So I have some loose money walking around, and I have a discount available to me through Thursday, and I’m contemplating buying a Timbuk2 bag to replace the one I lost i London (and I’m not bitter or anything, no not me). Herewith the thoughts associated with it:
* I can’t do a straight replica. They no longer do Cordura and waxed canvas will be less waterproof and almost $50 more. Scratch replica.
* If I’m not going to clone it exactly, why not do something custom colorful? Like maybe Vanderbilt black and old-gold?
* The closest thing to “old gold” is “mocha” which isn’t quite right.
* I don’t want to get a laptop messenger, because the laptop compartment and padding takes up ridic space and makes the bag less practical as an overnight bag (which is the main thing I have in mind for it to be honest).
* But the small bag won’t take a 15″ MacBook Pro, even by itself, so you wind up with a Medium, which is kind of huge.
* The real confounding factor is that Rickshaw, founded by the guy who started Timbuk2, also does a bag that is only slightly larger than the Timbuk2 Small and features a 15″ laptop sleeve which is removable. Only problem is it will cost me 50% more than what a small custom messenger from Timbuk2 would, with the discount that expires Thursday.
* Timbuk2’s custom bags are still made in SF. Rickshaw’s are only customized (the base bag without the flap is assembled and shipped to the US first). After my manufacturing rant yesterday, getting a 100% MADE IN SAN FRANCISCO bag is more important to me than previously.
* I don’t trust my Pythagoras enough to tell whether I might wedge a 15″ in the Timbuk2 Small sideways. (fiddles with calculator) Huh. If you take the bottom width of the small Timbuk2 and use that and the depth as the two axes, there is JUST room for a 15″ MBP to go in the bag on a precise diagonal and NO MORE. Obviously there would be some room around the top, but if this is meant to be the bag that carries my work laptop, that won’t fly.
* But why does it have to be the bag that carries my work laptop? I myself have a 15″ laptop sleeve of a thing with external pockets that does a pretty good job of being the work superleggera bag – the only problem is there’s no place to put anything else, e.g. drink bottles or wadded up shell jacket or Nerf gun (it’s that kind of department) or even my Kindle, unless you take it out of its nifty Project (RED) protective sleeve (thanks honey!).
* I do have a backpack for the times when I do need to carry all that other stuff – and since all that other stuff is heavy, it’s a good job it’s a backpack so I don’t screw up my shoulder(s) any worse. But it’s hell on wheels to tote in the summertime when it warms up and you’re hiking back and forth to the train and bus (esp. now that the bloody bus stop is a 10 minute walk from both offices).
* It would be nice to get to a point where I can leave more stuff in the various workplaces and not have to transport it, but with my current schedule, the laptop has to go back and forth every weekday. (I could leave it at work over the weekend, but it’s got all my S on it…) I do think it’s about time to stash a water bottle in the touchdown space on campus for day use…
* For overnighting purposes, I actually do have another backpack – a Timbuk2 roll-top model that’s basically just a huge sack with straps on it to cinch it down and save space. Which is a bit inconvenient to get stuff in and out of, but pretty damn good for weekend getaway trips.
* So what it’s coming down to at this point is that I kind of don’t actually *need* another bag at all, let alone have to decide between Timbuk2 or Rickshaw. At this point, the birthday money is burning a hole in my pocket at a time when there’s not really an obvious GIMMEH GIMMEH thing out there to spend it on. (I’m still not convinced of the necessity of an iPad, so saving up $500 for a FOURTH device is right out.)
* The thing to do at this point is to save my cash, ignore the $20 discount temptation by just not buying more Coke Zero at work for a week or so, and wait and see at what point the laptop case becomes untenable.
* The thing I just realized is that the problem is that the BACKPACK becomes untenable with a sufficiently heavy coat (it’s a non-starter for my peacoat, for instance, and highly unsuitable for a leather jacket and probably for any nicer sort of outerwear). So the problem, really, is having something to carry the laptop and/or extra materials in a time when I’m wearing a coat that a) I won’t be taking off outside and b) I won’t be stuffing in the bag.
* At this point, then, you’ve got to have it big enough for a 15″ MBP – which means either a Medium messenger (Timbuk2 just went up another $20 for the size and for the compression straps to cinch it up) or the Commute 2.0 (again). And the Commute 2.0 is longer on the bottom than even the Medium Timbuk2, although the depth is the same as the Timbuk2 Small.
SO…
All in all, this really looks like a decision I don’t need to make for a few months, now that the weather is turning again. This is something I could absolutely punt until, say, October – so long as I remember to stash a water bottle or two in the secret hideaway on campus and don’t routinely have to bring more stuff back and forth (might ought to leave another of the Nerf guns there too). A trip to the RIckshaw bagworks in Dogpatch wouldn’t be a bad idea either…