DrunkenBlog

About that bag on my shoulder...

I've gotten a bunch of mail asking what's on my shoulder in an older post. It's a WaterField Cargo bag, and I'd highly recommend their kit.

I've used them for a long, long time, going back past three years. I just dig their stuff, even if there are some things that aren't quite perfect.

To start, their bags are very, very high quality and very solid in general. Sometimes little touches are missing. As an example, there is a little pouch on the side of the cargo bags that are perfect for sliding an iPod into, but it's just an open slot: no flap. Other bags I've used have the same sort of thing, but are designed with a flap with a hole for your headphones to go through. That sort of thing. It's made for cell phones, but still...

There have also been times when I wish the 'cargo' aspect was a little more customizable. The inside of the cargo has a pouch sewn into the back, so that you can slide your laptop into it, and a little velcro strap then comes down over it.

There are some pouches sewn into the other side of the inside, very narrow, for things like business cards and pens and maybe an iPod or slim PDA. By default there's no real way to partition the inside more, and for such a wide bag the inside is fairly shallow.

It doesn't seem so in the pictures, but much of what you're seeing is the big pouch on the front that flaps over and zips diagonally. It's cavernous really, and when you lift that up you have another thin slot the width of the bag, great for a folder or something, and then great big egg-shaped pouch. It's really easy to end up walking around with this bulging bag because of those, but in terms of square space it's not very large internally.

Which isn't to say there's not a lot of space, just not as much as you might think and you can be limited by the shapes of what you're trying to put in it, which is why it would be nice to be able to partition it a little more. I've really filled this sucker up a few times, and really wished for it. As an example, more than once I've gotten on a plane with a laptop and two full-size firewire drives inside it. When you add in all the power adapters and cables, eventually stuff was just going loose into the bag.

I could have bought some stiff foam and made my own partitions, and probably would have at some point, but usually bags in this price range take that sort of thing into account. There's also a story in there about how I was once made to go into a back room and set them all up, and show that they worked...

Still, to go back to what I was saying before: For the size of the bag, the interior is fairly shallow.

With the laptop in it, I'm basically able to fit in a lapbottom thing I use between the portable and, well, my lap, but that's about it.

When I had the Firewire drives in there, it mostly worked because I could stand them up and only needed a few inches of width. Just don't count on big amounts of contiguous space for this size of a bag.

I mentioned I've hauled a lot of stuff in it, and if you start doing the math, I was carrying quite a bit of poundage on my shoulder. If you ever wonder why the product category for ultralight laptop exists, its because some people have to carry the damn thing around, and the difference of a pound here and there can start to make a big difference. You throw a laptop, a few magazines and folders, let alone a few books and adapters, and you'll notice this bag on your shoulder.

Part of it is that it's just a well-made bag, with thick materials, and the other part is that it's so well made it can carry that poundage without ripping apart, so you're tempted to do so even though you're swearing by the time you're halfway across the airport. The stitching on their bags probably has to be seen to be believed, let alone how the zippers work or how the straps connect.

With the addition of the extra-wide, non-slip and very comfortable shoulder strap you can get yourself into a false sense of security in terms of weight. It sneaks up on you, until halfway through the day when you're sure you're going to return home minus a shoulder. The hand-straps might as well be welded on.

Probably the worst thing that can be said about this bag is that for the price, one might be surprised it isn't a hard case or leather. There's something to be said for that, as hard cases can take a serious beating and I'd much rather be caught in the rain with my laptop in a hard case versus a soft. However, for a soft case, these things are rugged.

I mentioned the thickness of the materials, but the weave of the materials itself is the big deal. It's 'ballistic nylon', and yes, in sufficient quantities is the stuff used for some types of bulletproof vests.

It's sufficiently padded so that you wouldn't freak out about dropping it with a notebook inside, especially if it was inside a sleeve and then slipped inside the bag. The density of the weave also means that while it isn't waterproof, you won't freak out at a short walk through a small drizzle.

It's hard to really do these bags justice, as you really have to be using one for awhile, and then try another, to get an idea of the small touches that make them kick so much ass.

Part of it is their heritage of messenger-style bags, which means they're meant to be operated one-handed. While you might not be balancing on a bike, this makes a big difference when you're trying to pull out a scrap of paper or gadget while you've got a big cup of coffee in your other hand.

The shoulder strap is a good a good example: it's wide and well padded, but the way it's designed allows you to slide the bag from behind you or your side up to the front without the pad on your shoulder moving at all. Seems stupid, and while yes other bags do it, none seem to do it quite so well. On the cargo bags there's a little clamp on one end to easily allow you to adjust the length of the strap which can make a big difference, and even an attachment to turn the thing into a messenger-style strap.

A gold lining to make black cables or well, anything stick out at you is another example. It sound stupid, but most bags are black inside, and when you're trying to find something in a bag under dim lighting, everything blends in. Little touches like that that you kind of stop noticing but do make a difference.

If there was one real issue that comes up with the cargo bag it's with the buckle, which is both its coolest and most annoying feature.

First of all, the buckle is cool as hell. It's an aluminum aircraft seat belt buckle, which isn't something you see on a bag every day. Those who know me know when it comes to this sort of thing I'm susceptible to the "ooOOoo, shiny" syndrome, which is why I don't discount it when others go down that road. The only way I can be more heavily suckered in are big shiny metal knobs on hardware.

So, the buckle is cool. People will want to check it out. However, the buckle actually kinda sucks in use.

The idea of the buckle is simple; you can easily flip it open with one hand, lift the flap and get at the other pouches underneath it. The problem is that I end up walking around with the buckle undone until I notice the chinking sound and redo it. It isn't that I haven't clicked it closed, it's that it just comes undone so damn easily.

If you've flown a lot I'm sure you've noticed how while moving around, somehow your seat belt came undone. This is good I guess if you're having to get the hell out of the plane onto the runway under an emergency, but just about anything will undo this buckle, partly because it's positioned up and not down. Your arm sliding across it accidently, grazing a wall or a door, or even someone else in the crowd to get to where you're going.

I dunno. It's cool as hell, but half the time isn't acting as a buckle.

I also mentioned that it's not leather, which is really the only place the wear and tear is starting to show a bit. You graze your hand over any threaded material long enough, and it's going to to start to get a little... fuzzy. This isn't really noticeable on the black parts, but on the front checkerboard area it is.

And yes, I got the 'taxi' color. Don't know why, I just dug it, but 'lead' was a close second. Then again, I also kinda dug the tangerine iMac too, and most people thought it looked terrible.

It's also lost a bit of it's 'shape', but that's somewhat to be expected with how I've stuffed it sometimes.

If you couldn't tell, I don't have a lot to complain about. And any problems I do have with how this one is configured could be solved for someone else by picking one of their other offerings, with the exception of just wanting a big block of space.

When I picked the one from the picture up over three years ago, I got it as a nice combo set which got you the cargo bag, shoulder strap, laptop sleeve and cable bag. Things have changed a bit, generally for the better. For starters, the cost of their combo sets has gone down I think... and some of the options have changed around the sleeves.

The sleeve I got with my mine is great, and as far a sleeves go provides a lot of protection. However, it's open at the top with just a strap keeping the laptop in, and now you can get them with flaps. It's a thick strap, with several square inches of velcro, so it's secure. Still, while it makes it easy to pull it out, a slap would be nice.

And, well, it's just a sleeve. It's fantastic for just hopping somewhere and using your portable on battery power, but when you want to bring the adapter...

They've beefed up the offering for the sleeve, too. They now offer a version with shoulder straps, and more importantly a version with a pouch that can be attached for carrying along things like the Power adapter. I want one of these pretty bad, as there really are a lot of times when you don't want to take a bigger bag, but also need to have the ability to charge and such along with you.

You can also pay a little extra now and get a leather flap for your cargo back instead of one of the checkerboard colors, which should help a bit with the wear and tear I mentioned, or just class the thing up if that's your thing.

If there were two things I'd want to improve about them, it'd be some form of water protection for the internal laptop area, and doing something about that damn buckle. Luckily that buckle only exists on the cargo models, which means it's a non-issue for some of the others.

I do sometimes fret about ever being caught in the open if it starts to rain, but I suppose you could buy a waterproof sleeve for your portable and then slide that into your bag.

Bags are fairly personal things to people, and some can get hooked on a particular style. There are a lot of good bags out there, by some good manufacturers. I can just vouch that while these bags are fairly pricey, they are insanely well made and will last a long, long time, and I don't really give praise lightly.

If you're in the market, and you have the dough, chances are you'll be just as happy with one.

 Posted by drunkenbatman
    February 12, 2005, at 08:47 PM