After a recent trip with my Alpaka Flow 4L, I decided I need a sling that can carry my camera, an iPad Mini, and a water bottle close to my body, but without scratching or damaging each other. I have lots of bags, but somehow only one sling: a Trakke Banana (2 L) that I love.

Besides, I have many Bellroy products, but none of their famous slings, so I wanted to right this wrong. 😑

My main reason for posting today is to illustrate the difference in real-world carry capacity between the Bellroy Classic Sling 5L and 7L. I’ll do this by using real items that I have at home, and you can use them to gauge whether the 5L or 7L are right for you. This may also help you choose between the Classic and Venture slings, because their organization is so different!

This is not meant to be a full review of either bag, but I do have several things to say about the Classic Slings in general.

Firstly, the bags look great. I really like the less technical, more casual, slightly more upscale aesthetic of the Classic Sling when compared to the Venture. It’s also just as comfortable as the famous Venture, with silky, pillow-soft straps.

Secondly, the fabric has the look and feel of cotton canvas, but is entirely synthetic. It definitely adds to the casual vibe of the bag. In particular, the Indigo (blue) is as big and bold in person as it appears in photos. It doesn’t burn your eyes because someone photoshopped the saturation. It’s real, and fantastic.

Thirdly, people may lament the loss of a front compartment for small items and accessories, but I’d rather have the rear pocket compartment that the Classic does have (and the Venture lacks). I don’t use rear pockets often, but having quick, easy access to my passports and boarding pass is so crucial when you’re travelling, that I don’t want a sling intended for travel (notice the camera requirement!!) to not handle this.

Lastly, I’m someone who prefers a sling with a large main compartment unobstructed by lots of slip and/or stretch pockets, zippered pockets, internal dividers, dividers with zippered pockets, dividers with stretch pockets attached, etc. I’m happy with dumping my small items into 1-2 small compartments or pockets. Furthermore, this is r/manybaggers, and if I find myself needing more organisation, I’ll just grab another one of my bags. 😂

If you need more organization for small items, then look at the Venture line, Transit, or another brand entirely.

Anyway, here are the items I’ll try to fit into both bags.

- iPad Mini 7

- 532ml (18oz) Hydro Flask insulated bottle

- 350ml (12 oz) Camelback insulated bottle.

- 500ml Memobottle A6 (not insulated, but it’s HALF the thickness of the other bottles)

- A paperback book

- A large-format paperback book

- Fujifilm X-M5 camera with a Fuji 27mm f2.8 pancake lens attached.

- Nintendo Switch 2

- Trakke Messages tote bag (17L)

- Blunt Metro umbrella (not pictured)

- iPhone Pro Max and iPhone Air (not pictured)

- Passport (not pictured).

Conclusions

Classic 5L:

1. The iPad Mini does NOT properly fit in the internal divider slot. It’s too tall for the bag to be zipped. However, it fits fine in the main space, and the bag can be zipped. This means the internal divider pocket likely fits a Kobo Clara 6”, Kindle 7” Paperwhite, or Kindle Colorsoft because they’re narrower than the iPad Mini.

2. The smaller 350ml bottle and camera can both fit inside the main compartment together. I can put my Trakke tote bag, a smaller foldable tote, or even a small towel between them to prevent them from banging into each other.

3. A Memobottle A6 fits into the internal divider pocket. It’s probably too thick for it, but it does work. The camera can then fit in the main space, with plenty of room for other things like my Trakke tote.

4. A 532ml Hydroflask fits into the main compartment, with a sliver of space left near the ends. There’s also lots of space on top of the bottle for gloves, snacks, etc?

5. A regular paperback fits in the main compartment space, but a large paperback doesn’t come close to fitting.

6. The Switch 2 fits in the main compartment space, but doesn’t fit into the internal divider space.

7. The rear pocket easily fits an iPhone Air, iPhone Pro Max, and/or a passport. (Note: the Classic Sling 3L apparently doesn’t fit ANY of them).

Classic 7L

8. An iPad Mini fits in the internal divider space. However, nothing much bigger will fit. For example, something like a Kobo Libra 2 or Colour (eReader) will probably not fit in that slot unless you’re OK with the bag being unzipped. It would probably fit in the main space, though.

9. Both books fit in the main space, alongside any of my 3 water bottles!!

10. I can fit my iPad Mini, camera, 18oz Hydroflask (or the 2 smaller bottles), plus a standard paperback at the same time!!

11. My Blunt Metro umbrella, which is the smallest Blunt umbrella but not truly “small”, fits OK, as long as I’m OK with a bit of it poking out.

And that’s it.