F-803 — Blog — Derek Clark Photography

Apologies for yet another Domke blog post, but I thought this would be interesting to those of you debating on buying a regular canvas bag or a Ruggedwear waxed canvas version. You don’t have to search too far on the internet on the subject of Domke to come across the great wax debate. In one corner you have the rugged wear users that swear the wax gets everywhere and all over bodies and lenses. In the other corner, you have the users that say this is just not true and that their bag had zero wax transferring to their hands. Well, I’m here to tell you that they are both wrong…I mean both right…eh.

I have owned a Domke F-3x Ruggedwear bag for about a year and a half, and now, having just bought a Military Green F-803 Ruggedwear version, I have found both sides to be correct.

My Domke F-3x Brown Ruggedwear when it was new (left) and as it is now, dirtier but less waxy!

THE DOMKE F-3x BROWN RUGGEDWEAR

You can read my Domke Or An Ass post about the F-3x Ruggedwear and how I thought it might be a fake at first because the material was rather thin. But I just want to focus on the wax here. When the F-3x arrived from Amazon UK it didn’t look as though it had a lot of wax on it, definitely not compared to some I had seen on Google Images. But it was waxy to the touch, and being the type of person that hates having sticky or greasy hands, I wanted to get rid of the wax as much as possible.

I know some people will ask why I would buy the Ruggedwear version if I didn’t want the wax, but I like the rougher look and the softer material. I have a black canvas F2 for my music photography bag, which is great, but it takes a long time to break in and soften up.

So I put the F-3x out in the sun and then wiped the excess wax off when it melted. I even used a hair dryer at one point. Some people recommend putting the bag in a dryer with a towel, but I don’t have a dryer. But now my F-3x is much less waxy and I enjoy using it. Domke doesn’t recommend machine washing Ruggedwear bags, but that’s probably just to make sure the bag stays waterproof.

My newly acquired Domke F-803 Military Green Ruggedwear and the well-worn black canvas version

THE DOMKE F-803 MILITARY GREEN RUGGEDWEAR

Although I have an old and worn black canvas F-803 that is really soft and comfortable to use, I have been on the lookout for a Military Green version of the F-803 of the F-3x. So when an F-803 Military Green Ruggedwear showed up on Amazon recently, I bought it straight away, even though it was in the US and I am in Scotland. I wondered if the wax would be a problem and I had decided that I might just risk it and throw it in the washing machine a few times.

But when the new F-803 arrived, I was pleasantly surprised that it didn’t feel waxy at all, even though it looks waxier than the F-3x did when it was new. I can rub my hands on the surface and there is zero wax transferring on to my skin. I can put notebooks business cards or even my Fuji x70 into the front pockets without worrying they will get wax on them. The material of the F-803 feels slightly thicker and stiffer than my F-3x, but maybe the latter was like this when new too.

The Ruggedwear version of the F-803 does have a green lining on the inside and under the top lid, which the the canvas version doesn’t have (neither does my F-3x). This makes the bag feel a bit more higher quality than the others.

The extra lining of the F-803 Ruggedwear bags is a nice touch.

It was a bit of a gamble buying this Military Green Ruggedwear version of the F-803. I could get away with putting an insert in to protect my cameras from getting wax on them, but I use the front pockets of the F-803 series a lot for notebooks, pens, business cards, batteries etc. My worsed case scenario was returning it or selling it on Ebay, but I’m really happy with this bag and I’m looking forward to putting it through loads of abuse during the next few years. It will easily carry an X-Pro2 with attached 35/2, an X100 series, and either a couple of extra lenses or my X70 (or all of that if I really had to). The two little zipped pockets on the outside of the bag are an added bonus and are good for spare memory cards and business cards. They are also a great place to keep train tickets or packing tickets as they are always quickly accessible. There is also a pocket on the back large enough for an iPad.

There is a Fujifilm version of this bag in sand-coloured Ruggedwear. If any of you own one of them maybe you could mention in the comments if they suffer from being waxy or not?

MORE DOMKE POSTS

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Domke Ruggedwear Bags: Wax Problem?

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The Domke F-3x One Year On

Domke F-5xb: Lightweight Street Bag

You can buy the Domke F-803 Military Green Ruggedwear at Amazon UK

You can buy the Domke F-3x Brown Ruggedwear at Amazon UK

I wanted to do a follow-up to my review of the Domke F-3x that I wrote back in August 2018 called Domke Or An Ass. There’s so much more you pick up on a bag (or any product for that matter) after using it over a long period of time. Those things tend to be both good and bad. Probably the biggest thing I’ve realised about the F-3x (which would apply to a lot of Domke bags) is that it’s a blank canvas and should be adapted to the individual.

Top row (left to right) Fujifilm X70, X-Pro2 & X100F. Bottom row (left to right) Fujinon 50mm f2 & 16mm f2.8 lenses stacked, GoPro Hero 7, Fuji WCL-X100 lens & wallet.

BILLINGHAM SUPERFLEX INSERTS

I wasn’t keen on the setup of the F-3x main compartment as it had very little protection for my gear. Two very thin canvas loops (designed for lenses and a single piece of padding to keep two bodies apart is just not enough (for me at least). Smaller lenses can get under those bottomless canvas loops and go on a tour of the bag, visiting the rest of the gear inside with nasty results. So in my review, I used two different inserts. The Billingham Hadley Small is narrow, doesn’t really utilise the space of the F-3x that well, but is a good insert for the bag and provides a great amount of protection for the equipment inside. The Koolertron (seen in my review), although a great insert with good protection, didn’t really make use of the amount of space it took up, which was all of the main compartment. It also made the F-3x very boxy due to its tight fit and is the full height of the bag. Domke dividers didn’t give me the sizes I was looking for.

But then I came across the Billingham Superflex Partitions, a full range of fold-flat bottomless inserts that allow me to use the space in my F-3x more efficiently. The Superflex series are all 15cm in depth (back to front), which is almost perfect for the base of the F-3x (just overhanging slightly). The height and width of these dividers are in the names, with the last number always being the height. So a 9-15 is 9cm wide and 15cm tall (remember the depth is always 15cm across the range. A 10-18 is 10cm wide and 18cm tall. The F-3x can take the 18cm range comfortably, but I opted for the 15cm high ones as it provided a good depth for my cameras and lenses without having to dig down to reach my gear. It also leaves some room on the top for a scarf or a book if required, and lets the lid of the bag be a little more loose and floppy, which I like about the F-3x.

A view with the content pulled out slightly.

All of the Superflex inserts are divided into two compartments and there is a good amount of variation from size to size. The 9-15 is divided up into two sections of 9cm and 6cm, which is ideal for my X-Pro2 with a Gariz leather half case and either a 16/2.8, 18/2, or 35/2 lens attached in the 9x9cm part and then I can fit an X70 without a hood, or more small lenses. It’s worth pointing out that one compartment on each insert is always a square. So the first number of the name has that many centimetres square. 9-15 has a 9x9cm compartment, 12-21 has a 12x12cm compartment and so on (see diagram below).

My X100F sits nicely in the 8-15, which is divided up into 8cm and a 7cm compartments. So the X100F can fit in the 8cm space with lens hood attached and the X70 can fit in the 7cm space with lens hood attached too. My third and last Superflex divider is the 7-15, which like the 8-15 is divided up into 8cm and 7cm compartments. This one is ideal for lenses and accessories. Here is Billingham’s chart for the various sizes of Superflex inserts (the 9-21 to 12-21 won’t fit the F-3x, they are too tall). You can also find my review of the excellent Billingham Hadley Small Pro HERE.

These are the sizes available of the Billingham Superflex Inserts

THE WAX OF THE RUGGED WEAR BAGS

You can sit at a computer for days reading about all that has been written about the wax coating of these Rugged Wear Domke bags. In my opinion, they look good, but no-one wants to get wax on their hands that then gets transferred on to cameras and lenses. So I went through a phase at the beginning of leaving my F-3x outside in the sun and wiping the wax off with a towel as much as possible. Waterproofing is nice, but it’s not a massive deal for me, and if I really did get caught in a massive downpour I know that most of my kit is weather sealed. So one year in and the wax has been removed quite a bit by me and by natural use.

DOMKE POST OFFICE PAD

Domke’s Post Office Pad is an optional accessory that I bought at the same time as the F-3x. It can make a huge difference in the comfort of the shoulder strap when carrying a lot of heavy gear. I was very grateful for it on days when I had my Hasselblad system (500c/m, two lenses, two backs and a light meter) and the Fuji system together. But around the six-month mark I started to notice the glue that held the rubber padding to the plastic shoulder plate (that attached to the strap) was breaking down.

BILLINGHAM SP50 LEATHER SHOULDER PAD

Another option for a shoulder pad on Domke bags with a 2” strap is the Billingham SP50. These pads are well made and come in either Tan, Chocolate or Black leather. They have a decent amount of padding and look great, but the Domke Post Office Pad wins for comfort.

VELCRO ON THE MAIN FLAP

This is a negative point I’m afraid, but not a deal-breaker. The velcro on the main lid of the bag should have been twice the height that it is because unless the bag is stuffed full, the two pieces of velcro can miss each-other completely and be useless at holding the bag shut. This is a problem because Domke users tend to only fasten the metal clamps when in transit but rely on the velcro while working out of the bag.

One other slight annoyance is that the ring to attach the main clasp at the front of the bag seems to be under the bag rather than on the front. The clasps themselves tend to get a bad right-up, but I don’t find them to be a problem and I can easily undo the one on my F-3x one-handed while the bag is on my shoulder.

SLEEPING WITH THIEVES

After using the F-3x for a good length of time, I have found that they are pretty good for sleeping on while sitting in a chair at airports and hospital waiting rooms. I have my Shemagh scarf sitting on the top of my bag (between the cameras and the lid), so it’s quite comfortable to put both arms over the top of the bag and lay my head on my arms. This also ensures your bag will still be there when you wake-up. So I’ll admit it; I love my Domke so much I’ve slept with it :o)

Domke F2 (top left), F-1x (top right), F-3x (bottom left and the F-803 (bottom right). All three black bags are canvas but the F2 is new.

DOMKE BAGS ARE MOREISH

Domke bags can get a little addictive once you have used one. It’s even worse in, like me, you have a natural affinity for really worn and even abused bags. Domke is sort of the Leica of camera bags. Just like an old M3 looks better with plenty of brass showing through the black paint, Domke bags look better the more scuffed and faded they become. I for one have spent far too many hours trolling Ebay for used and abused Domke’s.

Ruggerwear waxed canvas bags are sort new as they are made from a cloth material. The standard canvas bags are less pliable and take a while to break in but become soft like denin as time goes by.

Domke F-1x (left) & F2 (right)

F-3x Rugged Wear & F2 Canvas

F-3x, F-1x & F2 (left to right)

SIZE COMPARISON

There can often be some confusion over the size of Domke bags, so hopefully, the pictures above will help if you are considering one of these camera bags. The F2 is my work bag and holds a lot of kit, but it has to be packed in a specific way to fit in everything needed for a music shoot with an X-T3 & X-T2 kit. I will get round to doing a post about the F2 soon. In the meantime, leave any questions in the comments below and I’ll try to hep if I can.

You can buy the F-3X at Amazon UK

I also have a review of the small Domke F-5xb