Tenba BYOB 10 Camera Insert Review

Before diving into this product, we should mention the size variance. As of the time of writing, 7-, 9-, 10-, and 13-liter models are available. These will work for camera kits of different sizes. We’re testing the 10-liter model, which fits a single camera body and two to four lenses. Let’s dive in!

External Components

The primary material on the exterior of the camera insert is 300D polyester. It’s durable, fairly lightweight, and looks sleek. We dig the subdued look to avoid drawing too much attention to the fact that we’ve got thousands of dollars inside the cube, whether we’re loading it inside our pack or wearing it as a crossbody sling. There’s lots of padding and protection behind the polyester, which is essential for keeping your gear safe.

At the time of writing, the camera insert comes in two different colorways: Black and Blue. We dig both of these options, as they’re sleek. The blue option offers a pop of color without straying too far from Tenba’s typical professional designs.

The zippers on the camera insert are from YKK. They’re smooth, easy to operate, and haven’t given us any trouble. YKK is one of the best zipper manufacturers, so we expected this to be true!

Despite mainly operating as a camera cube for your daypack or travel backpack, this insert comes with a strap. That way, you can carry it without a bag. The strap has KJM swivel clips, which feel durable and are handy because they make it easy to un-flip the strap if it gets tangled up. We aren’t familiar with KJM, but we don’t have anything negative to say about the clips in testing.

The loops where the strap attaches stay out of the way when you aren’t using them, which is essential. We’re happy to see that they’re not big and beefy, as they would catch on things as we put the insert in a bag or take it out.

The insert has a handle on the top, which is handy for handling your camera gear. Because of its inclusion, you can easily slide the cube in and out of your pack or carry your gear from one place to another. It has no padding or aeration, so we don’t like to carry it too far, as it may dig in a bit. However, because of its minimalistic design, the handle stays out of your way when the cube is inside your bag and won’t take up extra space.

Fit Notes

So, if we’re honest, this thing isn’t really a sling. However, because of the attachment loops and included strap, you can utilize it as one. The strap is incredibly basic; however, you can upgrade it to a better one if you want to.

The strap has no padding or aeration and can be a little uncomfortable with a larger kit loaded inside the case. Still, it works and will get your gear from point A to point B without issue. You can adjust the strap, too, which is handy for carrying the bag over different types of terrain.

The back panel has padding to protect the camera gear inside but doesn’t feature any for comfort. While wearing it, the case feels a bit like carrying a brick. We’d put its comfort level in the middle of the road: not great, but not terrible.

There are pockets on the exterior, which we’ll get into shortly, but that also affects how comfortable it is to wear the BYOB. If you have gear stowed inside the back pocket, it sits directly on your body while carrying it. Or, if you have a travel water bottle stowed in one of the side pockets, the insert may sag one way or another because of the additional weight from the water. These are issues with any sling; however, these issues get amplified when the carry isn’t that comfortable to start.

You might be wondering what else you can fit inside the external pockets. Well, let’s talk about it.

Inside The Camera Insert

Around the outside of the camera insert, there are two medium-sized front pockets, a spot for a water bottle or travel tripod on the left and right, and a larger pocket on the backside.

The two front pockets are a solid place to stow accessories you might want to use on the go, like filters and extra batteries. They are not the best long-term home for these goodies, as there’s no topper, but in the field, it works fine. The side pockets are stretchy mesh and will work with small or skinny medium-sized bottles (think a 12-ounce disposable one), which is okay for the size of the insert. We don’t like stowing gear inside the back pocket often, as it affects comfort; however, you can put larger gear here, like an intervalometer, a cable release, or other bigger gear, especially if you leave the sling strap behind.

Moving into the main compartment is where the real fun is.

There’s a zippered pocket constructed from a TPU-like material on the lid. It’s an excellent spot to stow SD cards, batteries, or other gear that’s afraid of going swimming. We didn’t have any issues with water getting into the main compartment, but it’s nice to have a bit of extra protection.

The sides of the cube are well-padded to protect your gear. They aren’t the most secure we’ve seen, but we are fine loading gear inside here to carry around or put into a travel backpack or daypack.

There are numerous dividers to segment your gear, which is essential for ensuring that your expensive body and lenses don’t damage each other in transit. The dividers and side panels are structured enough for our liking; however, as we mentioned earlier, it feels like a brick when carrying it.

We’ve had no issues fitting this inside most larger daypacks and travel backpacks of any size. Smaller daypacks or bags with a ton of segmentation that lack large gear storage areas may struggle to fit the insert, but, as we said, we didn’t have many issues.

Typically, when we review gear meant to do more than one thing, we find that the manufacturers tried to make their product okay at everything, so it’s not great at any one thing. In this case, that couldn’t be further from the truth. This is an excellent camera cube that you can also wear as a sling in a pinch, and we’re here for it. When protecting camera gear worth thousands of dollars, we’d rather have it excel at doing that than be a little better at carrying in sling mode.

Overall, the BYOB system is unique, capable, and convenient. These aren’t camera slings; however, we think most shooters will find the extra features handy!