Moment Rugged Camera Sling 6L Review

Moment is probably best known for making lenses and photo accessories for smartphones. And now, they’re extending their expertise to bags for storing your camera and corresponding gear.

Enter the Moment Rugged Camera Sling—a simple sling designed to fit the essentials, with generous padding to protect said essentials.

This sling is available in two sizes at the time of this review—6L and 10L. In this review, we’ll be focusing on the 6L size, however many of the features between the two are the same, just bigger on the 10L—like the hardware and thickness of the main strap. We’ve been, well, slinging a pre-production sample of the 6L on our backs for about two weeks, and we have some things to say.

So, without further ado, let’s get to it.

Materials & Aesthetic

The branding on the Rugged Camera Sling is minimal, which we appreciate. And it contributes to the overall modern vibe of the sling. You’ll see a Hypalon patch sewn onto the front of the bag that displays the Moment logo. It’s black-on-black so it’s subtle and serious. You’ll also find the Moment name embossed on the main strap in the same Hypalon material as well.

We can only hope you like the color black as much as we do because, at the time of this review, that’s the only colorway the Moment Rugged Sling 6L comes in. Now, this sling might be low-profile in color, but it’s not in structure—it’s pretty boxy. But this is likely due to all the padding, which is there to keep your camera safe (and that’s definitely something you want in your camera bag).

The material used for this sling is called NorthPak, which is made with 100% recycled polyester. It’s a relatively new kind of fabric in the pack-making world. In fact, Moment claims that this sling is the very first bag that this material has been used on. We did a little fact-checking and with the exception of some hobbyists making their own gear, this seems to be the case as far as we can tell.

The NorthPak fabric is similar to X-Pac. It’s highly durable and has a similar look, feel, and crinkliness. Like X-Pac, this material is also waterproof. Now, an important note here: even if the material is waterproof, it doesn’t mean that the bag itself is waterproof. During our testing, it has performed well in the water-resistance department. We haven’t exactly shot a hose at it or anything, but it has kept everything dry when we’ve been out and about in the rain. So you’re fine for the occasional sprinkle, but if you submerge this sling, your stuff will probably get wet.

The sling comes equipped with magnetic Woojin Hardware. The magnetic factor makes for a quick release every time—but that’s not always a good thing. For example, we tried strapping in a large water bottle with the bottom straps to take with us on an outing and they came undone as we were cinching it into place. This most likely wouldn’t have occurred with non-magnetic buckles, as they tend to be more secure. It’s only happened once in our testing as of now, but it’s something to keep in mind—especially if you’re trusting these buckles with an expensive travel tripod.

Two water-resistant YKK zippers secure the main flap. We’ve found that water-resistant zippers like this are usually stiff around corners—which is the case here but not too bad. They’re pretty smooth overall.

External Components

Next, let’s take a look at the harness system. There’s dense, somewhat stiff padding on the shoulder strap. We like that the padding is long—meaning it covers a good amount of the strap (and, therefore, your shoulder). The strap can also be adjusted for right-handed and left-handed folks alike, which is a nice touch. However, the process is time-consuming—you’ll have to set the bag down, completely remove the strap from the buckle on both ends, and reattach the other way.

The main buckle is nice and large so it’s easy to engage and disengage when you’re taking the Rugged Camera Sling on and off. This buckle is also unique in that it’s both magnetic and clips in like a traditional buckle. Typically, we see one or the other. The magnet here doesn’t support the weight of the bag when full, it seems to be more so to help you line up the prongs of the buckle for easier buckling. Frankly, it feels a little gimmicky. But it has not gotten in the way, so it’s definitely not a deal-breaker.

There’s also a crossbody stability strap to help keep the sling from shifting when you’re moving around (say if you’re biking or hiking). Just click it into place and the sling gets some extra balance. This trap is removable, so if you don’t need it, you can take it off. It can also be moved to work for both right and left-handed carry, too.

The back panel on the Moment Rugged Camera Sling 6L has some decent padding (similar to the shoulder strap, but a bit thinner and softer) and a layer of mesh-like material to help with airflow. The best part about the back panel? It has wings that lift away from the main compartment—this way it curves to your back and feels less like you’re carrying a brick. This back panel paired with the straps help keep the sling close to the body and comfortable during use.

At the bottom of the sling, you’ll find straps that are great for if you want to carry a tripod, jacket, or umbrella while you’re out getting photos. Elastic strap keepers offer some organization so you don’t have straps flying all over the place when you do use them, which we appreciate. And when we’re not using them, they stay tight to the bottom of the bag, out of the way.

A handle sits at the top for when you don’t want this thing on your back. It’s made with a nylon webbing material. There’s not much padding, but it is big and easy to grab, which we like. When you’re only carrying 6L a bunch of padding isn’t necessary, so even without it, it’s not uncomfortable—unlike some handles we’ve tested on other camera slings.

Inside the Pack

You’ll find one quick-grab pocket on the front of the Moment Rugged Camera Sling 6L. Flatter items can be stored in here, like any needed documents or a slim notebook and pen. And inside of that pocket, is an aluminum key clip. It feels sturdy and we like that Moment chose to put it in this pocket rather than in the main compartment—his way, your keys aren’t scratching up your camera and lenses. Plus, we can swing the sling to the front, unzip, and voila—easily accessible.

When you open this thing up, the first thing you’ll notice is the bright orange interior that offers a lot of visibility (and some Halloween vibes)—you should have no problem seeing your stuff in here. As you’ll notice, the lid on this sling opens away from you, making it easy to rummage for your gear once you pull it across your chest. Lots of other camera slings open toward you which can make access a little more difficult.

With organization, Moment opted for simplicity—it’s geared toward carrying just the essentials. That means your lenses, a strap, and other basic accessories. Basically what we’re saying is you’re not going to fit a whole film studio in here.

The internal pocket has a reverse coil YKK zipper and houses four individual pouches for your smallest camera gear—like batteries, memory cards, or cables. The fabric also has some stretch to it so you have some flexibility. The pocket keeps all of these things sorted and safe from jostling around inside the sling while you’re on-the-go. However, the zipper can get in the way sometimes, making the smaller pouches in the corners harder to access.

In the main compartment, two velcro dividers create three compartments. Since they’re velcro, you can detach and reattach to adjust the size/shape of the compartments to fit your specific kit. If you need more space for a larger piece of equipment, take one or both out. If you have something small that you want to stay snug, create a smaller space to fit that item just right.

Along the back of the main compartment, there’s a padded tablet sleeve. As long as it’s 11” or smaller, you can slip your iPad, e-reader, or other flat items in here—the padding will support it if the sling (and you) take a tumble. And the wall of the pocket is sturdy, so no worries about anything piling on top of it.

Durability & Testing

Like we said earlier, we’ve been using the Moment Rugged Camera Sling 6L for two weeks to carry around a smaller camera kit. To be more exact, a Sony A6500 camera, 28–70mm lens, ND filter, a couple of batteries, SD cards, rocket-air blower, and a few bits and bobs. Basically whatever we need for a possible photo-op. The organization is simple and has been working well for our needs. Also, we can switch it up whenever we want to carry different lenses or accessories.

Everything has been working well except for the issue with the magnetic buckles on the bottom straps. And durability wise, this sling still looks and works like it’s brand new.