In search of feedback from Writers on the best Bihn Bag
Hello, everyone, I am a Newb to this Forum and even worse yet don’t even own a Tom Bihn bag tho I’m hoping to rectify that in the near future. What I do have is a few questions about the ideal bag for my purposes....and am hoping to get a bit of informative feedback.
I’m a writer by trade, vocation, choice and obsession/s. Among the basic daily tools of my trade I include my faithful Mac laptop, assorted pens, pencils and notepads, and a handful of various books, both reference, research and pleasure, that I always seem to have with me. Additionally, since I am a screenwriter, I tend to occasionally carry around the odd script or two, not to mention a handful of movie DVD’s I need to watch for research, inspiration or general education; and of course that means, additionally, a good set of headphones (for the stereo equivalent of those surround-Dolby soundtracks) and assorted other odds and ends.
My previous bags, for previous generations of laptops, included some very well made bags from Waterfield, as well as the early Canadian Mac laptop bag maker, Willow Designs; they had some quite nice features but all suffered from drawbacks as well.
So.….I’m curious. Among those of you who are writers - scriveners - or wordsmiths - and I’m guessing this is a large fraternity or sorority as the case may be.…..Which particular T. Bihn bag do you use? and Why? And.….would you recommend it to other Writers?
I realize this is a complex and subjective issue - human beings are all complex and subjective by definition, and writers especially so (or so we like to think.…!) - so I’m looking forwards to having my Bihn Bag horizons expanded.…
Miguel
Which ones do YOU actually use? And WHY?
I'm curious about several things....
If you are a fellow writer.....WHICH bag do YOU actually use?.....And WHY?
I'm defining "fellow writer" here very broadly.....as anyone who actually needs to write anything down.....though I'm especially interested in the personal solutions of other scriveners, wordsmiths, playwrights, scribblers, screenwriters, novelists, poets....the whole nine yards.
Second item of curiosity - what about the Empire Builder and/or Zephyr? They seem like interesting compromises between the so-called 'messenger' and 'briefcase' formats - any thoughts here?
Drawbacks of Previous Bags
Quote:
Originally Posted by
gmanedit
You said your previous bags "had some quite nice features but all suffered from drawbacks as well." Could you describe the nice features and drawbacks?
I used to carry my old Mac laptop (one of the original G4 Titanium Powerbooks) around in a semi-rigid shoulder bag/case made by the now defunct Canadian bag company, Willow Designs, a pioneer in early laptop case design. The case, a fairly hard rectangle, unzipped to open up; a top protective layer carried the laptop; lifting that up revealed a bottom level, maybe 3 inches deep, into which all one's accessories (cables, plugs, portable backup HD's, mice, etc) could be stashed. Additionally there was a thin outer pocket on the top layer, useful for stashing things like mousepads, thin books, etc.
The big advantage was that the cases were built like tanks and insanely protective; if you dropped one off the roof of a building, not only would your case survive but probably your laptop might as well. There were two big disadvantages. The first was - it was hard to get at all the stuff you needed - you had to unzip the entire bag, then remove the laptop, then lift up the upper layer to get access to the bottom layer where all your important accessories were stored. That obviously sucked....perhaps it's one of the reasons the company went broke?
My other recent case, for a smaller (12") Mac laptop - was the Racer-X made by Waterfield/sfbags, in the S.F. bay area, and nicely made too. Its advantages, apart from excellent build/finish quality, and a very comfortable carrying handle (in addition to a nice shoulder strap), were easy accessibility - the laptop got stashed in its own special padded/protected compartment on one side of the bag; the other (front) side zipped open to give access to a compartment which contained pockets for stashing smaller things, and an open space for stashing larger ones.
The biggest disadvantage was...not enough space to stash extra odds and ends. To put this in perspective, the Waterfield cases are on 4.25 inches deep - and don't forget at least 2 of those inches are devoted to the built-in laptop sleeve - which doesn't leave as much room for any of the assorted accessories which a person sometimes might want to bring a long. By contrast, the TB Zephyr is a little over 6 inches deep - the Empire Builder is 7 - and the ID is 5.5 inches. And, yes, the idea of a little extra room (I'm not greedy) is....intoxicating.
Specific Brain Cell fit question
Okay, a small tangent here. I've seen photos of different T.Bihn bags - both with - and without - Brain Cells loaded with laptops.
Clearly, if you have a slightly larger capacity Bag - like for example the Empire Builder or even the Ego - there is not only room for you laptop/brain cell combo (clipped to one side of the bag)....but oodles of space for....other odds and ends.
BUT.....in the one or two photos I've seen of either Zephyr's or ID's containing Brain Cells - it LOOKS LIKE the full Brain Cell takes up....at least half of the space in the main compartment....maybe more?
Is this true? I know this is a subjective question, but all you Zephyr or ID owners who regularly tote your laptop or MacBook around in a Brain Cell inside...would you care to comment?
And - on the other side of the coin - all you Ego (NOT Super Ego, I know that's too large for my needs) owners who also carry loaded B. Cells - how much room is left over in your opinion/s?
I know, I know, several people have already said that when it comes to TB bags, there are no poor choices. But that reminds me of an old Garrison Keilor quote: 'There is no such thing as bad weather....only poor choice of clothing!'
Miguel