I am currently using quite a large back pack, but I am looking for something smaller.
I want something that has a lot of functional pockets, too. Any suggestions?

San Francisco Bags. Expensive, but worth it.
San Francisco Bags

I also have had the Soft Attache Bag by LandsEnd, and it is a great bag too, not too expensive.

Try your local army/navy surplus store.

Crumpler Cheesy Disco or similar

Diesel Messenger Bags are pretty good.

Army Surplus, Thrift Stores, Timbuk2

These are great! I also have a Hugo Boss canvas army style bag
which I love.

Another vote for Timbuk2!

Tom Bihn

On vacation in Seattle this summer, stopped by their showroom in Seattle, and left with a Super Ego ...and Freud smiles

http://www.tombihn.com/

What he said. I was going to come in this thread for the very same suggestion. I've had a medium-sized messenger bag from Tom Bihn for three years, and it's virtually indistinguishable from when I bought it. And that's counting time at school work, and travel.

I have this Land's End Classic Canvas Attache http://www.landsend.com/pp/CottonCanvasCla...mp;origin=index

I've had it 10-12 years, used it as my travel briefcase until I retired, and now my only briefcase.
When zipped up, nothing can fall out, and lots of interior pockets, pen holders, etc. Even a key clip I can attach
my keys to, so I don't have them in my pocket in the airport.

If it ever wears out (seems dubious), I'll probably just buy another. It suits my needs well.

I have a canvas messenger bag that I love that I got at a military surplus store. San Francisco Bags also looks to have some great offerings; I have one of their laptop sleeves and I love it. I also used to have a nice Jansport messenger bag that I found online...

Unfortunately, LL Bean no longer makes the GiNORMOUS canvas messenger bag that I use as my 'teaching bag.' However, they do have some nifty bags here:

http://www.llbean.com/webapp/wcs/stores/se...mp;numWanted=12

(if it works!) The Sunwashed Canvas Shoulder or Messenger Bags look like they might be helpful in your quest, and have a bit of Adventurer panache.

Hope it helps someone?

(My first post--be kind!)

HK

the patagonia stores and web sites are having a sale right now,

they have a lot of great bags, I have been eyeballing the half mass bags for a long time, just haven't pulled the trigger yet.

http://www.patagonia.com/web/us/product/co...AGE&ws=true

You probably need to be more specific. I have about a dozen "bags". I have been in a search for the perfect, journal plus, pens, cell phone, plus a book (or not) case... oh, ok, murse. Also, I have about a dozen backpacks, from the back packing to day backs and waterproof photo packs. I also have about a dozen fanny packs, and a dozen panniers or so. I am sure I have skipped a category... no wonder the two of us barely fit in 4,000 sq ft. JD

More specifics on what you're looking for would, indeed, be helpful. In general, and as others have recommended already, I love Timbuk2 bags - waterproof, pens slots, lots of pockets.

So many beautiful bags suggested....I wouldn't mind having them all.

Here's a less expensive alternative but one that is very functional and attractive.

http://www.baggageforless.com/proddetail.a...LnC&cat=918

It is the Lewis & Clark bag with many pockets--perhaps too many at times.

Zoe

Another vote for Tom Bihn!

I have quite a few of their bags and they are all top-quality.

Any absolute favourites?

I like the Cafe Bag and the Ristretto. The Ruck's Sac is a nice scaled-down backpack style bag too.

My wife bought a Tom Bihn Zephyr for business use. If you can roll with the briefcase style, that's a great bag with lots of pockets.

I have been eying the Cafe Bag and the Ristretto Messenger. I already have a good briefcase (or two )but could use a new laptop/go bag for my Macbook. Thanks.

Ditto on the Land's End canvas attache. Had mine for over 15 years with few signs of wear and it's lightweight enough that you can stuff it full of things and still carry it without dislocating your shoulder. Holds a laptop nicely with room for other necessities.

I've got a couple of Jack Spade bags, which I think are pretty unbeatable. Maybe even too many pockets!

John

I have one of the waxed industrial field bags from Jack Spade which I love. The bag is large enough to handle most necessities without being too bulky. It is made of waxed cotton and lined with a striped material. I’ve had it for a few years and it has held up to daily use pretty well. As a matter of fact the minor signs of wear actual add to the bags appeal.

Agreed. The Moleskine of bags, perhaps

John

I have a Ristretto from Tom Bihn for my MacBook Air and love it. Just enough pockets, and the space in front of where the MBA goes is large enough for a Circa letter size notebook (the paper kind!) to fit in nicely. Also fitting are my cell modem, power cord, and more. It's a brilliantly designed bag, imo.

Over the years, I've used a number of their laptop bags, and now use quite a few of their pouches, particularly the ones with a clear front. I also have an Imago, a large Café bag that I carried my old iBook in (in its own Brain Cell), and a large(ish) Smart Alec that I stuff when I go on short trips.

Because I already have an embarrassing number of bags, I am hesitating about buying another, but keep going back to the Tom Bihn site to admire the Ristretto and the Cafe Bag.

Will both hold the Macbook?

Zoe -

I don't know about the Ristretto, but the small Cafe Bag will hold my Macbook. Not much less, but it does hold the Macbook just fine. You might want to get the medium or large if you want to store more stuff.

John

John, thanks so much for your response. I was just oggling all the bags again on the site and just measured my G4 laptop bag to see the size. I may just have to spring for this today.

Zoe

What do you want to do with your bag? I've got a brenthaven messenger that fits my 17" MBP very nice and a Eagle Industries Becker Patrol Pack black on the way!
Those little packs are pretty unbeatable. So I've been told
But IMHO every pack except a few pretty strong ones will all packs degrade under heavy use.
I often tow well over 10Kg/22lbs in my brenthaven and they have some trouble with those weights.
Not that the seams can't handle it, it is more the shape of the bag that is destroyed and
more over the rubber on the shoulderband that starts to degrade after about 6 months of daily use.
And it was a € 129 bag. Not to shabby price for a bag, I would say.

Never had a brenthaven, but I have several Eagle (Creek) bags and they are nearly indestructible. I carried an Eagle all over South America and then Sicily with no wear or tear evident and I had more stuff than any sane person should carry.

I don't know what the OP was asking about but I want a new bag for my Macbook and I like the way the Bihn's look.

I like the pockets of brenthaven and the "balistic" nylon.
I've never touched a Bihn's but I've heard a lot of good and hardly any bad talk about them.
Eagle Creek is a whole lot different from Eagle Industries btw
Eagle Industries is an Amercian made with American parts & materials company and specific for military people.
Eagle Creek is often made in China & Vietnam AFAIK and more pointed at travelers/backpackers.

Thanks for the clarifiers. I wasn't sure you meant Eagle Creek.

Hope whatever bags we get, "we love 'em" and 'use them well."

Bedankt.

Graag gedaan!
And using bags is what they are made for!
Just another question, what is the average time you use a bag? not before you replace it with another nicer bag, but before it starts to fall apart.
I think I'm a bit harsh on my packs, but the brenthavens all have a life expectancy of 6 to 9 months before they start showing wear.
My crumpler bag on the other hand is after three years of use still going strong. It was just that I updated from a 15" to a 17" that it needed replacing.

I had a quite nice and rather expensive leather bag until last summer, used it every day, loaded her up, and she lasted for about 3 or more years. The strap went and the lining tore. I have some others I've had for more than 5-10 years with hard use and they are still good looking but well worn like a leather jacket (something I also have). . Other bags, less well made perhaps start to get seedy looking in months and are a terrible disappointment. Bags, luggage, I usually try to get good ones.

That is a good questions, what are the good ones. I don't mind paying a lot of money for something, but with laptop bags it
often seems there is not a noticable relation between price and quality/duty life.
With a half year on a Brenthaven backback, that was replaced for free, but the second backpack didn't last much longer.
Now I have a messenger from them, but after this I'm not going with Brenthaven anymore.
I need a bit stylish bag, not screaming LAPTOP INSIDE, but giving protection and lasting enough.

For my off-duty needs without a laptop bag, I will be using the Eagle industries becker patrol pack. I've been told by people that are harder on their stuff then I've ever been that it will last for some years, so I guess it will be my walking & wandering mate for several years to come. That is what I like about a pack, that you know every hook, every pocket, everything has it's own place, that the lining doesn't tear, the rubberized shoulder band doesn't start to disintegrate.
I've been looking at Fogg bags, but they don't have anything that can hold a 39 by 27cm laptop.

For a daily beater I am currently using a Chrome Metropolis messenger bag. There aren't a lot of compartments as compared to my Timbuk2 Pro messenger (medium size), but the larger size allows me to carry more things without the bag appearing overstuffed. So far it is doing well. The lining inside is better than the Timbuk2 I feel, and it distorts less when carrying items like a file or books. When I carried books or files using the Timbuk2, I had to shift the items in the bag such that they would sit properly when I had the strap tight, but I never had to purposefully adjust my items when using the Chrome.

I sometimes use the army style utility bags but only when I do not have much to carry. That could be a better option for you as you want something smaller. Smaller than what you have, cheap enough to replace with nary a blink when it goes. And if that does not have enough functional pockets, I have seen Kinokuniya sell the utility sleeve to be inserted in a bag. Wraps around a pad or book, in A4 or B5 sizes and more, and has pen loops and zippered pockets.

Good ones have not always been the most expensive. I think one of the members mentioned Lands End. I had one of those and my partner nabbed it. Twenty years later that bag looks as good as it did out of the box and I believe it was around 49.95, expensive for its day, but in today's market, affordable.

I bought this bag for my G4 and I must say that after having it for 5 years, and traveling with it by plane, car, tram and train, it is spotless and nearly pristine. Sturdy and again around USD60.00.

Tot ziens, alecgold.

JACK SPADE is classic.

I like also "FREITAG" bags.
I've seen them on MOMA:



everyone is unique, they are build from "lorry"s.

I've previously used the L.L. Bean commuter bag with good results.

For the last decade or so, I've been using a Timbuk2 waxed canvas messenger bag that I designed on their build your bag site. It has enough small pockets to be useful and the whole interior has a waterproof liner. It is now nicely faded from the sun, but structurally it is as good as new. I bought the removable laptop sleeve after I bought the bag and it worked well for the time I had a laptop that fit it. I've also collected the slew of accessories (iPod pouch, cellphone holder, small pouch, comfort strap, &c) for it and have been happy with all of them as well.

Here's a second for Chrome's Metropolis bag, especially since it is USA made with USA parts. In nearly three years of daily abuse, the only trouble is a clip that broke and was quickly replaced under the lifetime warranty. The bag was originally bought to keep my laptop high and dry against Florida thunderstorms and is now doing nicely against Utah snowstorms (in the winter, anyway). I carry my powerbook in a padded sleeve and have plenty of room for too many books, notebooks, cords, camera, various, sundry... It's been known to carry six-packs (bottles) and 12 packs (cans), LPs, powertools, and on.

There isn't much in the way of internal pockets, but the pockets it does have carry ink, a moleskine, and a few pens/markers with gusto. It is a great flyer with this as a personal item and a duffel bag for the overhead bin: large enough to carry my lappy, a book, papers/files, swedish fish, water bottle, and sudoku but small enough to fit under the seat with legroom to spare.

My original Oakley Icon backpack is still going strong with no obvious signs of wear, and I've been using it daily for something like 5 years. Its only downsides as far as I can see are that 1. the (pretty huge) main compartment has no internal dividers and is very dark inside; 2. there's no separate waterproof compartment; 3. there's no laptop compartment (rectified with the Icon 2.0).

I use it with a hardshell slipcase for my macbook (sort of like a Tom Bihn braincase but by a completely different manufacturer), and it happily swallows the laptop, filofax, spare clothing, yoga mat (a yogitoes one which folds up into a medium-sized roll, not the usual big roll of foam rubber), water bottle, etc etc etc. And the side pockets hold incidentals like glasses, sunglasses, earplugs, headache pills and the dozens of other bits and bobs I habitually carry around and occasionally use!

Hmmm, Freitag is nice, but I have to say I don't see me using those in business meetings.
Just a tad too casual I would say.
But I've been eyeballing one that said "ltr" on the front.
Just like see you LaTeR.
All kind of funny text get on front there.
I really like them even though I never handled one!

Baggalini Bags are great - lightweight. Lots of Pockets. Made with recycled materials - but you would never know it.

Your link doesn't work.

Does any one have experience with Tom Bihns' The Imago? I really like the look of this bag but was hoping for some first hand knowledge.

Click to view attachment

I have heard good things about Bihns' bags--never seen one in person. I have a Dolmke digital satchel---LOVE it--small enough but big enough. Mine is 3 years old and going strong--just got another for "backup" just in case!

I have a black/wasabi one and love it. Did you have any particular questions about it? I use it to hold books and notebooks (the paper kind) along with all sorts of incidentals (post-its, etc.). It's a somewhat large bag, imo, but not gigantic. I use my Ristretto more often, but that's because I take my MBA with me a lot.

Tom Bihn bags are made in Seattle, and if you're in that area you can drop by their store. You can also ask questions on their website forums - very friendly people.

(No affiliation other than being a long-time satisfied customer.)

Timbuk 2 is too much of a life style for me. I use Bailey Works and would like to pick up a ReLoad or a Pac Designs

What do you mean?