Why I Stopped Carrying a Camera Bag on Mountain Bike Rides

Last October, sunrise hit the aspens hard while my riding crew was still catching breath at the top of the climb. I pulled a camera body, two lenses, a spare battery, a headlamp, rain shell, knee pads, two liters of water, a multi-tool, and a peanut butter sandwich out of one Wildhorn Gulch 70L Bike Duffel. I was stoked to catch that shot before anyone finished their snack. That moment settled a year-long experiment for me: I stopped carrying a camera bag on rides.

Riders ask me all the time what camera bag I use for trail photography. I don't use one. I pack the camera inside the same duffel that carries my pads, layers, food, and tools. It sounds risky until you try it. Now I wouldn't go back.

Why a Camera Bag Fails on Group Rides

A dedicated camera bag is built to hold a camera while you walk from the car to a viewpoint. Thick foam, rigid dividers, small zippered pockets. On a long ride with real climbing, that bag holds a body and two lenses and nothing else. You still need water, a shell, snacks, knee pads, and somewhere to put your gloves when the sun breaks. I have strapped a camera pack to a riding pack more times than I want to admit. Two bags, one back, no fun.

Access is the second problem. A side-zip camera pack still means stop, swing it off, unzip the main flap, peel back a divider, and pull the camera free. The light is gone by then. If you ride with a group, the non-photographers check their phones and sigh. I have missed shots because of fumbling, not because I didn't see them.

What a Bike Duffel Gives You

Wildhorn designs the Gulch 70L and Big Mesa 90L for grime. Tailgate pads, shuttle racks, rain, dust, branches. Wide top openings let you reach the camera without unpacking the bag. You aren't digging through twelve tiny compartments. You lift the lid, grab the padded insert, and shoot.

This setup works because you stop treating the camera like a museum piece. Pad the body and lens with a removable insert or a neoprene sleeve and some closed-cell foam, then use the remaining space for your real ride gear. The duffel carries your helmet on the drive, your pads on the climb, and your camera at the top. One bag covers the whole day.

Packing a Camera in a Bike Duffel Takes Five Minutes

1. Place a padded insert at the top of the duffel, right under the zipper.
2. Nestle the camera body and one mounted lens inside. Keep a second lens in a soft pouch next to it.
3. Put water, tools, and anything heavy against the bottom or the side that rests on your tailgate rack.
4. If rain is in the forecast, slide the whole insert into a roll-top dry bag before it goes in the duffel.
5. Zap batteries and memory cards into a small zippered pouch so they don't vanish under your knee pads.

I have used this setup for two seasons. The duffel takes the trail abuse, and the inner padding only has to protect against an occasional bonk. On wet rides, a dry bag does more for your gear than any water-resistant zipper. I have dropped my Gulch 70L off a tailgate onto gravel with the camera inside the padded insert. The body came out clean. The bigger risk is leaving the camera at home because a dedicated camera bag didn't fit your knee pads.

Your Camera Shrank. Your Bag Didn't.

Trail photography has changed a lot in a few decades. Forty years ago, a serious mountain camera meant a metal SLR, a heavy zoom, and a box of film. You hauled it in a hard case because the gear itself was heavy and delicate. Autofocus and digital sensors showed up, bodies shrank, and mirrorless cameras now fit in a palm with image quality that used to demand a freezer-size setup.

The carrying method hasn't kept up. Modern bodies fit inside gear you already own. A 70L or 90L bike duffel is closer to the old expedition pannier in spirit: one big container for the whole day. The camera now takes a fraction of that space, leaving room for everything else.

Three Rides That Settled It

Ride one: A 40-mile alpine loop with 6,000 feet of climbing. A camera-only bag would have made me choose between the body and the rain shell. The Big Mesa 90L carried both, plus lunch and a small first aid kit. The camera rode inside a dry bag through a twenty-minute hail squall and came out dry.

Ride two: A shuttle day on a dusty, brake-bump descent. The Gulch 70L sat in the truck bed under a pile of pads. Dust got everywhere, but the insert zipped shut and the body was clean at the top. I hosed the duffel off at home.

Ride three: An after-work lap where I only needed a small camera and a water bottle. The same duffel was overkill, but it meant I didn't need a separate bag for riding shoes and gloves. One bag from car to trailhead to car.

The Duffel Is the System

Mountain biking demands a carrying system that does three things: protect the camera, carry all the other gear, and let you reach the camera before the moment passes. A camera-only bag handles the first job and fumbles the other two. A bike duffel handles all three when you add a little padding and some packing discipline.

Wildhorn built the Gulch 70L and Big Mesa 90L for riders who haul real gear to the trailhead. Add your own padded insert, keep the camera at the top, and you have one bag for the whole day. No more two-bag shuffle. No more choosing between the shot and the shell.

Check out the Mountain Bike Gear collection to see the Gulch 70L Bike Duffel, Big Mesa 90L Bike Duffel, and the rest of the trail setup. Free shipping over $50, 30-day hassle-free returns, Limited Lifetime Warranty. Now get out there and shoot the wild.