A few months back, I wrote about what tech stuff I own - and what I carry it in. I noted that I had a Timbuk2 messenger bag. It's a Transportation Security Administration-approved model that unzips to open like a butterfly's wings, so that the laptop compartment can lie flat for airport scanning.
“I originally raved about this bag,†I wrote. “But with wear, I've found that it's become side-heavy. And the laptop compartment has lost its shape, meaning it takes two hands to slip the laptop inside. It might be time to move on.â€
That remark set off a surprisingly voluminous response. Many readers wrote to suggest laptop bags that they loved. But I also got this note from a reader:
Timbuk2 has a new laptop bag that is much nicer than the commute bag you've been carrying. Try the Command Messenger (2012) bag ($130 and up). The zip-out T.S.A. flap is improved over the previous model and even has a slot for an iPad or Kindle. There's a “power brick†pocket on the bottom, a nice organizer inside, and a “Napoleon pocket†under the flap that you can access from the side, without opening the flap, which I find perfect for stashing my wallet, keys and phone when going through security at the airport.
Ordinarily, one mention of laptop bags a year should be plenty for my blog. But one aspect of this Command Messenger bag is so brilliant, it's worth a shout-out. On most T.S.A.-compliant, butterfly-style bags (including Timbuk2's other models), the laptop compartment is hinged at the bottom of the bag. As you stand in the security line, you unzip the compartment from the top, and the bag falls open like a book.
There are two problems with that approach. First, the zippers that close the laptop compartment are also at the top, making them easy to mix up with the compartment-splitting zippers.
Second, if you don't carefully and completely rezip the laptop p ocket's zipper after the X-ray, gravity does its unfortunate thing. The compartment, hinged on the bottom, flops open, and your laptop crashes to the floor. I've done it twice. My last laptop had dual bashed-in corners.
On this Command bag, though, the laptop pocket is hinged at the top. When it's lying on the belt, butterflied, the interior is face down now, rather than face up.
That change makes all the difference. Once through the X-ray, you just grab the thing off the belt by the center handle (see my photos). The laptop compartment flops harmlessly closed, even if you're in a hurry for your flight. Gravity is now your friend, not your enemy. You can always zip it later, at the gate or whenever. (Even that is easier this way. You're pulling the zippers down against the force of the shoulder strap as you wear it.)
Finally, this design change means that the laptop compartment is, in effect, hanging most of the time, rather than being supported from the bo ttom. It therefore keeps its shape better, and remains accessible with one hand.
The bag is also great for the reasons my reader mentioned; there's even a video tour here. But putting the hinge at the top makes all the difference. All hail people who think outside the bag!
