Owala Daily Crossbody 1L Review

Whether you’re walking on the beach, hitting an amusement park, or taking in a local game, there’s a good chance you’ll need a small bag to hold the essentials. Most of us aren’t wearing pants with enough pockets to hold everything we need, especially if you have a larger phone. Besides, it’s much nicer to sit in the car or bus without a wallet and phone digging into your backside.

You might know Owala from their water bottles, but did you know they make bags, too? The Owala Daily Crossbody 1L is made for the daily essentials, and to help you stay hydrated, with a built-in carabiner to hold your favorite bottle. How does it work in real life? We’ve been carrying it everywhere to find out.

External Components

The exterior of the Owala Daily Crossbody 1L is polyester. You have your choice between ripstop (which we have) or smooth weave (which is available in more colors). We like the texture of the raised ripstop design, but if you’d rather have blue, black, or something on the pinker side, you’ll have to go with the smooth design. There’s a coral color available in both textures, and the ripstop also comes in beige and gold if you prefer. Owala being Owala, that’s not actually what the colorways are called: We’re testing Coral Reef, the beige is Oat Latte, and the blue is Wavelength, just to name a few.

In some of the colorways, the strap is in a contrasting shade or color, and in all of them, the Owala brand name is a different hue on the front to help it stand out. We like all of the available designs and think there’s something out there to appeal to everyone.

Hardware is handled by a YKK Vislon zipper, which has chunky teeth that mesh well with our ripstop design. It’s durable, easy to use, and we have no issues with it, even around the corners. YKK also makes the smaller zippers on the back panel and the interior pocket, and we’re happy they’re less obtrusive than the main compartment zipper.

There’s a Duraflex buckle on the strap, a flat model that’s attached close to the bag to keep it from digging into your back. The strap attaches to fat paracords on either side of the sling. You can shift it up or down depending on how you want to carry the bag, but we didn’t find much difference in the carry, no matter where it was located; most of the time, it just works its way back to the center.

The strap is unpadded but wide and soft, so it doesn’t scratch or dig into your shoulders, even if you’re carrying a water bottle. How do you fit a water bottle in a 1L sling? You don’t. Instead, Owala includes an S-style carabiner on one paracord so you can connect the handle of your (presumably Owala-branded) water bottle.

It works, and we have no issue with functionality. However, we’re not a huge fan of connecting our Owala FreeSip Water Bottle or any large bottle this way. Surprisingly, it’s not because it makes the strap dig into your shoulder. It does press in further, but it doesn’t get uncomfortable. However, your bottle swings around as you walk, and our tester found that it hit her hips regularly. Another Pack Hacker Team Member routinely carries a bottle like this with another 1L sling at local soccer games (by sliding the strap through the bottle handle), and he has no issues. However, he holds the bottle still with his hand while it’s on the sling as he walks. The other issue using the carabiner with the Owala FreeSip specifically is that flipping the handle up exposes the button to open the top. It could accidentally pop open if it hits your hip or something else just right. It’s not super likely, but it’s possible.

However, the carabiner can be a nice addition if you want to carry a collapsible water bottle as you explore a theme park or keep your hand sanitizer handy instead of packing it in your bag. And if you don’t like the carabiner, just take it off.

Fit Notes

With its small size and form factor, the Owala Daily Crossbody 1L is comfortable on just about anyone. There’s no padding on the strap, but we don’t miss it on a 1L bag. You might, if you add a full 32-ounce water bottle to the strap, but frankly, we notice the bottle bumps us more than how it feels on the shoulder strap. Without a bottle attached, the sling is comfortable whether it’s on your front or back, and it’s easy to switch between them as the case allows. It’s also small enough to wear as a waist pack, if you prefer.

You get that flexibility of carry since the straps aren’t set in a fixed position, though that does mean that it doesn’t stay in place as the perfect chest bag. Still, it tends to settle in a comfortable position, so we don’t mind.

The aesthetics are bright and fun, though you can get it in black if you want something more subtle. We like the flash of color on the brighter colorways, but they definitely make more of a statement than blend into the crowd. What you want in your small sling is up to you, but there should be a colorway to match your style.

Inside The Sling

Even though it’s a small sling, you’re not giving up organizational features with the Owala Daily Crossbody 1L. A zippered pocket encompasses the entire back side of the sling. It’s good for a wallet and cash, your phone, or your passport. While the back panel has a double layer of material (the external polyester and the internal nylon lining), it lacks padding, so flatter gear does best back here if you don’t want it poking into your back or chest.

The main compartment opens horseshoe-style on the front of the bag. The zipper runs two-thirds of the way down each side, so we were a little concerned about gear falling out if we opened it while walking, but despite doing so multiple times on a power walk, we never had an issue.

There are three pockets inside to hold small gear. Against the front panel is a large zippered pocket. We used it for our phone most of the time, but it also works well for sunglasses or keys. That’s because the short key leash is in this pocket. However, it’s at the end of the zipper track, so we often pulled it out of the pocket, stuck our phone or sunglasses inside, and left our keys hanging on the clip outside it. How you choose to utilize the organization is up to you.

On the opposite side, against the back panel, are two mesh pockets. The one on the left is slightly wider than the one on the right, so it can hold a minimalist wallet. We used the smaller one for lip balm and hand sanitizer.

Once you fill all of the pockets, there’s not much room remaining in the middle, but there is some. Use it for a small pill case, a packable tote bag, or a small battery bank and cord if you haven’t tucked it somewhere else. This 1L bag is really just for the essentials, but if you can get yourself down to basics, it works well. Everything is easy to access on the go, and it’s comfortable to wear for hours, even on bare shoulders. So, if you’re looking for a bag to take to an amusement park, a local festival, or the farmer’s market—whether or not you want to carry a water bottle at the same time—it’s a great option. And hey, if you are standing still or sitting at a ball game and there aren’t any cup holders, the bottle clip will certainly come in handy.