Newest Equipment

I went shopping yesterday at what is quickly becoming my favourite store - Henry's. I had ordered a tripod several weeks ago and was informed that it had arrived. I went looking for a quality dSLR tripod last month after getting a gift certificate to the store but couldn't find one with the right combination of features. One of the salespersons helped me out and selected this one for me (I later researched it online to ensure it was the best one considering how expensive it was). I ended up purchasing the Slik Pro 500 DX tripod (left) and am so far extremely happy with it.

I also spent a significant amount of time looking at the LowePro camera bags. I have quite a collection of these bags but have yet to find the perfect one - until yesterday.
I have a large reporter style bag from several years ago that was purchased to hold literally everything I owned at the time (and at the current time as well) but it is just too massive to use everyday.
I have an Apex 100 AW for my point and shoot camera. A good bag but not a great camera anymore so I really don't think of this one that much and at the current time can't pinpoint it's location in the house.
I later purchased the FastPack 250 which is good since it has a laptop slot as well as the ability to hold all of my digital equipment to date. It is also quite large though and I find that to safely swap lenses I have to put the bag on the ground (or other stable surface) and therefore lose precious time. It would be a very good bag for hiking or significantly log day trips where fast lens changes aren't needed as the extra pockets, etc would be good for snacks or other essentials.
I have a Terraclime 100 bag which I purchased at the most recent Henry's photo show here in Ottawa. This is an awesome bag not only for the reasons of its amazing look and great padding for the camera equipment inside, but also because the materials used are recycled and a portion of the profits goes toward polar bear international. So happy about that purchase. I use this bag when I am going to museums, etc and want a bag that really just looks like a purse, will hold my wallet, keys, phone and camera with no real accessories.
While we were looking through the bags we found the Classified AW series (size 160 to be precise). It is a great bag for what I was looking for - just the right size to hold my camera and additional lenses as well as anything else I may need when going out for a day or so (wallet, keys, etc). It is a shoulder bag and therefore has pretty easy access for switching lenses, etc but still has a great deal of protection in terms of padding. I sits close to the body and I am absolutely in love with this bag and encourage everyone to watch the product video on the LowePro website.
There are many reasons as to why I buy LowePro, one of the biggest factors is however the lifetime warranty on all of their products. If there is a tear or any of the buckles or fasteners break in some form, LowePro will replace my bag pretty much no questions asked. Another reason is all of the amazing features including but not limited to, the patented all weather cover, non-slip shoulder straps, heavy duty fabrics and fasteners and slick, modern designs. I am overall, a LowePro girl. Whenever someone tries to steer me in the direction of another company, even one with as great as name as National Geographic, I just can't do it - I need to stick with the tried and true LowePro.