Toploader Pro 75 AW lets you hike with DSLR and Trekking Poles

Hiking with DSLR and Trekking Poles

I despised trekking poles until I could no longer hike downhill after straining my knee on the Ski Hut trail (Mt Baldy). It was either hike with poles or stay home. I figured it’s worth a shoot and boy oh boy what a big difference they made on the trail. The trekking poles tend to distribute the load between both the upper and lower body and they definitely let you go father, not necessary faster, but for longer distances.

If I could, I would rather not use trekking poles at all because I like to keep my hands free and clear when my camera is dangling off of my pack’s shoulder straps. But for now, with trekking poles, I had to come up with another solution, solution that would somehow secure my camera in front of me, in the ready position, but at the same time free up my hands to use the poles. It had to be a chest holster of some sort, so I picked up a whole new, redesigned Lowepro Toploader Pro 75 AW:

What’s so special about this holster? The #1 thing is that is has sculpted opening which allows you to easily place your hand on the camera’s grip while it’s in the holster even while the holster is securely attached to your chest:

The #2 thing is that it has both zippered and buckle type closure mechanisms — this allows you to quickly drop the camera in and snap the buckle securing the camera instead of fiddling with the zippers every single time:

And the #3 is that it perfectly fits Nikon D3 with 70-200 attached, no fiddling, no compromises — just a perfect fit. Much, much better than what I get with the Think Tank holster I already have:

Finally, the new and improved straps are positioned at an angle pointing toward your chest, this makes a huge difference in stability and it allows unobstructed access to the holster while it’s on your chest:

Of course the first thing I did after getting the new Top Loader is figure out which Op/Tech connectors to rig up to it so I could attach it to my Camelbak Rim Runner. It didn’t take too long to find a perfect fit — Op/Tech System Connector #10 Reporter/Backpack 8.5: