What Backpack do you use?

This is a gamble of a post, but we wanted to do something different to creating another post in a ‘from us to you’ style. Plus, we’re keen to see if we can expose any new brands or crazy looking backpacks…

So, what we want to know is what backpack you’re currently using. And how. Easy, right? seeing as you probably have a phone on camera… Well, take a shot (please aim for landscape if possible) of your backpack (either wearing it or sitting by itself) and email the shot to us along with the brand and style of the backpack and three points on why you like it. Keep it short enough unless you really do write well, and then fire a good yarn at us.

Is that easy enough for you? For every image and description we get, we will post it up here in this article. And if you have a twitter or website, let us know so we can credit the shot to you.

Go! Email all images and descriptions to info@carryology.com
To make it easy, I’ll go first with my back pack below…

1/ Incase :: Nylon Backpack
*It’s got an amazing organization structure on the inside – so many neat pockets, etc
*I love the laptop holding area and it’s faux fur lining
*There is a neat little secret hidden pocket for my passport or other items

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2/ MEC Dragonfly 17 Daypack.

Scott Baldwin is first cab off the rank with submitting his MEC Dragonfly 17 Daypack

“Small enough not to stop you carrying too much stuff but also large enough to fit a 15″ Macbook Pro, a book and some other basics when I travel. It’s light, has easily accessible pockets and a handy strap system to hold a board or coat.”

Scotty’s twitter handle is @benry if you want to chase him up about the bag…

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3/ Tom Bihn Imago

The Imago is what Jesse from Seattle is currently using.

It’s just the right size for my notebook, keys, wallet, reader, multi-tool and gloves. There’s even room for anything else I pick up through the day. Bihn makes amazing quality bags right here in Seattle. I got my Imago at the ’store’, really just a room next to the production sewing room and was let in by Tom himself.

Jesse has a Tumblr happening if you want to follow him or even ask him some questions about the Imago

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4/ Tom Bihn Smart Alec

The Smart Alec from Tom Bihn is what Brian Stowell is currently using when touring round with bands selling merchandise.

I rock Tom Bihn’s Smart Alec as my backpack. I tour with a band doing merchandise and I make my bag earn it’s keep. It always contains a plethora of items including:
- Canon Rebel XT with a Sigma 17-70 f/2.8 lens attached
- Canon 50mm f/1.8 for backup
- all of the appropriate cables, connectors, CD cards, chargers, external drives, and the like.
- Thermos brand Stainless King travel mug (best coffee mug ever)
- mini first aid kit
- laptop, toothbrush, work gloves, passport, cash, change, business cards, pens, sharpies

It’s really amazing what I manage to cram in this bag and still be comfortable carrying it for extensive distances. Tom Bihn’s products come highly recommended.

Brian has a pretty neat Tumblr happening if you want to follow him or even ask him some questions about the Smart Alec.

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5/ Belkin Sling Bag & REI Flash 18 Pack

Paul has decided to share two backpacks with us. He had trouble seperating the two, seeing as he uses one for work and one for play.

Belkin Sling Bag

“This is my daily work bag. For years I had used messenger style bags but when my girlfriend gave me her old one I took a liking to its slim design. It has actually pushed me more into liking backpacks in general (even if it is a sling bag technically).

– MacBook Pro 15″, notepad and various small, everyday carry items

- the included cable pouch, which is long but thin to match the bag and holds my portal hard drive and your usual suspects of cables.

There is room for the occasional extra item or two, but anything bulky fills it up and can make it difficult to close. Great for a train commuter such as myself, provided you don’t need to carry much more than a laptop and some accessories.”

REI Flash 18 Pack

“This is my hiking and recreational daypack. It handles a water bladder and has two netted pockets for small accessories on the inside, but otherwise it is a simple top loaded bag that gives up organization for a smaller frame and lighter weight. It can be turned inside out, creating a stuff sack. When used with a larger bag it can be an organized stuff sack inside the larger bag, then pulled out and turned into a daypack.

It easily carries my Ten Essentials, plus lunch and a jacket. It lacks structure when mostly empty and it isn’t the most padded daypack out there, but it is simple and very light.”

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6/ Goruck GR1

The Goruck GR1 is the bag owned by Gregory Nelson, who has some real neat photos on his Tumblr. He claims the strong points of the GR1 are:

*strong, versatile, well constructed, durable, load bearing and comfortable

*tactically inspired yet minimal design

*clamshell opening provides full access to versatile interior layout

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7/ Slicks Suit 25

One of our contributors has decided to weigh in on the ‘What Backpack are you using?’ debate with his recently Road Tested Slicks Suit 25 Backpack. Below are the three things Ando is digging about it:

*Squarish format swallows work related stuff for travel or commuting

*It has a suit folder included that keeps those fancy velour lounge suits of mine pristine

*It’s very black, which works a treat for rocking up to work commitments.

Related posts:

1. Road Test | Incase Nylon Backpack
2. Backpack or Messenger?
3. Thinking of buying a messenger/backpack/wallet?

Carrying keys bites – Ideas to make it bite less

Keys scratch your phone, cut holes in your pockets, and jangle when you’re trying to get all stealth in the corner of that party. The sooner we all have auto-remote-star-trek-access-thing the better, but in the meantime, we want to cover some ways of dealing with the peskily little things.

Below are a few, but we’re aware that you guys will have seen better. We’d love to hear about them…

Nothing revolutionary, but it is kinda cute. Oh, and Jack Spade have stopped making it (making way for the apparel line), but it should be easy to get creative and do something similar.

Going for the organising angle of carrying…

A personal hack using a multi-tool handle. A trick amongst the EDC crew, it’s becoming more popular.

Sugru is a mouldable silicon wonder stuff that you can shape to any form. This is a first try, which we want to go back and improve.

This special branded Leatherman from Vendor could easily be appropriated for carrying keys. We then we found someone who did something fairly similar.

http://blog.parabellumcollection.com/collection/fobpouch

This Fob Pouch from Parabellum is possibly a little over the top for most, but you have to appreciate the texture haha..
Or you can just design a better key, which also helps…

Remember those whistling key-rings? We remembered them as being awesome, and brought them back for one of the brands we worked with. Turns out they suck as they keep misfiring

Another thought is better pockets. I have some Quiksilver shorts with a little ‘sub pocket’ inside the main, which works a treat for keeping keys and coins better contained.

Other thoughts? Has anyone solved this properly?

Silly note: Most crew thankfully keep keys hidden in a pocket or handbag. Your alternative is of course the keyring hung on your belt loop. This externally worn keyring is perhaps one of life’s great ironies – those that want to look important herd keys as a symbol of all the doors they have the power to open. Those that actually have power, seem to have all the locks changed to just their key. We are favouring keys being out of sight. You should too.

Related posts:

1. Carrying Bike Locks

5 Reasons I can’t find a great messenger bag

If you want to view the full sized poster, click [HERE]

I really want a great messenger bag. I love how fast they are to access stuff, and I think they suit a workplace way better than backpacks (which in my opinion often look too ‘young’ and geeky).

But while I have fallen in love with concept of a messenger, the reality generally bites. There’s a few key things that frustrate me about them. Not least the fact that my hairless mexican cat cannot get comfortable in one while we are traveling, and so I am yet to find any messengers that have really solved all these issues.

Here’s my list of things I want fixed. And to all those bag designers that read Carryology, we’d love you to agree, disagree, or just design a messenger that solves these issues!

Reason 1: Most brands are too similar

Remove the logos, and it’s pretty hard to tell which messengers are from which brands. A big flap, a couple of buckles, some velcro, a shoulder pad, and either black or some pop brights.

Compare this to the world of backpacks, where you have every configuration, size, look and shape. Messengers still have a long way to go in creating some unique looks that leave me feeling special.

Reason 2: Shoulder pain

We humans are symmetrical creatures, but unfortunately messengers are not. The single strap carrying doesn’t affect you too badly if you’re carrying light loads, but once you start to fill the bag, your body gets tweaked with all sorts of badness.

I’d love a way to balance the load when I’m carrying lots. Pull out, fold out; whatever will work without getting clumsy.

Reason 3: Shoulder straps are getting smaller

The early Crumpler bags padded the entire strap. It was deluxe. Grab it any which way, any way up, and it worked.

Now messenger brands give you either a tiny little sliding pad, or they make you commit to being a lefty or a righty, and never allow you to swap.

Reason 4: They are not so laptop friendly

Look at the curves on your hips and back. Now look at a laptop. Why would you try and put those 2 things next to each other? Almost all laptop messengers stick it against the back wall, which happens to also be against your body. Crap.

Reason 5: Internal pocketing generally sucks

This one is harder to explain, but really important. You know when your Tetris L block gets dropped the wrong way, and no other blocks can get down beside or under it?

That’s what happens with messenger front pockets if you have books or laptops in the bag. Any old camera or power-pack in the front pocket can ‘lock-out’ the rest of the space beside it. It sucks.

Did I miss something?

Can anyone explain that number 5 reason better?

Do you have a new messenger that will ease my frustration and help my cat?

Related posts:

1. Make Your Own Messenger
2. Thinking of buying a messenger/backpack/wallet?
3. Backpack or Messenger?

If you want the full sized version of the poster click [HERE]

Finding a bag you like the look of is probably your starting point, but there’s then a bunch of less obvious things that can make a huge difference to how much enjoyment you get from your backpack or messenger.

We’ve built this list through failure. Amongst the Carryology gang, we’ve probably owned, borrowed or used over 300 bags, and most of those went wrong in some way or another. We’re hoping this post will help you avoid some of those fails.

We expand on specifics after the jump…

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Shape:

The best bag shape generally resembles the contents you carry with it. That means that briefcases are square like the folders and papers you keep in them. Or hiking packs are usually round with biomorphic shapes, like the clothing and supplies you cram in to them. If you bring a trekking optimised bag in to an office environment, it’s going to look out of place.

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Pocketing:

External: External pockets best suit items you need on the run, things like sunglasses, tunes, food & books. This not only helps with convenience, it also limits what prying eyes can see when you are retrieving items.

Internal: If you’re reaching for an internal pocket, you really want to be at your destination, or have plenty of time and space, because you’ll need to open the bag up.

While lots of pockets are great for organising items, you don’t want to be opening 5 different zip pockets each time you arrive at your desk. A good trick is to have one zip or velcro flap open your access to several divided pockets.  Yeah, that’s getting geeky.

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Sections:

If you want to carry a helmet, a climbing rope, or a watermelon, you need a large main compartment. However if all you have are large compartments, you’ll find that your bananas tend towards a brown puree mush at the bottom of them.

The best sections can grow or contract as needed. Look out for neoprene gusseting or loose walls that allow this to happen. Good pocketing can also help avoid mashed bananas.

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Layout:

If you’ve gone for a bag with loads of compartments and pockets, make sure they are reasonably transparent or intuitive (mesh or clear walls work well on internal pockets). If not, you’ll need a killer memory or a lot of time spent searching.

Pockets and sections for delicate things should always be high up, to avoid having items wedge against or atop of them.

And if your pack or messenger is built for a laptop, beware if it’s against the back panel. When you ride or skate, your back wants to bend, and that laptop is not going to.

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Access:

Top access is best if you put the bag down beside you and work from it (many work/study/school bags). This lets you leave most items in the bag, and only retrieve them when needed (using the bag like a desk cabinet).

Front access is great for a travel bag, where you often put it on a bed or chair and open it right up to arrange contents. This is more like a suitcase opening.

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Shoulder Straps:

Thick straps distribute load much better, spreading it across each shoulder (dense foam also helps do this). But these attributes tend to lock in the heat, leaving you with sweaty reminders of your activity.

Narrow straps and/or thin ventilated straps reduce the sweat issue, but will cut in and irritate with any major load carrying.

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Waist Strap:

OK, we’re going to get really geeky here… lets make this fine print:

In trekking packs, waist belts are designed to take a significant proportion of the load and rest it directly on your hips. This works because the packs have a semi rigid frame, allowing the waist strap to ‘hold the pack up’. When this waist strap element is brought across to smaller day packs, their soft nature means the pack will just slump until the shoulder straps take up the weight again. So don’t expect much load bearing from a waist strap unless your pack has some rigidity.

Having said all that, a waist strap (and a sternum strap) can help improve stability, reducing the amount the pack can bounce around. The downside? By locking the pack to you, you also lock yourself to the pack, reducing your ability to bend and twist. We recommend them for larger day packs, but suggest finding ones that can tuck away when not needed.

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Yep, so we’ve probably gone in to way too much detail there. But if you’re still with us, check out some of our other posts on our favourite versatile messengers and backpacks for some bags that tick most of these boxes.

Related posts:

1. Our favourite versatile backpacks
2. What Makes a Good Backpack Strap?
3. Incognito laptop cases

Great tangle effort from Michael

How do you deal with earbud tangles?

What do you do with your earbuds when not using them?

If you sport anything with an ‘i’ in front of it, you probably have a set of earbuds that are kept at close quarter– ready for tunes, calls, or a quick YouTube laugh.

But when being stashed, they usually end up tying themselves in knots in a pocket or pouch, ready to frustrate your next effort.

Some of our favourite solutions so far are from Budtrap or Lifehacker, but we reckon there’s an even better way out there… we just can’t find it.

No related posts.

Related posts:

1. The Moleskine Wallet
2. Wallet Shapes & Functions