Crumpler Bags in Hanoi, Vietnam

Hanoi Crumpler Bags

Crumpler Bags in Hanoi, Vietnam, are found along Dinh Tien Hoang Street or Cao Go Road facing Hoan Kiem Lake in the town centre.

As many would claim, these are fakes; rest assured, most of them are either over-run or excess stock where the factory making Crumpler Bags are located in Vietnam, but there have been cases where knockoffs are also found here.

Crumpler Bags in Hanoi, Vietnam

I was told by a camera buddy to check out these cool camera bags while visiting Hanoi, so on my last travelling day, I paid a visit to this area. 

Another famous landmark for this is the Water Puppet Show in Hanoi. The street selling these bags is about a hundred meters from this attraction.

Walking along the busy street, I must have seen at least 10 shops selling bags. Not all the shops sell Crumpler Bags here; only about three to four shops would carry them in multiple sizes.

Most others just have one or two designs, and I would avoid these shops and go for the full-range ones. You will also see brands like North Face, LeSportsac (Le Sports Sac), Adidas, Nike and many other famous brands along this street.

Hanoi Crumpler Bags
Crumpler Bags in Hanoi.

Bargaining while buying your bags here is possible as some of them are pretty acceptable, while do not be turned off if you find some other places not budging on their prices.

Trust me, I tried going to one shop, and the lady gave me a price, so I knocked it down by 5% to the counteroffer, but she declined and said it was the price she opened at. So I gave her the old 'thank-you-and-walk-away' move, but she couldn't be bothered. So much for my bargaining skills.

Eventually, I returned to one of the first few shops as they carried an impressive range of bags here. Available were Crumpler Knapsacks to all sorts of sling-type bags in various sizes.

The polite Vietnamese lady manning the shop, which doubled as a home in the back, was clearly helpful in assisting me while I must have spent a good hour choosing my bag there.

Hanoi Crumpler Bag Shop
Crumpler Bag Shop in Hanoi City.

I was sceptical at first due to the uncertainty of the bags - were they fake knockoffs, or were they the real thing.

Research on the Internet showed that most of those who posted information claimed that all the bags were knock-offs, so I casually asked this lady about the authenticity of the bags sold.

Her reply - No, they were not fakes but were, in fact, over-runs or smuggled excess stock made for the local sellers.

Yes, the Crumpler Factory is in Vietnam too. Not that she wanted to reveal her little secret on how they obtain stock, but she was convincing enough.

Close inspection of the bags showed no flaws or errors on any of them. She assured me that if I took this to a Crumpler Store anywhere in the world, you would see that these were the real deal.

Eventually, after carefully choosing a medium-sized sling-type design, I settled for a dark khaki-coloured bag.

The price? I managed to bring it down from VND 600,000 (US$30) to VND 530,000 (US$27), considering I bought only one bag here.

But I told her I would tell all my friends about her shop when they visited Hanoi. By the way, her shop sells bags as you walk from City View or City Bank in the town centre.

Mind you, this was in April 2010, and so far, in the last 7 months, the bag has served me well. No broken zippers or tears as the bag have been well travelled through sun, rain, and sea.

I now regret that I should have bought the Crumpler Knapsack as well. Prices in Malaysia or Singapore are almost three to four times more for these trendy camera bags.

Hanoi LeSportsac Bags
LeSportsac Bags in Hanoi.

If you are looking for a camera bag and visiting Vietnam, Hanoi or HCMC is the place to source for them. Rest assured, you will be spoilt for choices here, but please note that other types of duffel bags, suitcases and knapsacks sold here are primarily knock-offs.

Meaning the top brand bags like Adidas, Jack Wolfskin, Nike and a few others. As for The North Face Bags sold here, I am pretty unsure about them as I never did inquire though I saw several places selling them by the Hoan Kiem Lake.

How do you spot a fake Crumpler Bag?

First, the logo will be a little out of shape, and the stitching will be of poor quality. Next, no name tag is inside, so the inner colour differs from the original bags.

For example - The original 6 Million Dollar Home Bag in blue and black is lime green on the inside, while the fake one comes in other colours. This applies to hard-core bag lovers.

Where to find Crumpler Bags in Hanoi?

Try visiting Shops Number 31-45 along Dinh Tien Hoang Street for the best selection of bags. When I walked around the Old Quarter in Hanoi, I never did see anyone selling these bags, so up to date; they are only found around the lake.

Brands include Crumpler, North Face, LeSportsac, Kipling, Lowepro, Nike, Adidas and more. Quality ranges from medium to excellent, so you hardly see any poor and cheap quality here. Prices are around US$8 to $50+. Bargaining is encouraged here.

For your added info, there are also a couple of shops opposite the Bo Ho Bus Stop with genuine Crumpler Bags available in various sizes.

For those who want to transfer digital images from your camera to DVD, you can try the camera shop next to the KFC in the centre of town where City View is. They are fast and professional.

Hanoi Crumpler Bags
Tons of bags.

You can also read my other articles about the world-renowned Ipa Nima Bags in Hanoi, which are a hit among women and ladies. 

For coffee lovers, I tried the famous Weasel Coffee in Hanoiwhich is a must-try here for anyone who loves coffee and the incredible Vietnamese coffee culture.

For photographers, I also managed to do some night exploration to get some Hanoi Old Quarter at night pictures and pictures of Hanoi Street life picture

Conclusion

My conclusion to buying these bags - If you are on a budget, want to try it out or are suddenly in need of one urgently, this would be your optimum choice.

Finally, if you are shopping for a new camera bag, you can find some perfect camera Crumpler Bags in Hanoi for a reasonable price.

Malaysia Asia

Blogging since 2007, but writing online since 1997. I belong to the 1st generation of worldwide bloggers, which is of course old-school. Since 2008, I created Malaysia Asia and this travel, flood, gadget and lifestyle blog has won numerous physical awards from tourism boards around Malaysia. (Not those online awards). After 12 years of blogging, I have semi-retired and now blog about things I like, do product reviews and enjoy life. My work has been featured in Lonely Planet, CNN Travel, Yahoo Travel, Wall Street Journal, and many other international publications. Find out more about me and thank you.

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