Hi guys, first of a happy newyear to all of you. For over six/seven years I've relied on a Brenthaven laptop/shoulder bag for work. I believe mine is a ProFile 15" Model, its made from durable nylon, features a large padded laptop compartment, a bigger documents compartment with a few dividers and several mesh pockets, a small soft padded compartments for a tickets and/or glasses and finally a nicely sized organiser compartment with loads of pockets, mesh pockets and pen-holders. I really love that last compartment to hold all my smaller items neatily organised. The bag has held up extremely well (only the padding on the shoulder strap has teared a bit). With the introduction of new electronics (iPhone, iPad) and better use of existing technologies (terminal server etc.) I no longer need to bring my laptop hope every night. I usually leave it at work during the week. So the brenthaven bag is just too big/heavy when I don't need to bring my laptop. So I'm in the market for a smaller second bag, but I haven't had much luck finding anything to I like, so I'm turning to the bit-tech community for a few suggestions. Material: needs to hold its shape on its own: preferable thick leather (tan/brown/black), durable black nylon or maybe even thick felt. Size: needs to fit an iPad 2 and can't be larger then A4 Details: iPad compartment and a organising compartment with a lot of smaller pockets Looks: classy/manly, no bright colors on the outside, no purse Should fit: - iPad - Sony Reader - A5 size moleskin - Leatherman Wave multitool - Large folding knife - Small (AA) light - Bank digipass (bank card size and 5mm thick) - A few pens and markers - charging cables, headphones, keys If I find a bag with enough pockets, it's usually too big and the smaller bags lack the organising compartment with pockets. The ones that do fit the bill are cheapily made and won't hold its shape. So please bit-tech, suggest me some bags! Oh, I would prefer something that I can get my hands on in Europe. kind regards, Michiel.
Not sure they do one specially for your needs, but I'd have a look at the Crumpler range - a 13" laptop one will nicely fit an A4 book etc. Very well-made bags.
How about something like http://www.cocooninnovations.com/product_info.php?cat_id=71&product_id=241 to put in to a regular bag you like? or http://www.cocooninnovations.com/product_info.php?cat_id=71&product_id=194
i use a crumpler dig-XL with a grid-it. it has sufficient pockets for my: ipad nook XL moleskine (slightly bigger than A5, i believ it's B5) a dozen assorted pens and pencils my leatherman skeletool sunglasses hand sanitiser inhalers chapstick and a few assorted cables usb charger plug to attach them to the grid-it is out at the moment, but usually has the cables and plug plus a spare usb battery, memory card, reader, usb stick, the little card reader for my online banking. i stuck the cables and plug in a pocket in it and took it out so i could carry my laptop home in it for christmas. It's not the smallest bag, but with all that in it's still very light and has space for me to stuff in my scarf or even a jumper or light jacket. There are smaller versions (i own a Silver Dig too) but they seem to have fewer pockets rather than less space, i've not tried any of the ones intended for 13" laptops. Also, mymemory tend to have them on offer 8 months of the year with up to 50% off, worth a look if you're considering it but put off by the price. most of their stuff is listed on amazon too via the marketplace.
I'm a big fan of the Maxpedition stuff. Not the cheapest and they do have a somewhat 'tactical' look to them but they are built STRONG and will last you for years as well as being full of pockets and pouches.
Although I'm sure they make great bags, I have discarded crumpler and even timbuk2 as they don't look "business"-enough for my work environment. I have thought about adding a grid-it to a different bag, I'm just not convinced they work that well to keep stuff in its place. I've been looking at a Brigs & Riley @work slim bag, although not cheap they don't look so high quality. Also considering Knomo and although it looks very nice, they don't offer that many pockets (but maybe just enough) but look too much like a purse. The grid-it is not too expensive, so I could give it a shot.. and worst case it could sit at home or at the office to organise a drawer. Thanks very much for your suggestions so far. Any other suggestions?
+1 to Krikkit! Crumpler all the way! I've had a Crumpler laptop backpack (sheep scarer) for 7 years now and it's still in great condition despite being lugged around 6 days per week. When I had a 12.5" Acer, I kept it in a sleeve and then inside the crumpler pouch. When I changed to a chunky 15" HP business notebook, the pouch was just about big enough for the naked laptop. There is no other bag manufacturer that I have seen who make a better range than them. That being said, I'm interested in a new one at the moment because the Sheep Scarer was never actually big enough for a 15" laptop and books, files etc, so I'd actually like something bigger now that I have more stuff to carry around.
If you want to overcompensate, there's the Hazard4 Kato. You should be able to find them at any decent army surplus / tactical-gear reseller. http://hazard4.com/products/bags/messenger-bags/kato If you want stealth and modular, there's the Acronym 3A-11TS. It has some nice touches and it has sideways MOLLE/PALS strips. http://www.acrnm.com/collections/tecsys/products/3a-11ts
Hi thanks for those suggestions although they will most likely fit my gear, thats just too tacticool for my business environment (think suits and leather hugo boss briefcases) and too big as well I think I'm just going to get some kind of insert for my briefcase that holds some stuff in place cheers anyways guys I did find some nice looking leather bags/briefcases over at the EDCforums. One that is worth mentioning to us europeans is http://www.auntsanduncles.de/. awesome looking bags (look at the hunter series).
I'm crumpler all the way, there expensive but they do last! my last one was over 6 years old and although it looked a little scruffy (i recommend getting a darker color!) was still holding up well and I only replaced it because I got a much bigger laptop that didn't fit. Also if your put lots of stuff in your bag think about getting a sleeve for your laptop to stop if getting damaged or dirty from the other stuff/crap in your bag.
I'm a big fan of slappa bags, brought one for my bro, 5 years ago, looks like new and one for myself 3 years ago, also like new no fraying nothing. Use mine everyday so does my bro Sent from my GT-I9505 using Tapatalk
Go retro and get a hand made leather satchel... I've got a big-ish brown leather one and get a lot of comments from others asking about it: http://www.zatchels.com/bags/collection-category/executive-collection.html Or the smaller one: http://www.zatchels.com/bags/collection-category/classic-collection/dark-brown-leather-satchel.html
OK, if not overcompensating but going full glorified fannypack there's Vaja. http://www.vajacases.com/ipad-air-leather-cases/large-messenger-bag/leather-messenger-bag-db Oh, and one to avoid: The non-discerning Apple fanboi hipster brand of choice, Hard Graft. They don't know how to make bags.
Thanks for all the reply's. Those tacticool bags are all great but don't fit in my work environment. I've opted to keep my old leather briefcase and fabricating my own organizing insert that keeps my stuff in place. Something like this, but not so bloody expensive: Briefcase Organizer thanks for your help, I am considering one of those aunts and uncles bags, they look awesome.
Eh, if $125 is too expensive the aunts and uncles are surely going to be similar if not more. All the mainstream stuff which won't fall apart in a week is going to be around that, e.g. the Booq Cobra Courier. Wish I could help more but carrying any of these iPad purses is tantamount to having your nadgers hacked off, so I don't use'em.
While I don't have any brands to recommend, I can offer a bit of an opinion related to style. In my opinion, I would opt for something relatively plain - something entirely mundane yet functional. Spending a lot of money on a designer-type messenger bag is just begging to be robbed.
I see that quite often but I find it hard to reconcile the possibility of it happening vs choosing to use gear which looks high end. Maybe it's just where you live and whether you look like a muggable *****, especially carrying a purse
