Bags – Page 2

Solo Parker Parker Hybrid Backpack tote bag review

REVIEW – Tote bags can be great for tossing a bunch of stuff into and walking from point A to point B. But what if those two points get really far apart, or if you’re needing your hands to, say, walk a child or a dog or even sip your coffee? Having the ability to strap the bag on your back may make a simple tote more versatile. This is exactly the philosophy behind Solo’s Parker Hybrid Backpack tote bag. The idea is this: an upscale tote bag you’re not embarrassed to carry into work, but also can use as a backpack or even a sling bag, should the occasion demand. I enlisted the help of my younger daughter, who carries a tote to work and back every day, for testing.

What is it?

The Solo Parker Parker Hybrid Backpack tote bag is a stylish bag with internal organization that can be carried as a tote, a backpack, a sling, or on a roll-aboard extension handle.

Design and features

The Parker tote is a nylon/polyester/faux-leather bag 16″ tall x 11″ wide x 4″ deep. The first thing you notice is that there are few little hits of branding (a single gold logo and an embossed “SOLO New York” brand on the rear pocket.

On the reverse side, there are two sewn-in padded backpack straps that terminate in buckles. Lengths of 1″ webbing attach to sewn-in D-rings at each lower corner. The straps can be unclipped and placed in a purpose-built full-length pocket behind the zippered pocket. You can also attach the left strap to the lower right hand (or vice-versa) and wear the bag as a sling over either shoulder. While the inward curve of the straps makes this a bit awkward, it’s still not a bad way to carry things if you’re needing to swing the bag around front to access the contents.

Cross-stitched and fully sewn into both side of the bag is a one-inch thick double tote-type handle. The center few inches of each handle have been doubled over and stitched to form a comfortable grip and there’s a leatherette snap-on strap to hold them together. (This was one of our only complaints – there’s no way to hide or stow the tote straps when you’re carrying the bag with the backpack straps.)

The lining in all pockets is a grey and white mattress-ticking pattern striped vertically. The light color makes it easy to see things in the depths of the pockets. The webbing is a fine-grain nylon seatbelt material that feels like butter. All the hardware is a gold metallic that isn’t too gaudy, but it is not subtle. The zippers are very free-working, but not weather-proof.

The top of the main compartment is closed with a single-pull zipper 16.25″ long. Within this main area is a separated sleeve that will hold laptops or tablets up to 16″ wide by 11″ tall and maybe 2″ thick. (We couldn’t find anything to overfill it! Her 12.9″ iPad rattles around in it.) The other pocket matches it, but has a series of organizational pouches down one side. There are two medium-diameter pen loops, two card slots that could hold maybe 5 cards each, and a center patch pocket that could fit a Moleskine chair, but not a full-sized pocket notebook. They are pretty tight. Earbuds can fit into one of the card-sized pockets. (See picture) Above these is a zippered pocket that can hold quick-access items. My daughter uses this for her keys/ID for work.

On the outside, there is a zippered pocket on both front and back. These measure about 6″ across by 12″ deep. Perfect for a Plus-Sized iPhone and car keys with the requisite wad of loyalty cards, hair ties, and gym access tabs. Below the pocket opposite the metal logo is a 3″ wide band made from the same material as the main body of the bag. When placing the tote over your roll-aboard handle, the zippered pouch on this side is very handy for boarding documents, foreign currency, or other travel needs.

Final verdict? “I like it in general. I wish the main pocket was a little bigger (there’s only room for my wallet really). I don’t really use the backpack straps but they tuck away nicely. The smaller pockets on the inside are nice to separate headphones, chapstick, etc.”

What We Like

Multiple carry options
Stylish look with quality materials
Inner pockets keep everything from going to the bottom

What We’d Change

Wish the central pocket had a bit more room
Wish the tote handles could be somehow tucked away while wearing as a backpack.

Final thoughts

As usual with Solo bags, the fit and finish of the Parker Parker Hybrid Backpack tote bag are first-rate. While the backpack straps are rarely needed in my daughter’s case, the tote straps not being easily hidden made it odd looking on the few times using them. She’s happily using it as her daily carry currently. I’m interested in her update after her next trip!

Price: $69.99
Where to buy: Company website and Amazon
Source: The sample of this product was provided by Solo.

Filed in categories: Reviews

Tagged: Backpack, Bags

Solo Parker Parker Hybrid Backpack tote bag review originally appeared on The Gadgeteer on July 9, 2019 at 11:00 am.

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Increase your carrying capacity with Tote-It

NEWS – How many times have you wished you had another hand to hold something? The Tote-It grants that wish times 6. The Tote-It is a sturdy 15 inch long carrying device with 3 hooks on each end that you can use to hang bag handles and other items for easier carry over your shoulder.

Tote-It was invented by a life long NYC resident who had a eureka moment when he saw a man struggling with some bags and an umbrella on a New York train. The carrier is available in 4 colors and is priced at $12 each on tote-it.net

Filed in categories: News

Tagged: Bags

Increase your carrying capacity with Tote-It originally appeared on The Gadgeteer on July 5, 2019 at 9:00 am.

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Alpaka 7VEN Mini messenger bag review

REVIEW – Ok, I’ll admit it. I’m Ian, and I’m a messenger bagaholic. Through the years I’ve had no-name messengers, multiple Timbuk2s, a custom made BO-Gear and the list goes on. When I found another Australian messenger company, Alpaka Gear (yeah, not a very Aussie name. Why isn’t it the Roo, or the Echidna or the Koala? ) I knew I had to get my fix and give them a try. How well does it fit my addiction? Will it be the one? Read on………

What is it?

A messenger bag is a messenger bag is a messenger bag. Obviously, a messenger bag is a very personal item, it’s size, how many pockets, how heavy are all factors that will determine if a messenger bag is for you. Over time as mentioned above, I’ve had multiple messengers all of which get used at different times depending on my requirements such as carry capacity. The 7Ven Mini Messenger is what I’d consider a medium size messenger designed to be used both for business and personal use and has some very handy features.

Specifications

The 7Ven Mini Messenger comes in 3 colours, black, brown and faux wool. The unit I received is black (at my request ).

Dimensions

26 (10.2) x 33 (12.9) x 17 (6.6) cm/in
15-20 litres
1.1 kg (2.4 lb)

Exterior
Exterior 1000D Ballistic Nylon (Black / Brown) | 750D Nylon FauxWool (Grey)

Lining
210D Ripstop Nylon

Design and features

The front flap has a slash pocket on the front for easy access. There’s a nice “overhang” over it which should keep water out if you should be singing in the rain. Interestingly the flap also has a hard insert in it. This makes sure that the front flaps falls correctly and keeps its form ( well that’s my take) as items in this front pocket sit in front of the hard insert, so the insert’s not there for protection. This pocket is great for those items you need easy access to without opening the main flap.

Locking the bag is this neat Fidlock magnetic connector. It’s actually pretty cool and once you get used to it, it’s much easier to open and close than your standard press clip. It makes a nice satisfying “click” when you close it. The connector strap is adjustable for carrying different size loads.

For additional security, there’s also a big velcro patch. Because of the size of the pad, you can overstuff your bag and the front flap still remains secured and you adjust the fidlock for that additional layer of protection. If however, you don’t like that velcro “RRRRIPPPP” noise then while secure, this bag is very loud when you open it. Not good in a quiet, meditative environment. That being said if you look closely you’ll see I’ve minimized this using some double sided velcro tape from the discount store for about $2, only about a metre and a half more and I’ll have used it all up I can easily remove my homemade “velcro silencers” if required.

The front pocket has 7 elasticized pockets so you can easily organise all those bibs and bobs you need quick access to. There’s a keyfob too for securing your keys. The grey ripstop inner liner throughout makes it easy to see your items.

The main compartment is fairly sizeable, there’s a padded notebook/tablet pouch with velcro securing strap which should take up to a 14″ device and there are 3 padded pockets on the front.

On the top is a very nice leather padded handle and on the back a strap for using your bag with a wheelie suitcase.

On the back is another compartment with 2 large pockets. Note the nice leather touches on the pockets.

On the left is the main strap adjustment cam buckle. There’s also a holder so that you can keep the excess strap from flapping around. This is especially useful if you’re using in briefcase mode. The ends of all the straps are finished off with a piece of leather. Not really a functional addition but a nice aesthetic touch.

Pretty much with every one of my bags the corners are the first to go. This messenger has some nice leather corner protectors as well as 4 small feet. This adds some cushioning and also goes some way to protecting your bag from sitting in the dirt when you put it down. Because the bag is a triangular shape and because of the padding the bag sits upright most times when putting down rather than falling over or just “flopping”.

The shoulder strap pad is nice and long, and there’s an integrated zipper pocket along its length with a nice waterproof zipper. Very handy for keep things like say your transport or access card. The strap pad is also removable.

What I like

I really do like this bag. I’ve been using it over the last couple of week for work and for weekends. It’s about the right size for my EDC to work but has the flexibility to expand out if I need to take more additional stuff some mornings, or if I need to bring something else back from work (like say the two mesh routers I received the other day). The padding inside is enough that you don’t have to put any of your delicate items into additional cases. There’s enough pockets in enough places to have a place for everything though you will have to remember where you put them.

What I’d change

There’s not much I’d change in this bag. As mentioned in the beginning a lot of it comes down to personal preference. A few suggestions that would make it better for me:

reflective striping for night use
some “dog ears” on the main flap to keep things more secure and safe
a blinky light strap

However, there is one MAJOR thing I would change and it’s big enough to make me not use this bag as an EDC long term. All the great features are badly outweighed by just one variable. If you look at the adjustment cam buckle it’s on the left of the bag. Now I wear my messengers with the strap sitting on the left-hand shoulder which means that with this bag the cam is actually sitting behind you. This makes it VERY hard to easily adjust the bag. I tend to wear my messengers high on my back as this means you’re not bending over trying to compensate for the weight of the bag and its contents. Sometimes just adjusting an inch or so on the go makes a huge difference to the comfort. I cannot easily adjust with this bag. When I’m using this as a photography bag I want to be able to release the cam to lower the bag, get my camera gear out, take the shot, and then put the bag back high on my back. I just can’t do this with this bag. Even being able to release the cam to take the bag off over my head or put it back on and shorten the strap feels “wrong” and awkward.

I actually thought maybe I’d received a left-handed version of the bag and sent an email to the manufacturer. Their response was “The 7ven Messenger and 7ven Mini were only made to carry over the right shoulder”. I tried this but it just doesn’t feel right. Even little things like the Alpaka logo being upside down and the front flap pocket being the “wrong way” for easy access when you put it on your left-hand shoulder supports their claim.

Final thoughts

All up this is a great bag and would easily be my EDC EXCEPT for the cam buckle being designed for people that carry their messengers on their right-hand shoulder (predominantly left-handed people?) . All the major strap adjustment benefits of using a messenger are basically lost to me because of the setup. If you do wear your messenger on your right-hand shoulder then I’d highly recommend this bag however for me it looks like the search for the perfect messenger continues.

Price: $ 189 USD
Where to buy: From Alpaka Gear
Source: The sample of this product was provided by Alpaka Gear

Filed in categories: Reviews

Tagged: Bags, Messenger bag

Alpaka 7VEN Mini messenger bag review originally appeared on The Gadgeteer on July 1, 2019 at 10:14 am.

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Tom Bihn Large Zip-Top Shop Bag review

REVIEW – I am always trying to be a bit more ‘green’ and environmentally friendly. One way I try to do that is to bring reusable shopping bags with me to the grocery store. I have lots of freebie bags that I use. All of them work ok, but none of them are comfortable to carry, and several concern me about how much actual weight they can carry. Tom Bihn has come out with a new shoulder based tote bag that seems to be ideal for the task. Let’s see how it works out.

What is it?

The Tom Bihn Large Zip-Top Shop Bag is a bag of many uses. You can use it for grocery shopping, a personal carry on, an all-purpose hauler, or every day carry bag.

Hardware Specs

It is made of 200 denier Halycon nylon/ripstop fabric or 210 ballistic nylon. I received the bag in the Wasabi Halycon nylon.
External Dimensions: 15″ (w) x 13.4″ (h) x 11.8″ (d) / 380 (w) x 340 (h) x 300 (d) mm
Weight: 200d Halcyon: 8.8 oz / 250 grams or 210d Ballistic: 10.9 oz / 310 grams
Volume: 1650 cubic inches/27 liters
Handle Length: 26 inches or 660 mm
YKK #5 Coil Zippers
PORON foam handles

Design and Features

This first picture above shows a closeup of one of the handles. You can see that it has that nice PORON foam insert.

This next show shows a picture of the single double zipper that makes up the entrance to the main compartment of the bag. Having two zippers makes the bag easy to open and close around a larger object.

This next shot is a picture of the interior of the bag. You can see that it comes with a nice key tether that has a plastic clip to hold on to your key ring or whatever you wish to attach to it. There are two interior side pockets to allow you to organize items. Finally the main large interior pocket. There is no padding of any sort on the bottom of the bag.

This shot shows a close up of the stitching of the handle to the bag and how the edges are seamed. You can see they are quite durable.

Performance

I needed to make a grocery run, so I decided to test out the bag. Let me state that I really, really, really detest grocery shopping. I purchased about 17 and one-half pounds of various items and had them pack it all into the single bag. From the picture above, you can see the bag fully loaded. I carried it on my shoulder across a very large parking lot. During that whole time, I never felt any pain in my shoulder. It was wonderful!

Above you can see a picture of the bag fully loaded. You can see that I was able to zip the bag closed with no issues.

Finally, you can see a picture of everything that was inside the bag. Lots of stuff to place in the bag, and I am happy to report, that nothing got crushed including the two tasty dessert items on the left!

What I’d change

I think the only thing I could change on this bag would be to see if it could be cheaper. $65 is a lot of money to pay for a bag that you use for shopping. If you were the kind of person to use this bag as an everyday hauler I could see spending this money. The problem with using it as an everyday hauler is there is no padding in the bag so you would have to be careful what you placed in there.

Final thoughts

I love this bag and it will be my go-to bag for grocery shopping. I would love to purchase a second one if the price were to drop a bit. The fact that I can carry over 17 pounds on my should with no pain is a big plus to me. Our grocery parking lots are huge and I always seem to pick the worse day to go shopping.

Price: $65
Where to buy: Tom Bihn
Source: The sample of this product was provided by Tom Bihn.

Filed in categories: Reviews

Tagged: Bags

Tom Bihn Large Zip-Top Shop Bag review originally appeared on The Gadgeteer on June 30, 2019 at 12:00 pm.

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Bellroy Sling Shoulder Bag review

REVIEW – More often than not, we have to tote around a bunch of daily-carry items that don’t fit in our pockets, but feel like overkill to put into a big backpack. Legendary wallet maker Bellroy looks to do away with your bulky shoulder bags and heavy packs with their diminutive Sling satchel. Is it up to the task? Read on!

What is it?

The Sling is a small shoulder satchel with two soft-lined, zipper pockets, an expandable main compartment. It’s appropriately sized for when you need to carry more than your pockets would hold, but less than a messenger bag or backpack.

What’s in the box?

just the Sling and a warranty card

Specs

23 x 34 x 10cm
Holds up to 7 Liters
350g (12.3oz)
Front compartment with key clip
Main compartment with soft-lined, zippered glasses pouch
Magnetic clasp on strap for easy removal
Self-compressing, expandable gusset
Padded paneling on the back for comfort
Soft Nylon webbing straps
Water-resistant materials
3 year warranty

The Sling is one of those things that, with time, you can get used to wearing.

Design and features

You may be familiar with the name Bellroy from their wallet ads, whose revolutionary design claims to reduce the thick billfold in your back pocket down to a sleek, svelte and downright sexy size.

The Sling takes the concept of trimming down that extra thick wallet and applies to the standard shoulder bag, asking “What if you just carried what you needed, and that’s it?”

When I first got my hands on the Sling, it very much reminded me of the classic fanny pack, only with a longer strap. At its shortest strap length, the Sling could be used in a typical hip bag fashion, but it’s intended to be placed on the body in a cross-chest configuration, the bag resting comfortably in front or in back.

Special thanks to my daughter for getting some good action shots!

Organization freaks might be turned off by the fact that there are only 3 pockets. I, myself, like lots of smaller pockets for pens, chapstick, change … the small things I like to carry in a bag instead of sloshing around in my pockets. There is one front zipper pocket, one expandable, gusseted main compartment, and a soft-lined smaller zipper pocket inside that main section meant primarily for sunglasses.

Also included in the main compartment is a keyring hook. I don’t think I’ve ever used one, but I suppose it’s handy to stick a spare key on, or keep your keys in one corner of the compartment.

The expandable main pocket holds a lot of stuff!

I would have liked maybe one more zippered bag to hold some of my smaller items. I like to carry around some minor first aid stuff like bandages and Tylenol, and I simply put all that stuff in a sandwich baggie. I’ll probably get a more durable small bag at some point for exactly this purpose.

As you can see from the picture, the expandability of the main pocket is very helpful in being able to secure an unexpectedly large payload.

Here’s everything I carried with me when I was taking photos, including a surprise Playstation game that my co-worker brought in… it still all fit in the Sling.

The front pocket is wide and tall enough to accommodate my Switch, which is personally my go-to test in seeing if a bag is too small to be worth carrying. The Sling just passes, in my eyes.

One key feature worth mentioning is the extra loop that the strap passes through. When being worn, the weight and tension compresses the gusset and keeps the bag as thin as it can be, which is quite smart.

Another unique addition to the Sling is the magnetic clasp. At first, I was concerned that it would continually come undone, but I didn’t experience that even once. It is easy to undo, but it requires force to be exerted in the opposite direction of how the strap would pull when being worn. This makes the Sling easy to don. Admittedly, I didn’t use this feature often. It’s just as easy to slide the strap over my head rather than unclasp it, hold the bag in place on my chest, and fish around my back to pull the other end over my shoulder. Maybe I just didn’t “get” it and there is an easier way.

The front pocket is just large enough for a Switch.

It would certainly be useful when, say, wearing a motorcycle helmet, prohibiting the strap from going over your head. Most of the time I just carried the Sling over one shoulder like a purse, which is just fine.

Slipping the bag from back to front to access the contents is quick and easy. It’s meant to be ambidextrous by design, so it can be worn over your left or right shoulder and still be accessible. It’s very comfortable carried on your back or your chest. Although I have to admit, it’s a unique look. It sort of reminds me of those tiny little backpack purses that girls carried around in the ‘90s. I still get a little self-conscious about wearing smaller bags like this.

Aside from the lack of smaller pockets, which really just speaks to the simplicity of the Sling, I really like this little satchel. It might be too small for some, or even most. And it’s not cheap, weighing in at nearly $100. It’s quality, through and through. At least it feels expensive. For the commuters and EDC enthusiasts out there, it’s a nice little bag aimed at paring down your larger bags to just the essentials, if you can get past the look of strapping such a tiny satchel to your back.

What I like

super durable and lightweight
discreet glasses pocket
magnetic clasp is a unique addition

What needs to be improved

strap takes a bit of fiddling to lay straight
pretty expensive for such a small bag

Final thoughts

Bellroy’s diminutive Sling satchel is up to the task of carrying your essential items in any setting, helping you leave your large, bulky backpack at home. However, it could be a little too small and little too expensive for some.

Price: $99 with free shipping
Where to buy: You can pick up your own Bellroy Sling in four different colors on their website.
Source: The sample of this product was provided by Bellroy.

Filed in categories: Reviews

Tagged: Bags

Bellroy Sling Shoulder Bag review originally appeared on The Gadgeteer on June 10, 2019 at 9:00 am.

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