Written by I’ve taken a great new job in downtown San Diego. It’s a big step up in salary, responsibility and upward mobility potential. Downtown San Diego is very close to North Park San Diego so my commute will be about 3 miles instead of ~16 miles in heinous traffic. I’m very happy all around.
One of the many things I want to do to in preparation for this new gig is to get a new bag. I just got one with my new Dell Inspiron 6000 but I don’t really like it.
What I’m looking for is a messenger style bag with a lot of style and functionality. This shouldn’t be that tough of a job but it’s amazingly difficult. Either I’m just too particular or most of the bags on the market are crap. My guess is that a certain percentage of both is the truth.
The purpose of a bag is to tote my stuff right? With that in mind I’ve decided that the way to define what I want in the functionality department is to define what I want to put in the bag.
Here’s my day to day list:
- Sunglasses
- Wallet
- PDA (I hope to get a smart phone someday)
- Cell phone
- iPod
- Pens and Moleskine
- Portable office supplies
- Various other personal products (gum, chapstick, etc.)
- Laptop and charger (occasionally)
I need quick access to my sunglasses, phone, wallet, PDA and iPod. Hopefully Treo will come out with the 670 in Windows Mobile version soon so I’ll have one less gadget to tote. I’d also like a place to carry a bottle of water.
The functionality of the bag must be determined by what I need to store and how quickly I need to access it. Comfort and the ability to carry the bag fully laden are also big considerations. Price is, of course, a factor but functionality and comfort will rate higher than price.
So far I’m leaning toward the Timbuk2 Commute XL and some much less expensive alternatives from www.googlestore.com. The Timbuk2 doesn’t have enough easy access to everything so I’m on the fence. I can put a cell phone carrier on the strap so I’m covered there, the sunglasses can go into one of the mesh pockets and I can use the other pocket for water. My main concern is where to put my PDA & wallet so I can get them quickly.
Neither of the inexpensive bags from Google are a messenger style bag. One is a backpack and the other is more of a briefcase. Both seem well constructed and are cool looking. Neither is expensive.
I’ve run through the entire ebags.com and still haven’t found something that really works for me. My quest will continue and I’ll report my findings here.