I Almost Didn't Review This Bag
I have been using Wotancraft bags for years. The Pilot series is what I reach for on editorial work and personal projects. It came with me to Kenya for my northern white rhino story. It goes on New York Times assignments. It is the bag I grab when I need to move fast with good gear and I do not want to think about my bag at all.
So when Wotancraft sent me the Pilot 88, their limited edition collab with Chris Niccolls of PetaPixel, I had a conflict. I am going to sound like a douche here, maybe even egotistical, but I do not like the idea of carrying another photographer's name on my gear. Nothing against Chris. I met him briefly at a Leica event, he was perfectly pleasant, and his reviews are some of the most solid out there. This is not about him personally. I once bought a Filson bag without realizing it was a Magnum edition and I simply could not use it. Call it weird. Call it whatever you want. The tag with his initials came off before I ever put a camera in it.
Now that we have cleared that up, let me tell you about the bag.
The colorway alone is worth mentioning, because it is good. A vintage gray that sits somewhere between warm and cool, understated, and it will look even better as it wears in. A nice addition alongside the tan and charcoal Wotancraft already makes. Nothing flashy, which is exactly right for this kind of bag.
The real story is what changed from a standard Pilot and why. Niccolls shoots constantly, reviewing cameras and lenses across every system, and he worked directly with Wotancraft founder Albert to dial in the things that actually matter in the field. Most of those decisions are the right ones. They deepened the body to swallow bigger glass and landed it at 8.8 liters, sitting right between the existing 7L and 10L. Chris says he picked 88 partly because it is an auspicious number, which is the kind of detail I am not going to argue with. It still takes a 14 inch MacBook Pro, so it works as a one bag carry on a shoot day.
The tripod straps moved from the bottom of the bag to the front. Set the bag down on location and you can pull your tripod without lifting the whole thing back up first. I am not a heavy tripod user and I still understood immediately why it was done. It is the smarter setup for anyone shooting outdoors regularly, and if you prefer the old way the straps still fit underneath.
One side pocket was replaced with modular webbing and a drawstring pouch, what Wotancraft calls the Armor 14, that holds a lens or a water bottle. Niccolls built it for fast lens swaps between systems, which makes sense for his workflow. Either way it beats a fixed side pocket and it gives you options.
The shoulder pad is noticeably better than what comes on a standard Pilot. Longer, thicker, more foam, and if you carry heavy glass for a full shooting day you will feel that difference by the afternoon. There is also a hidden compartment they call the Tunnel Pocket that swallows a windbreaker without you having to open the main bag. Chris says it is one of his favorite features and the spec sheet suggests it can also hold a machete, which tells you everything about who this bag is really for. On a long day in variable conditions that kind of quick access matters more than people realize.
When people ask me how this compares to other bags in the space, I give them the same answer every time. Billingham is slightly more premium and the quality is real, but it is heavier and it announces itself as a camera bag from across the room. Peak Design is well engineered but too techy for my taste. It reads like a gadget. The Pilot 88 sits in a better place than both of them. Functional, discreet, and modular enough that you can configure it differently depending on what the day requires.
At USD 288 it is fairly priced for what you get, especially as a limited run. Once I took that tag off I stopped thinking about whose name was associated with it and just used it, which is the only honest way to evaluate gear. It is a good bag. A few meaningful improvements over a standard Pilot, a colorway I actually want to carry, and the kind of refinements that come from someone shooting with it rather than someone sitting in a design meeting talking about it. I will keep using it.
Well done to Wotancraft and to Chris Niccolls for making something worth carrying.
