to handle water sports.

My GoPro HERO5 Black has been submerged in water exactly twice; once at a freshwater lake last summer and once this weekend while paddleboarding. In both instances the device was submerged to a depth of no more than three feet (waist deep with a person’s head above water) in fresh water for just minutes at a time. When SUPing this weekend I noticed a large blob of water in the front LCD and immediately brought the camera to shore to dry out. Now the camera won’t turn on at all, moisture is visible inside all of the ports (which were securely shut at all times when the device was in or near the water), and the final video I have on the memory card is corrupt.


My GoPro’s dying video. As you can see, the device is clearly above water, and I’m standing in waist deep, shallow water when the device fails.

The manufacturer claims this device is waterproof to 10m (33ft) without a housing as long as the ports are securely shut. This was definitely not the case with my model, and because the one year warranty period has passed I’m pretty much out of luck when it comes to replacing or repairing my device. GoPro doesn’t do repairs, which is a tragedy for the environment especially considering that my experience is not unique and many others are probably chucking their flooded GoPros into the trash and into landfills. Customer service wasn’t very helpful, although they did offer me a standard, 20% off one time discount on any camera (that must be purchased directly through GoPro’s website and cannot be combined with any other offer). While that might seem like a nice gesture, consider that we already paid for one at full price ($400 when the device was first released, which is what we paid, they now retail for $300), I’m not interested in paying another couple hundred for a replacement with the same faulty design ($400 for the original + $240 for a replacement = $640 spent on something that doesn’t even work as advertised). Thanks, but no thanks, GoPro.

Unfortunately, I think this company has gotten too big to care about their customers anymore.

The GoPro HERO5 Black honestly isn’t a bad little camera, but GoPro shouldn’t claim it to be waterproof. I’d actually probably still recommend it if to someone if they had plans to never use it in or near water. Unfortunately, this device is not as advertised and customer service was unhelpful and unwilling to admit that their device failed nor did they make a sincere effort to rectify the situation and retain a customer. At this point, I’m pretty disappointed and have very little confidence in this company or their products.

My wet little GoPro, shown in the images below, is currently sitting in a bag of rice. I am hoping for a miracle, but have little confidence in one. If it gets resurrected from the dead, I’ll let you know.

Please feel free to share this far and wide. I would hate for someone else to buy this device thinking it will be a great camera for snorkeling or other water sports and then ending up as disappointed and upset as I am.

To see my original “First Impressions” GoPro HERO5 Black review, click here.
Or you can search for all GoPro articles on my blog.

Update 7/24/18: After fussing a bit, I was offered a greater discount – 40% off a new camera, bringing the price down to $180. While certainly a more reasonable discount to replace an item that failed to live up to manufacturer’s claims, I still was not expecting to have to replace my GoPro after less than 2 years and don’t think I will buy another one at that price. Online, many other users have complained of similar issues with HERO5’s flooding, and a $180 is a lot to spend on a camera just because it’s small. I love the idea of having something I can use for swimming, snorkeling, and water sports without getting an expensive, dedicated underwater housing for my DSLR, but it’s clear that the HERO5 doesn’t fill that niche. Frankly GoPro should just market the HERO5 as splash resistant instead of waterproof and/or they should include the optional $50 waterproof dive housing with the camera; their failure to do so makes me distrust them as a company, and I’m not sure I want to buy and be disappointed by yet another one of their products.

I’ve asked GoPro to combine the 40% discount with the $50 off trade-in option, as I have an older generation GoPro that I never use and would happily trade in for a new device, and $130 is about what I feel comfortable paying when we already spent $400 on on Hero5 just a year-and-a-half ago. Unfortunately, GoPro won’t let me combine those discounts, so it looks like I’ll be GoPro-less for at least the near foreseeable future.

Additionally, after leaving my HERO5 in a bag of rice for more than a week, the device still won’t turn on or show any signs of life, and there is still a small(er) water bubble visible in the front LCD. Looks like that one is DEAD dead. RIP birthday GoPro. Thanks for all the memories and a handful fun photos along the way.

GoPro Hero 5 Black: First Impressions

Update: Please read my updated review GoPro HERO5 Black Review Update: Doesn’t Play Nice With Water published July 11, 2018.

I really love point of view (POV) cameras. As an adventurer, there are many times when a lugging around and shooting with big DSLR camera isn’t practical but I still want to be able to share my experience with others. Small, wearable action cameras make shooting on the go much easier and allow you to focus on your adventure and capture images at the same time.

GoPro has been a leader in consumer priced wearable action POV cameras since they became a thing. I was so psyched with the concept that I bought an early generation GoPro back when they first hit the market, but I ended up rarely using it. The first GoPro cameras were not user friendly – switching settings on the camera was not intuitive at all – and the image quality left much to be desired. With each new model GoPro made changes to the camera menus, settings, and operating systems as well as improvements in performance, and they started to become more popular with professional and amateur athletes, photographers, and filmmakers but I still refused to upgrade.

For a GoPro to be useful to me as a professional shooter, I really wanted the ability to shoot RAW photos not just JPEGs. Enter the GoPro Hero 5 Black with RAW still photo capability. Recently introduced, this camera finally had everything I wanted in a wearable POV model – ease of use, small size and low profile, a variety of mounting options, waterproof, and RAW shooting capabilities. I’ve now owned one for about 24 hours and can say this camera is truly night and day from my first GoPro. I can easily see this becoming an essential part of my regular kit as a photographer and everyday excursions as an outdoors enthusiast.

Here are my first impressions:

Image Quality – So much better. The GoPro Hero 5 Black handles high contrast and backlit scenarios much better than my first GoPro, as one would expect. Details are sharp, colors are accurate, and both shadows and highlights are nicely rendered. The camera does a good job of balancing details in light and dark areas while still producing an image with natural appearing contrast and saturation.

RAW Files – The Hero 5 Black produces JPEG files with sidecar .GPR files. Originally I thought the Raw files would be .DNG (Adobe Digital Negative) but it turns out the .GPR files are an extension of the .DNG format. You’ll need the latest version of Adobe Camera Raw or Lightroom to open and process these files – I had to upgrade from Lightroom 4 to Creative Cloud – or you can download GoPro Studio for free. Viewed in Lightroom, the .GPR files are ok. Compared to the native jpegs from the camera, the .GPR files are more saturated and have funky color vignetting caused the exagerated wide angle perspective of the lens – the edges of the frame are not only darker, but bluer in color. This was very evident in the photos I took of white snow – the jpegs did a better job of representing the snow as an even white color across the entire frame. Colors of the jpeg also appeared more neutral and natural – flesh tones and the magenta fleece I was wearing appeared a little greener compared to the RAW file. After tweaking sharpness and noise/masking levels in Lightroom, it was possible to get more fine detail in the RAW file. One nice thing is that the GoPro creates both a full size jpeg file and .GPR file when writing images to the memory card, so you have access to both. The jpegs straight from the camera are honestly quite good, but it’s nice to have access to a file with greater editing latitude. It is also important to note that RAW files are NOT created when the camera is in burst mode – something I didn’t realize until after my test run yesterday – and there are a few other scenarios where GoPro RAW doesn’t work, explained on GoPro’s website. Overall, I think the RAW files are slightly disappointing when viewed with the default settings in Lightroom, but things like color rendering and light falloff should be easy to fix in future software updates and better profile settings from Adobe. For the company’s first foray into RAW the quality is acceptable, and the fact that you get high quality jpeg images alongside the RAW files is a big plus. You can definitely take good images with this camera!

Menu Navigation and Settings – The Hero 5 is easy to use, something you could not say about GoPro’s first POV cameras. When you first start up the camera, there is a tour that explains how to do most things, and nearly everything on the camera is controled by two buttons and an LCD touch screen. Changing from photo to video mode is easy and adjusting important features like resolution and frame rate is simple and intuitive. The menus are well organized and make sense and give access to the most important things without being cluttered and confusing. The LCD provides a very clear image and appears to be high quality. The touch screen is responsive.

Voice Control – This feature is AWESOME. I haven’t exactly nailed the commands yet – I tended to make them overly complicated and said things like “GoPro Capture Still Photo” which is not a recognized command whereas “GoPro Take a Photo” is. Even so, it worked most of the time, and it’s possible that nearly all the times it didn’t were because of user error. The ability to take completely hands free photos is a game changer, especially when paired with a number of GoPro’s wearable mounts. I can think of so many scenarios where this is helpful – when paddling a kayak or helping your kid pizza down a ski slope. If you set beeps to on, you can tell if the GoPro heard you even if you aren’t looking at it thanks to audible cues.

Smartphone Apps – I downloaded all of the apps GoPro makes to my iPhone, but so far have only tested the Capture app. Setting it up with my camera was pretty easy. I synced the two via Wifi. The camera is also supposed to sync via BlueTooth but every time I connected to the camera I had to use the Wifi connection, which mean I could not connect to both my camera and internet at the same time – I’ll have to play around with it more to see if that can be fixed. When I was connected, it was easy to see the camera’s view on my phone, and I could also go through and look at all of the media I took and download photos or videos directly to my phone. This made sharing snapshots on social media a breeze – once I switched my Wifi connection back to the internet. I didn’t try using the app to shoot and control the camera out in the field because my iPhone’s battery life drains quickly in cold temperatures, so I only used the app briefly when I returned home to share a snap to Instagram.

https://www.instagram.com/p/BN-GAdSDuRN/

Battery Life and Performance – My camera shipped with a battery about 15% full, which died pretty quickly upon me fiddling around with it, but I was very excited and probably fiddling a lot! It comes with a USB charging cord and you have to charge the battery in camera (unless you get a supplementary charging port from GoPro). The media I read said it would take 2 hours to charge plugged into a wall and 4 hours plugged into a computer – I plugged mine into a wall and had a full charge within 1 1/2 hours. After about an hour of use, worn on a chest mount in temperatures right around freezing with the GPS on the entire time, I had about 55% of my battery life left. I wasn’t recording the entire time but did take a fair number of stills, bursts, and some video. Because so many factors affect battery life, including environmental factors, recording mode, and other things it’s impossible to say how long the battery will last in “normal” conditions. To better understand the many factors that affect battery performance and anticipated battery length in different recording scenarios, check out GoPro’s website.

I’ve only taken the camera out on one trip, a hike through the snow covered woods with my dog, and tried a limited number of settings during that time, but so far I really am enjoying the new GoPro. I look forward to using it more and can definitely see it becoming my “have everywhere” camera. It makes a great portable pockable point-and-shoot to complement my iPhone, and the fact that it shoots RAW will give me added opportunities to shoot professional quality work with a tiny, easy to use camera that I can have on me at all times.

Update 7/11/2018: Unfortunately, my beloved GoPro died a sad death on its second in water adventure. I cannot recommend this camera for extreme water sports or in water use. Please read my updated review here.

My First Outing with the Wolfjaw 16L: A Review of Brooklyn Outfitters’ Super Sweet Daypack

An iPhone photo of my Brooklyn Outfitters Wolfjaw 16L pack atop West Rattlesnake mountain, overlooking Squam Lake in New Hampshire's Lake's Region.

This is a minimalist’s pack. If that’s a problem for you, get over it. You’ll love this pack anyway.

I’m a photographer, backpacker, naturalist, guide, and overall adventure enthusiast. I’m not a gear junkie, but I like good gear, and if I can’t find a use for something, it doesn’t get used, end of story. I’ve tried and tested enough packs to know which ones I like and which I’m happy to give back or retire to my closet until I can hand them off to a new owner. There are a treasured few I keep, and the Brooklyn Outfitters Wolfjaw 16L is going to be one of them.

To be honest, I didn’t really need another pack when my BKO Wolfjaw arrived in the mail, but I was excited to test it out just the same. I finally got a chance to do so a few days ago and after putting the bag through the paces in one of my favorite outdoor playgrounds, New Hampshire’s Lakes Region, I can say this pack is here to stay.

Straight out of the box this pack is, dare I say it, pretty. The craftsmanship is top notch; the pack is simply designed, but expertly constructed, and the materials look as if they are built to last. Unlike many lightweight bags made of thin and fragile materials, this one seems durable enough to withstand some serious bushwhacking, rock scrambling, and other less tame pursuits unscathed. Since all of Brooklyn Outfitters’ packs and gear come with a lifetime guarantee, I suppose it doesn’t matter if the pack survives all the torture I’m bound to put in through, but it’s nice to know that a company stands behind its products, and I can rest assured that this pack won’t fail on me in the middle of a summit attempt or halfway through a tough day of hiking.

The Wolfjaw comes in two colors and one color scheme; black with red accents or red with black accents. My bag is “Midnight Black” and the bit of red on it gives it just enough pizazz to make me feel hip wearing it. I know that sounds pretty shallow, but when you are in the woods, sweating, swatting flies, and stinking like a horse’s rear end, anything that makes you feel less uncivilized is welcome. The black does blend in way more than red, so if you aren’t worried about misplacing your pack in the trunk of your car or tucked away in the woods, and want something discreet but still stylish, go with black. The red color on the other hand, is super flashy. It looks awesome in photographs, stands out against just about any landscape, wilderness or urban, and won’t get so easily lost when you place it down to use nature’s facilities. Wearing it, you will also look like you are ready to rescue your fellow adventurers and provide medical assistance at any time; the color is called “Ski Patrol Red” for a reason. Fortunately, the black accents keep the bag from being obnoxious and instead, make it the perfect accessory for completing that “bomber in the backcountry” look of all those attractive and fit hikers you see gracing the cover of Backpacker magazine.

As handsome as the Wolfjaw is, looks would mean nothing if this pack didn’t perform and it does. My first test of the Wolfjaw was on a short hike up East Rattlesnake Mountain, which overlooks Squam Lake in New Hampshire. I had hiked the trail up once before, and knew the view at the top was impressive, so I loaded my pack up with some camera gear, a DSLR and two lenses plus filters, extra memory, and a spare battery, a rain jacket, map, and headlamp, my iPhone and sunglasses, and my tripod. Because the pack is a simple by design, there aren’t a ton of places to put so much gear, but I found it easy to place my smaller items (map, phone, headlamp, and sunglasses) in the zippered outer pocket, and stuff my extra camera equipment in a Clik Elite Camera Capsule zippered pouch inside the main compartment along with my rain jacket. I used the compression straps on the outside of the pack to attach my tripod, and carried my camera with one lens attached on a neck strap slung over my head and one shoulder, and my water bottle in hand.

The compression straps on this pack are really well designed and work exactly like compression straps should. Because they wrap all the way around the pack, they actually compress the bag evenly when tightened, and its possible to carry a load hug snug against your body, for maximum balance and comfort. On many bags, I’ve found the compression straps only tighten the sides of the bag, as opposed to the entire girth of the bag, and I think the method that BKO uses on the Wolfjaw is far superior.

The bag also has an extensive daisy chain of webbing running the length of it, punctuated by a single ice axe loop at the bottom. The daisy chain provides a number of attachment points for extra gear, so you have options, even with the bag’s minimalist design. I didn’t have to use any on my hike up the Rattlesnakes, but I could see myself clipping on rope, climbing shoes, or any number of other accessories onto this pack in future use.

The hike up East Rattlesnake is only about 0.7 miles from the trailhead up to the overlook, but the trail gains about 700 feet in that short time, traversing a number of switchbacks. The mosquitoes were out in droves, and they magnified in intensity any time I stopped, so I beelined it to the overlook quickly, burning through some calories on the way up. The Wolfjaw handled beautifully. It hugged my body without feeling too tight, and perhaps because of the frameless design, I had less problems with my shirt riding up in the back than I do with other compact daypacks. There is some padding on the back on the Wolfjaw, but nothing designed to aid ventilation, yet I found my back to be no more sweaty than with any other pack.

Lightly padded shoulder straps, with webbing for attaching accessories, balance the weight of the pack’s contents easily. A sternum strap and waist strap, each made of webbing with a sturdy no-slip buckle, hold the bag securely to the body. A loop at the top of the pack makes it easy to hang, and the roll top closure provides secure protection with easy access to the bag’s contents.

The Wolfjaw does have a hydration sleeve, which I could have used instead of carrying a water bottle. I forgot to pack a bladder though, and upon investigating the bag, I can’t figure out where the hose is supposed to exit the pack. Because the Wolfjaw has a roll-top closure, like a dry bag, feeding the hose up through the top of the bag does not seem practical, but neither does cutting a port for it in the side of this water resistant bag design. There is also a little clip inside the bag above the zippered pocket where the hydration sleeve is, and I have no idea what this is for. If I had to pick one thing to complain about in regards to the Wolfjaw, it would be this whole hydration sleeve system thing. Mostly, because I’m sure it makes sense to the guys who designed it, but I don’t get it!

The top of this part of the bag also felt stiff on the back of my neck, but only when I first put it on, and only for the first time I wore it each day. Within a minute of having the bag on, I couldn’t detect the stiffness at all, and the bag felt super comfy.

Once I reached the overlook, I started snapping photos almost immediately, first with my camera, then with my phone, then with my camera again. I also grabbed my rain jacket out of the bag and put it on, despite the fact that I was warm, because the constant assault from the biting mosquitoes was a bit more than I could bear at the moment. After resting at the overlook for a bit, I decided I had enough time to try for the adjacent peak, West Rattlesnake, and still make it back in time to the East Rattlesnake overlook in time for sunset in case the views over there weren’t as good.

The Wolfjaw is made of a durable, lightweight, water resistant Cordura material. It means water doesn’t get in very easily, but it also doesn’t get out easily either, a thought that occurred to me when I put my now sweaty rain jacket back in its place inside the pack. Overall though, I think the extra protection the material provides makes me feel more comfortable using this pack in challenging weather conditions than some of my more breathable bags.

As I scrambled over to West Rattlesnake, I found myself thinking, “Wow, I really like this pack.” Usually, I avoid frameless packs whenever carrying camera gear because I find them uncomfortable with camera equipment, but the Wolfjaw changed this for me. It felt light and moved with me, and carried all my necessary gear (probably about 15 lbs in total) easily and comfortably. I enjoyed the freedom of not feeling weighed down, something I love when I hike without a pack at all, while still being able to shoot, something I often miss when I go camera less into the backcountry. Now, I can have the best of both worlds.

The 0.8 miles between East and West Rattlesnake went quickly, and when I reached the overlook on the western mountain, I was instantly glad I decided to push further. The view was outstanding, and from a photographic standpoint, almost overwhelming. So many viewpoints, with rock faces, gnarled and twisted pine trees, and stunted shrubs, all overlooking beautiful Squam Lake, surrounded by mountains and dotted with islands rising from the water, created opportunities for multiple compositions, and I bounced back and forth on the mountain, leaping up and down boulders, and winding my way in and out of paths, shooting multiple angles. The pack’s compact design forced me to stay very organized, and made going from one location to another easy. I liked it so much I even bothered to snap a few shots of my new pack enjoying the view.

After the sun settled behind the mountains, I began my trip back to my camp in the fading light. The mosquitoes had stopped biting and the hike back was pleasant. Despite the late hour and having a few miles already under my feet, I felt alive with the energy and excitement of my amazing sunset hike with an awesome new pack.

For the hiker who wants to carry just what they need and nothing more, the Wolfjaw 16L is the perfect companion. All too many people often venture out into unfamiliar territory poorly prepared, so the Wolfjaw’s simplistic design is perfect for those who would prefer to be carrying nothing at all. There is more than enough space inside for rain gear, safety equipment, food and water, and the bag’s lightweight, comfortable design makes it seem as if you are hardly carrying anything at all.

Purists too, will appreciate the pack’s no-frills design and excellent quality. It doesn’t have anything it doesn’t need (except for maybe that pesky inner clip near the hydration sleeve) and it really doesn’t need anything it doesn’t have. One small change I’d like to see considered on future iterations of the pack is an integrated whistle in the pack’s sternum strap buckle. Ultralight and minimalist hikers love gear that is multipurpose, and adding a built-in whistle to a buckle that already exists will ensure that those going light don’t skimp on safety.

I’m already looking forward to my next adventure with this pack, which is conveniently, tomorrow. The Wolfjaw and I will be trekking up the Hancocks with my friend Brett who is more than halfway towards conquering all forty-eight 4000+ foot peaks in New Hampshire’s White Mountains. He’s also a blogger, naturalist, biologist, and serious outdoor enthusiast, so my original plan was to have him test out the pack for a second opinion. However, I like the Wolfjaw so much, I might have to reconsider and keep it all to myself!

To learn more about Brooklyn Outfitters and to purchase the Wolfjaw pack, visit their website at www.brooklynoutfitters.com. Brooklyn Outfitters offers guided outdoor trips to various destinations throughout the northeast, catering to the weekend warriors of New York City. They also sell 100% USA made, hand-sewn packs, such as the Wolfjaw 16L and its bigger sibling, the Wolfjaw 34L.

Also, check out The New England Nature Blog, where Brett writes about, you guessed it, the nature, ecology, and wild places of New England. His writing is really fun, and I always learn something new when I visit, so be sure to stop by.