Peak Design Outdoor Sling 7L: A Compact, Rugged Companion for Adventurers

The new range includes a backpack bag with 25L & 45L capacities and sling bags, with 2L and 7L capacities. In June 2025, they added an 18L backpack and a 4L sling to the range. We’d been hoping for a sling bag with a 10L+ capacity, but this didn’t eventuate. Nevertheless, we are still excited to review the bags as Peak Design has the knack for producing practical and innovative features. For this review, Peak Design kindly sent us the Outdoor Sling 7L  in the Black colourway. Please read our disclaimer at the bottom of this post. The sling bag does NOT include the X-Small Camera Cube.

On first appearance, the Peak Design Outdoor Sling 7L seems to be a versatile, weather-resistant sling bag primarily designed for outdoor enthusiasts, minimalist photographers, and everyday adventurers who prioritize durability, organization, and minimalist design. As with any bag with a camera insert, the sling can be enjoyed by a wide range of users – photographers and non-photographers. Now, let’s dig a bit deeper into the sling.

OUTDOOR SLING 7L – EXTERIOR

Combining Peak Design’s signature engineering with rugged materials, the sling promises to keep your gear safe (when using the XSmall Camera Cube), relatively dry, and accessible—whether hiking a trail, navigating a city, or capturing photos in challenging conditions. The sling is extremely light at only .34kg/.74lb and is constructed from 100% recycled Terra Shell Ripstop 210D nylon fabric. The seams are fully tapered, and the #5 UltraZip zippers are weatherproof, making this sling ideal for rain, snow, or dusty environments. Naturally, with this light material, the sling is NOT waterproof, so although it will handle getting wet to a degree, it will not hold up in a downpour. So, you might consider carrying a rain cover to better protect the contents. Unfortunately, Peak Design does not make a Rain Fly for this size bag, so you may have to hunt around for something online that will fit. As Travel Photographers, a rain cover is an essential accessory for us and is a permanent addition to our camera bag. All the zippers are equipped with resilient zip-pulls (Yellow on the Black colourway bag, Orange on the Cloud colourway bag and Eclipse (burgundy) on the Eclipse colourway bag).

The exterior is soft and flexible without the rigidity of our Everyday Sling 10L. It’s a little bit like a large bum bag (waist bag, fanny pack, belt bag, moon bag, belly bag) but on steroids. Having said that, the Outdoor Sling can be worn as a bum bag as well. The rear of the bag is sufficiently padded to rest against your body while remaining soft and flexible. At the back of the bag is a magnetised pocket, ideal for carrying valuables you want close to your body and away from curious hands. The pocket is not wide, but fairly deep and will hold a decent amount. It is not weatherproof, so if you are not using a rain cover, contents could get wet. Nevertheless, it is a perfect pocket for your mobile phone and other small accessories that can survive getting wet. There’s also a small thin unpadded nylon handle that is useful when removing the bag or as an alternative to picking up the bag by the strap.

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At the front of the bag is a much wider single-zippered pocket with a robust zipper pull for frequently accessed items eg. snacks, a compass, and bear spray (remember – this is a bag for hikers as well). The pocket has a stretchy lanyard for securing your keys. It might have been nice to have a few separate smaller floating pockets within the pocket to keep contents a bit more organised but instead, they offered this feature on the interior of the sling.

At the base of the bag, there are 2 sets of Gear Loops each with an attached stretchy adjustable lanyard. If attaching a jacket or tripod to the base just loosen the lanyard, insert the item, and cinch tight using the excess loop. These can be completely removed if you do not want to attach an item to the base of the bag. Alternatively, unhook the clip end and feed it inside the narrow pocket provided to keep it out of the way. If you are not carrying much in the bag these can also be used to compress the sling bag.

The wide shoulder strap is fully adjustable and offers comfortable padding with a newly designed buckle that’s easy to adjust on the go, however, it’s not as easy as the Everyday Sling bags. The strap can be worn crossbody or over either shoulder. To change shoulders, unhook the shoulder strap where it connects on both sides of the bag and swap. The excess strap can also be tucked away in the slit pockets provided. The strap can be lengthened or shortened by lifting the lock on the buckle, readjusting the length, and closing the lock. If using the Outdoor Backpack 25L or 45L bags, the Outdoor Sling 7L easily lashes to the exterior using the Cord Hooks provided with those bags. 

Lastly, inside the bag, you will find a Stabilizing Strap. One end is attached to the shoulder strap and the other to the bag, preventing the bag from swinging around to your front. This can occur whenever you bend down and can be quite annoying with our Everyday Sling 10L bags. So, this is a simple yet efficient preventative measure.

The external dimensions of the Outdoor Sling 7L  are L: 35cm x H: 22cm x D: 11cm (13.78″ x 8.66″ x 4.33″).

That’s it for the exterior of the Outdoor Sling 7L Now let’s move inside the bag.

OUTDOOR SLING 7L – INTERIOR

Without an XSmall Camera Cube inserted, there is a ton of space for the outdoor enthusiast. Although there are not many pockets inside, there are enough for a bag of this size. All the pockets are located on one side of the interior. There’s an almost full-width single-zippered mesh pocket with an attached zipper pull. Inside the pocket are 4 smaller equally-sized mesh pockets, ideal for spare batteries, SD cards etc. You’ll also find the Stabilizer Strap here. Lastly, there are 3 larger equally sized mesh pockets below the zippered pocket for other small accessories.

With the XSmall Camera Cube inserted, the sling becomes a handy minimalist camera bag. However, the XSmall Camera Cube does not hold very much, and is definitely designed for those who carry a minimum of gear, such as street photographers. It will comfortably accommodate a Sony A7Riii with an attached 24-105mm lens but that takes up all the space. With a Samyang 35mm f/1.8 attached, there is just enough room for another small prime lens. Naturally, this will differ from photographer to photographer based on the camera body and lenses they are using, but generally, this cube will not hold much at all for most.

The XSmall Camera Cube fits loosely inside the sling bag, still allowing easy access to the internal pockets. While we have read a couple of buyers complaining about the loose fit, we don’t find this to be a problem at all.

The internal dimensions of the sling are – 

L: 34.5cm x W: 21.5cm x D: 10.5cm (13.58″ x 8.46″ x 4.13″)

Above: The empty interior of the Peak Design Outdoor Sling 7L – Eclipse

PROS

• Great design
• Premium quality
• Adequate internal storage
• Works seamlessly with the XSmall Camera Cube (sold separately)
• Dual Purpose – great for photographers, non-photographers, or photographers on non-photography days
• Can accommodate a small tripod
• Attaches to both the Outdoor Backpack 25L & 45L
• Can be worn as a bum bag (waist bag)
• Weatherproof
• Made from 100% recycled material
• Available in 4 colours
• Lifetime Warranty

We can’t really find too much wrong with the Outdoor Sling 7L, however, some of these CONS may not be an issue for some photographers.

CONS

• No rain fly included and Peak Design does not make one for this size bag
• XSmall Camera Cube is not included, but probably because not everyone who uses this sling will want a cube.
• XSmall Camera Cube does not hold much gear and will take up almost all the space in the bag.
• No extra padding at the base of the bag

COLOURS

The Peak Design Outdoor Sling 2L and  Peak Design Outdoor Sling 7L are available in Black, Eclipse, Cloud, and Kelp. The Peak Design Outdoor Sling 4L is only available in Black, Eclipse, and Kelp at the time of writing. Hover over the image below for a better look at the colours.

PRICING, PURCHASING, & SHIPPING

The price below is for the Outdoor Sling only. However, Peak Design does offer the following –

1. Photo Bundle – includes the bag and the XSmall Camera Cube and a 10% discount
2. Packing Cube Bundle – includes the bag and the Ultralight Packing Cube Trio, and a 10% discount

If you plan to purchase the bag and want the Camera Cube make sure you select the bundle as buying them individually will cost you more. 

THE FINAL WORD

The Peak Design Outdoor Sling 7L bag is exceptional, but in our opinion, designed very much for the outdoor non-photographer. Photographers need to add the XSmall Camera Cube to utilise this sling for their gear. Minimalist photographers may find this sling to be ideal if carrying a camera and 2 small lenses; however, depending on the size of the lenses, it may be a tight squeeze. By the time you add the price of the XSmall Camera Cube to the price of the bag, it will cost you only USD$30.00 less than the Peak Design Everyday Sling 10L, which will carry more gear. For photographers who carry an average amount of gear, we recommend the Everyday Sling 10L V2 or possibly even the Everyday Sling 6L V2 over this sling bag. If purchasing this as a general-purpose bum/sling bag (without the intention of using a camera cube), this is an expensive option.

We recommend this sling bag for minimalist outdoor photographers who don’t carry a lot of gear. For those who want an even smaller sling bag and are not concerned about carrying a camera, you may want to consider the Peak Design Outdoor Sling 2L. For those who use the Peak Design Outdoor Backpack bags (25L & 45L), this sling works well with the bags, offering more storage, and is especially useful when worn between the shoulder straps for quick access to items without the need to remove the backpack.

Would we use it? Yes, we would use the Outdoor Sling 7L on the odd occasion in conjunction with the XSmall Camera Cube for local meandering; however, for longer international travel trips, this sling bag would be more useful to us as a waist bag/bum bag. In fact, we will soon be utilising the sling as a waist bag on a 6-week trip to Greece and Italy, so we will update this post on our return.

We’d love to hear from you if you have any comments or questions about this product. 

RATING: HIGHLY RECOMMENDED FOR HIKERS

RATING: RECOMMENDED FOR MINIMALIST PHOTOGRAPHERS 

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