Aer Day Sling 3: A Review
Ample storage, convenience, and pickpocket protection with this day sling.
My recent trip to Europe was probably the least planned trip I’ve taken in a while, which isn’t saying much from an overplanner like myself. Because of this, my fianceé and I had two pretty much impromptu days to spend in London and Paris, and it wasn’t until we were on the train that I remembered an important fact about traveling in these two famous cities — mostly about the latter — that resulted in my impulse purchase of the Aer Day Sling 3.
An announcer came over the speakers as we pulled into Brussels. They said “Attention, please keep your belongings close and beware of pickpockets in the station or already aboard this train.”
I immediately felt my pockets for my wallet, phone and passport and made sure I had everything secure. I started frantically searching online for how to stay safe and reading stories about people who had their luggage stolen with simple distraction tactics. After my fiancée and I had worked up a healthy paranoia, we resolved to make our first stop at a store where we could buy a fanny pack or sling to keep our valuables close to us and out of reach of pickpockets.
Luckily enough for us, I am absolutely obsessed with travel gear and happened to know that the travel gear brand Aer had a physical store in London. So, as soon as we arrived, we headed that way, and I got giddy like a child headed to a candy store.
I made a B-line for the Aer Day Sling 3, which is Pack Hacker ‘s number one pick for slings, and was ready for a safer trip to London and Paris.
The Product
The Aer Day Sling 3 is a crossbody bag, not a hip pack, that has a thick, seat belt-like strap, a slide buckle that magnets shut, a large main compartment with tons of internal organization, a security pocket that sits flush against your body, and a smaller front pocket with a key ring and no other internal organization. It also has a grab handle on the back and a surprisingly useful loop on the top corner that helps you pull the bag around front if you are wearing it on your back.
I’ll make sure to list the specific details at the end of this article, but for now I’ll focus on the features this bag offers. It is made of a durable cordura fabric (though it also comes in Aer’s new X-Pac fabric), which is a thick and sturdy feeling material like you’d see on a nice Herschel backpack or maybe a little thicker.
The front pocket has a thick aquaguard zipper with a zipper port and a pull tab on either side, which proves immensely useful when you’re first breaking in that chunky aquaguard zipper. Inside that pocket is a slim but still fairly spacious pouch, with ample room for your keys and other bits of small gear.
The security pocket on the back is a thin and barely noticeable compartment (purposefully so) with enough room for bills, a passport, and even your phone if need be. The zipper is hidden behind a small piece of cordura and has a low-profile but very grippy rubber zipper pull that sits flat when not in use.
The large main pocket is very spacious. The Day Sling 3 is equipped with a divider in the back making a good spot for a phone or wallet, a zippered compartment adding an extra layer of security to the main pocket, four mesh pouches for smaller bits of gear, and a gaping main compartment that could expand out to hold an impressive amount of gear — some even say it can fit a small water bottle!
The Usage
In the main compartment of the Aer Day Sling 3 there is plenty of organization, possibly even too much. Luckily enough for me, it almost perfectly fit all of my daily essentials during its use both while traveling out in Paris and in daily use at home running errands. I fit my wallet/notebook in the back divider, with less-used items in the zippered compartment. Then, I put my hand sanitizer, gum, bandaids, and a microfiber cloth in one of the large mesh pockets, and my portable charger, charging brick, and two cords in the other.
On the opposite side of the main compartment were the two smaller mesh pockets that housed my airpods and some tissues. And in the cavernous open space in the middle of all that sat my phone and occasionally my glasses if I didn’t feel like wearing them. There was plenty of room to spare even with all of my daily essentials neatly tucked away in their pockets.
In the front pouch I had a carabiner and a Nite Ize DoohicKey on the key ring with a pen and pencil inside. I had just enough room to store my local transit passes with a comfortable amount of wiggle room to maneuver in and out of the pocket for what I needed. When using it at home, however, I found the pocket to be a little tight when adding in my chunky key fob.
When using the security pocket, I ran into a bit of an inconvenience when getting passports in and out. Though it was just big enough to fit the two passports I was keeping in there, zipping it up with them in there was a hassle because the compartment wasn’t quite tall enough to fit them. The passports had to be tucked up under the top part of the zipper, and if they weren’t securely up there, they would catch on the zipper and prevent me from closing it, which was a tad annoying when going through security to enter the U.K.
Overall though, the security pocket is one of the main reasons I bought the pack, and it served its purpose well. Despite a few moments of struggle between me and the zipper, I wouldn’t say I had any major complaints about the bag or the security pocket in particular. I didn’t get pickpocketed, which really says enough.
Aer Day Sling 3: Specs
Dimensions
Length: 11.5″ (29 cm)
Width: 6″ (15 cm)
Depth: 3″ (7.5 cm)
Volume: 3L
Weight: 0.8 lb
Features
- 1680D Cordura® ballistic nylon exterior (bluesign® approved)
- YKK® zippers
- Duraflex® plastic hardware
- Soft woven lining for a premium look and feel (bluesign® approved)
- Quick-access front pocket with keychain
- Smart organization for your everyday essentials
- Secure back pocket for your passport or wallet
- Adjustable shoulder strap with Fidlock® magnetic fastener
Check the price at Aer.
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