Carryology » satchels

Choosing a Carry Quiver

Leather — Fri, 20 May 2011 01:47:34 +0000

Choosing a Carry Quiver

At Carryology, we spend much of our lives searching for better ways to carry. We figure that when you have your tools and toys close at hand, you’re more likely to explore the world with confidence and curiosity, and that sounds like a key ingredient to a happy life.

As frequent customers of Rushfaster, we worked with them on creating a guest post for their blog based around picking out a carry quiver from their range. You can peek the article over on their blog HERE. We assumed that this quiver would be for a working person who may need to carry a laptop, a few digital toys, travels a bit, and mixes work and play.

With that in mind, here goes…

Main Backpack

This is a go to pack that will work on a bike, train or plane. It can carry gear for work and an after hours activity, and then double for an overnight trip with the basics.

Chrome is a San Fran brand built with bikes in mind. This means you get great water-resistance, an ability to swallow larger loads, and a bit of street cred in the mix. Their Ivan Roll-top is a larger pack, with the smaller option called the Pawn. Did you see our review on the Ivan?

Peek the Chrome Ivan at Rushfaster.

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With Laptop Sleeve

Because the Chrome Ivan was originally designed with bike couriers in mind, you need a padded sleeve if you’re going to haul a laptop around. The front zip pocket works a treat to slip a sleeve into though, so it’s pretty easy.

Incase is another Californian brand, with close ties to Apple. While we’d normally pick a portrait oriented sleeve for a backpack (easier access for a pack’s vertical format), we settled for the landscape Coated Canvas sleeve that feels deluxe and will work well in messenger bags. (not ideal for a backpack being in landscape format, but we like the mud!)

Peek the Incase Laptop Sleeve at Rushfaster

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Small Satchel (It’s European!)

There’s times when a big pack just feels unwieldy. If you’re carrying an iPad, a bit of food and a document or book, there’s nothing like a small satchel to stay discreet.

All The Kings Men is a tiny brand with a long history of making really neat shoulder bags. Based in Melbourne, their iconic messenger bags/satchels were one of the front runners of the return to urban bags. These age really well, and are just large enough to cover a work day’s worth of stuff.

Peek the ATKM Satchel at Rushfaster

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Weekender/Duffel

Weekender bags are really tricky to do well. A good weekender should let you escape for a few nights without looking like it’s a work trip. We think wheeled cabin bags belong in airports, and if you’re going leather, you generally need to spend a bomb for something that looks good. This is where duffel or utility based bags can work well; they give you that relaxed feel, without spending a fortune.

The North Face Base Camp Duffels are a classic, having been hauled up countless big walls and through plenty of deep swamps. They’ll last you years, and become more credible with the more abuse they receive.

Peek The North Face duffle at Rushfaster

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Wallet

Big wallets are really not cool. They bulge and skew your trousers, throw your back out, and announce to the world that you are totally unorganised. In wallets, small is the only way to go.

When it comes to wallet brands, we have to admit we are a little biased, as some of our contributors also work and design for Bellroy. But if you’re after a small wallet that can still carry up to 15 or so cards, some cash, and show you appreciate a little craft, then we love the Slim Sleeve.

Peek the Slim Sleeve wallet at Rushfaster

Of course we have MANY more bags, wallets and travel pieces than the above. But as a starting point, we think you’d be pretty stoked with these.

Dig or Diss | 2 Way Straps

Leather — Sat, 21 Aug 2010 12:39:50 +0000

Dig or Diss | 2 Way Straps

So this is a Dig. We are digging anyone who is making messenger with 2 way straps..

Kinda funny to think that some brands create messengers (or bags that work better with them) with out 2 way straps. It’s a no brainer really, bags that have 2 way straps are just that much easier to work with. Being able to adjust your load, the length of the strap and the ability to make it fit to your shape are all factors that we take into consideration when carrying.

What are some the best bags you have used that have 2 way straps?

The Department of Goods

Leather — Tue, 22 Jun 2010 10:10:13 +0000

Some really cheap (but really good) bags

Backcountry.com is a pretty neat online retailer for all sorts of outdoor gear. They’ve had an outlet concept for awhile, which has recently jumped back to our attention with a fancy rebranding to The Department Of Goods.

After spending an embarrassing amount of time drooling through it, we’ve picked out a few of the gems…

Note: This site is best for USA based viewers, but these guys do deliver internationally as well.

Snow packs
We can’t even imagine how many of these packs exist in the world… the Heli Pro is a neat allrounder for hiking some turns or beating around town remembering those turns. Price: $53.97

Ortovox are one of the best respected brands in avalanche gear, having earned their reputation through decades of dependable product. This is a women specific snowpack. Price: $77.97

Work bags
The Metro is one of our all time favorites for affordable work packs. Great organising, slim profile, but with surprising room for expansion. Price: $31.98

A bit of a Jack of all trades, the Blade works well for a travelling business person looking for a versatile carry-all. Price: $104.97

And if you would prefer a messenger, there’s a great value Timbuk2. We’ve been abusing one of these for a year now, and it’s still kicking along strong. Price: $83.97

Quinze & Milan x Eastpak | WEIRD

Leather — Thu, 18 Mar 2010 00:53:29 +0000

Ummm, can’t say I’m too sure about which category this fits into – Carry vs Weird. But hey, whatever tickles your fancy right?

Anyway, Eastpak, makers of bags and other assorted carry items have teamed up with Quinze and Milan, makers of fine furnitue, to produce the ‘Built To Resist’ Collection. Now if you’re like me you will need some to catch you breath from laughing before having a good look at the piece above…

Upon further inspection this def seems like a piece that is function over fashion. It’s got all the bells and whistles in term of storage and comfort – I mean look how much fun those people are having, it’s gotta be good right?

The ‘Built To Resist’ collection combines quinze & milan shapes with authentic eastpak product characteristics, including bags, zippers, handles, colorful strong fabrics and popular prints.

Check out more over at DesignBoom

Furoshiki – The simple wrapping square

ando — Wed, 03 Feb 2010 06:56:58 +0000

Simple is kinda nice…

For all our love of feature rich bags, there’s times when the Ikea bag or a simple wrap forms the perfect carry aid.

So here’s a little look in to the timeless art of Furoshiki – that beautiful Japanese way to carry things using a simple fabric square.

After the jump…

The Japanese Ministry for the Environment launched Mottainai Furoshiki in 2006 as an initiative to reduce waste. This Furoshiki was the key message piece.

Furoshiki for many Japanese are like skate decks for many street artists – an amazing canvas to get creative on.

And then there’s the Furoshiki inspired products:

Seto's Furoshiki laptop wrap

Sorry for teasing – unfortunately this is no longer available

And a PSP cover from WaSaBi

Yeah, that’s probably enough for now…

If you want to explore more, furoshiki.com has a number of good resources, YouTube is gold as always, and Kirai has a few good basics.

We’d love to know if you guys have any favourite tricks with Furoshiki inspiration?

To kick it off, the top photo is of my better half, carrying our BYO wine with a head scarf. When finished carrying, the scarf goes back around her hair.

Anatomy of a good bag

Hadrien — Wed, 27 Jan 2010 11:31:50 +0000

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.

Our favourite versatile messenger bags

ando — Mon, 18 Jan 2010 06:46:58 +0000

For a full size version of the poster click [HERE]

A good messenger bag will let you live at the intersection of worlds

A good messenger bag lets you hop between places, accessing on the go. While not great for extended periods of carrying, they make up for that in convenience. While the original messengers were not much more than simple sacks, the recent trend of adding a few more pockets helps you deal with your abundance of modern gadgets.

“People who live in the intersection of social worlds are at higher risk of having good ideas.”– Ronald S. Burt

We’ve pulled together a number of messengers that we think offer good performance in a variety of environments. These messenger bags should all:

Work well both in the office (or university), as well as getting to and from it. If you work amongst pin-stripe suits, you may want to check some other more formal bags (Jack Spade & Mandarina Duck have nice options).
Carry all your indispensable bits of technology, including a laptop (some of these need a sleeve, but we’ll let you know which ones).
Let you jump on a plane, train or big boat, and explore the world. This requires an ability to expand for clothing, food, and really big headphones.

More discussion on the bags after the jump…

We’ve arranged the bags according to where you are most demanding; work/study or activities. We’ll start with the more work oriented bags:

Hard Graft 2 Unfold

Positives: A huge number of configurations, beautiful leather and details with old world craft, still pretty rare and unique.

Negatives: That deluxe Nappa leather doesn’t leave all that much space for your actual contents (better suits minimal packers), and they’re not great straps if you want to raise a sweat.

http://shop.hardgraft.com/bags/2unfold-laptop-bag-brown

Incase Nylon messenger

Positives: Covers all the basics at an affordable price (in most countries), various size options (we like the mid), a great silhouette, and minimal dangly bits.

Negatives: Having pockets only on the front of a satchel is inefficient (a power-pack can ‘fill’ the satchel), no compression options, and the componentry is only ‘good enough’. If you up-spec to their more premium bags, they start to get pretty fussy and lose the essence of a messenger.

Crumpler Cashmere Blazer

Positives: Really dialed and refined construction, durable, looks after all the basics, good padding.

Negatives: There’s no great innovations, the Crumpler brand is a little NQR these days (especially European Crumpler which is managed by different crew), and you might end up feeling like a cliche uni student.

Nike ACG messenger

Positives: There’s some really clever (yet subtle) innovations – the bag can extend to fit oversize items, there’s good yet discreet compression, there’s big pockets with internal splits, and there’s loads of versions available (including an XL).

Negatives: You need a laptop sleeve, the rubbery PU fabric used under the flap does not age well, and the hooks can be a little fiddly.

Chrome Citizen

Positives: A super comfy soft form, a cavernous main section, multiple size options, and some tasty shape details.

Negatives: It’s pretty basic on the pocket front, it needs a laptop sleeve (their Buran Messenger has a laptop pocket, but it’s not as sexy), and the seatbelt buckle used on their straps is love or hate.

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Any feedback? We’d love to hear if you’ve used better, if you’ve found the same, or if you think we’re tripping. Just fire us a comment and join the conversation.

PS: Crew in England, Australia, and many of the colonies might call these satchels. But that sounds a bit naff, so we reckon we should join the rest of the world in calling them messengers.

Our favourite versatile backpacks

ando — Mon, 18 Jan 2010 00:35:53 +0000

If you want large version of the image above click [HERE]

There’s some great backpacks around, but there’s also a lot that suck really badly. We thought we’d pull together a spread of packs that we rate – they work well, they look appropriate for their intended use, and they should help you get out and enjoy new experiences.

We wanted to narrow this list down a little, so we’ve chosen our favourite versatile packs. A great all-rounder is not easy to do, so there will still be some compromises. We’ve arranged them from more of a work focus, to more of an activity focus. Just pick where you best fit.

Quality = Fitness for purpose

These backpacks should all:

Work well enough from the office to the outdoors: They’ll carry a mix of items, and look appropriate across a variety of environments (unless you are in full suit city).
Carry your tech: They have pockets for all those modern devices, generally including a laptop (we let you know if they need an additional sleeve).
Deal well with travel: Travel requires a pack that can expand for a jacket or contract for an overhead bin. You need to stash food without squashing it and digital toys without scratching them. The best travel packs can open wide on their backs for packing on a hotel bed.

More discussion on the backpacks after the jump…

So, starting from the most work suitable, and building towards the most active suitable:

Incase Nylon backpack

Positives: Loads of great tech pockets, a geometric silhouette that looks great in urban environments (and yet still OK in the outdoors), efficient spaces for square work items, and a nice compromise on price vs quality.
Negatives: The harness and straight body shape are only OK for more rigorous activities, there’s not much expansion ability, and there’s better packs if you want to free your spirit (take it climbing, surfing, boarding, etc).

Gravis Metro

Positives: A really affordable pack that sits quite flat, yet seems to keep growing while you need it to. There’s convenient pockets, sensible sections, and loads of colourway options from crazy all-over prints to stealth black.

Negatives: The laptop pocket is a side opening, which means if you ever forget to do the section zip up, your laptop might meet the floor in a hurry. There’s not much structure or padding, so fragile items (like sunglasses) can feel a little exposed – but that’s not too big an issue for most.

Chrome Ivan Roll-top

Positives: A really different looking pack that gets loads of curious looks. Weather protection is great, with a relatively water-tight hanging pocket that we use for our 17″ MacBooks. While the Ivan is our favourite size roll-top (mid), there’s also the Pawn (small) or the Sultan (large).

Negatives: This is classic courier style, with big pockets and sections that take everything. You need to be creative to find good nests for all your tech, otherwise it just swirls around with everything else. The velcro can be loud when opening the main section, and it’s a pretty wide pack (not great for power walkers).

Rip Curl Escape

Positives: This pack was built for travel, and it shows. A huge main compartment can take a weekend’s clothes, there’s a wide waste harness, and we love all the features like wet sack, insulated pocket (that fits big Bose), and more.

Negatives: It could do with a couple more internal pockets, and it doesn’t compress well, meaning you need to keep it on the full side or your stuff can get jiggy in it.

Da Kine Heli Pro

Positives: A snow industry foundation piece, it looks epic, works for skis or snowboards, has a load of colourway options, and fits the body well for freedom of movement. Various sizes available, with our preference for the 20L.
Negatives: This is the least well suited to a workplace, needing a laptop sleeve and some creativity to make it work well. We also wish it was more water-tight.

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So that’s our take. We’d love to hear if there’s some amazing bags we’ve missed (just ping us a comment).

Incognito laptop cases

ando — Thu, 24 Dec 2009 03:19:39 +0000

Ideas to keep your laptop hidden from dodgy scoundrels

Camera bags used to be very obviously camera bags. That was fine for shooting weddings, but it was a pretty loud request to be mugged anywhere else. The best selling bags now look like pretty normal bags. That’s a good thing.

The same philosophy of hiding your valuables has hit laptop cases and bags in a big way, with some pretty creative expressions. We thought we’d find a few of the more fun ways to keep your laptop your laptop, rather than funding for someone elses drug habit.

Recycled Coffee Sack in Burlap from Etsy

Rainer Spehl wooden laptop case with leather lining & magnetic closure

Gas Case from Ivorilla

More incognito cases after the jump…

If you have a 17", perhaps look at the Atlas section

Laptop case for Macbook Pro against crime

OK, we’re kind of getting bored with these by now. We’ll leave you with an idea for what we’d really like to see…

Does anyone want to convert one of these classics to carry our 17″ MBP’s?

The Olivetti classic by Ettore Sottsass

Backpack or Messenger?

ando — Wed, 02 Dec 2009 03:26:44 +0000

How do you choose between a backpack and a Messenger?

If you want a larger version of the poster click [HERE]

We’ve been stalking a few conversations in tweet world, and realised that many crew are struggling to know even which format of bag will suit their carry needs.

So we had a quick jam, and have come up with a few core principles to shape your decision. Have a read, see if you agree, and maybe even bang us some of the factors that make a big difference to you.

We’ll then try and update and revise this puppy as we learn more about what you guys rate as important factors.

Happy viewing!

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SUMMARIES:

CHOOSING A BACKPACK

Carry Optimised: Heavier loads, dynamic activities, longer trips

Message: Backpacks announce that your primary need is in carrying. That’s why they can feel funny in a workspace (”how I got here is more important to me than being here”).

Environs: Backpacks thrive in outdoors, diverse travel, & sports settings. Hmmm… and schools (which hasn’t really done much to help the image of backpacks).

Contents: They work really well with diverse contents (backpack formats allow for better pocketing efficiency). And there’s that heavy loads thing.

Shape: Go with a shape that resembles your primary contents (squarer for folders & laptops, rounder for clothes).

CHOOSING A MESSENGER

Access Optimised: Lighter Loads, hotter Climates, shorter trips

Message: Messengers say that you hop between places, accessing on the go. That’s why they look great on bike couriers & uni students.

Environs: Yep, these are urban tools that never get too remote (they’d hurt to carry them there). They thrive in hot climates (less body contact).

Contents: They’re reasonably accomodating, but you’re better with fewer items as organisation can throw them out (other than those hideous computer bags that sales guys carry around). If you have loads, go a backpack (like many couriers have begun to).

Shape: Go squarer & structured for just work, or softer & wider to look like you have a life.