“Dear Carryology / wondrous source of zen luggage solutions
I have simple needs (or so I thought). All I want is to carry a 17″ MBP and a SLR in the same messenger, without resorting to a bag so gigantic that my grandmother could fit inside. I’m sure I’m not alone, there must be others out there who thought that adding that extra 2″ to their mac wouldn’t hamper things. Oh how wrong we were.
Help us carryology!
Will
(and the silent masses)”
The above was an email that came into our inboxes last week. Something we’re really enjoying here at Carryology is the amount of feedback and contributions that you, the readers, keep putting forward. Whether it’s via the comments or actual emails, it’s been great getting an actual conversation going with fellow carry nuts! As Will was looking for a bag that could cater to his 17inch laptop and a DSLR, some of our contributors got involved and threw round some ideas. So if you’re in the market for a new bag that has to cater to those devices read on…
One solution Johnson had was to “disregard a messenger and instead aim for a backpack, as your options will be broader and you will feel more comfortable with the weight” Some of the backpacks that would work well in a situation are the Quiksilver Grenade (a well priced and feature loaded pack), the Timbuk2 Maverick or if coin is not as constrained, the radical Kata Source-261 PL.
That said, if you are a sold on the idea of a messenger bag for a 17″ laptop and SLR, you could look at the North Face Backpedal (first image below) or Basecamp (second image below). Another option, as pointed out by David, is The Crumpler Brazillion Dollar Home (third photo below). One point Johnson brought up was “if you are not to concerned about the SLR being visible, look for a bag that has daisy chains on the exterior and use a small SLR pouch attached to the bag.”
This is by no means an exhaustive list so if you have a bag that works well with a large laptop and SLR please share it with us in the comments below or email us…
PS Top image from Flickr member Manganite
Subscribe via RSS Feed
I received my new “hide & seek” wallet yesterday from Bellroy. My first new wallet in about 5 years. Being smaller than my ‘usual’ wallet I had to do some re-arranging. So I read your post on “slimming your wallet”. Out went the car rental and airline cards. I scanned all the receipts.
Thoughts; It looks really nice, I like having my some cards hidden out of the way, it is 20% smaller than my last wallet. I have already had a couple of anxiety attacks this morning thinking I have lost my wallet, that 20% makes enough difference for me to notice and think I am not carrying.
I am down to 8 cards, which fit very well, but I think it is one to many for this wallet. I am sure I can ditch one more card.
Thank you, not only for the excellent wallet, but making me think about what I am carrying around with me every day.
Hey Lee,
Thanks for kind words re: the wallet. It’s always really nice to hear that someone is enjoying the product and finding better ways to carry!
Would be great to hear you feedback on it how it’s working for you in a couple of months, and if you got your cards even further down…
Thanks
Bellroy Gang
This is an old thread, but I thought I’d revive it with my own two cents. A little over 2 months ago I purchased a Mission Workshop Rambler and an Ona Any-Bag-Camera-Insert and found it to be a great combination for holding a 13″ Macbook Pro a Wacom Tablet (could snuggly fit a 17″) and 5D Mark II on a daily basis. It stays slim when those are my main items, and expands when I want to carry lunch to work or go grocery shopping on the way home (on a bike). It has also worked fantastically for weekend trips across country and I’m looking forward to putting it to a real travel test in India for a month, for a month.
I had a Kata Digital Rucksack before (DR-466i), and found it to be great for the laptop and camera, but difficult to squeeze in the anything beyond that, especially lunch. The Mission Workshop Rambler is much more versatile and weather proof (no more rain covers for me). Other alternatives that the Mission Workshop has replaced was an Ortlieb Messenger Pro Backpack, which was a great big bucket, but just slightly too big. Great waterproof bag, but didn’t slim down the way the Rambler does. And I don’t need panniers because the Rambler takes that two. So, this one bag has replaced 3 bags for me, high value when compared that way. Definitely agree that backpacks have a better comfort level than messenger bags for the amount of weight that gear puts on.