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Recommend a Tech Toys Bag?
SuperMallen asks: "With the recent purchase of an iPod and iPod-capable car radio, I am realizing that I have reached maximum capacity in terms of what can go in my pants pockets. Given that I want to take both the iPod and my radio face with me wherever I go (along with my cellphone, Bluetooth headset, wallet, keys, and possibly a laptop with mouse, power supply, and whatever reading material I'm carting around), I'm thinking that what I need is a medium sized bag or backpack with pockets dedicated for this sort thing. What does the Slashdot community do for things like this? Any brands or models you have found work for you?"
http://www.boblbee.com/
They have hard shells with special pocketed inserts for all of your goodies. I use my for my laptop and its accessories. Plus the straps and back of the bag are very comfortable. And they fit nicely under the seat in most airplanes.
This is approximately the one I have. I think they discontinued my particular finish.
vk.
http://www.scottevest.com/
Up to 52 hidden pockets and allowances for a personal area network!
It may not be the most stylish coat in the world, but well, it's geeky and it will keep you warm in the winter.
And as you tread the halls of sanity, You feel so glad to be, Unable to go beyond. I have a message, From another time..
I used to carry around a bag with a USB hard drive, a USB thumb drive, a Cybertool, a cell phone (provided and required by work), a note pad, pens, pencils, and a Zaurus. Of course, I also needed the wifi card for the Zaurus, and the ethernet card with a cable, and a modem with a phone cord, just in case I needed to get in to work and there wasn't an access point handy.
Plus an umbrella. And a pack of Imitrex.
Then I realized I was basically carrying a purse.
I swapped the Cybertool for a nifty little knife that lives on my keychain with the pill case for my migraine meds and my Ritalin, ditched the hard drive, and bought a pocket-sized weekly calendar for ten bucks to replace the Zaurus. A selection of my mp3 collection lives is on my hard drive at work. I just listen to NPR when I'm in the car, which is where I keep the umbrella.
If/when I leave my current job, and my new employer doesn't require that I have a cell, I won't be replacing it.
In case you haven't figured it out, I've got some pretty harsh ADD. I've found that minimizing the ton of crap that I used to cart around with me has made life a helluva lot easier to handle.
Oh, and when I'm bored and I need something to do while waiting for a bus or eating at a restaurant, I buy a newspaper. It's amazing, really.
hang brain.
I, for one, am a minimalist. I hate taking a bunch of crap with me when I'm not certain to use it. That being said, I'm a grunt, too, so I have to carry a craptastic amount of items that I _might_ want/need. I honestly like the feel of cargo pants made from a khaki material. You can pick them up cheap at a lot of stores. Heck, my last pair I got at JC Penney's on clearance in the fatty kid's section.
If you want to have a "cool" solution, buy an assault pack. If you have a friend in the military, he/she can take you on post to get a really nice high-speed pack for about $140. If you get one from CamelBak (example), it will also have an embedded hydration pack (2 or 3 liters) so that you can stay hydrated. Yes, it's cool to drink water.
Long, cute, or funny Sigs are just another form of over compensation, used by geeks, nerdz, etc.
My first recommendation is to only carry small and where possibile, hybrid gear.
Secondly purge your bag weekly.
Thirdly, a small bag with a well padded single shoulder strap seems to put less pressure on joints, nerves, etc. The older you get the more you will appreciate this. It is counter-intuitive but backpacks easily cause me more discomfort, even with a good belt.
I am currently carrying an Eagle Creek Travel Gear shoulder bag. In it I carry:
Sony Clie UX40 in an aluminum case
crap Cell phone (if work didn't pay for this it would be a Treo 650)
Bandana (almost as good as a towel)
2 pens
business cards
Mini flash light
usb ROM stick
mini tape measure
Leatherman Squirt mini-multi-tool
spare stylus
A small Moleskin notebook
earplugs
Sony noise reducing earbuds(passive)
Motorola HS820 BT headset (crap)
2.5 lb convertible Fujitsu Lappy w/extended battery(I fuckin dig this thing!)
Caselogic neoprene DVD Player Case for the laptop.
On the laptop there is easily 500 ebooks including textbooks for school, reference books for work and fiction for downtime. The whole enchilada weighs only 5.5 lbs!
And as soon as I figure out how to get Outlook to wake my laptop out of standby I'll ebay the PDA.
My sister carries a "healthy back bag" from LL Bean that is even more comfortable. I'll try that next.
Take care of your body before it turns on you!
BillyBob
bamph
Holy crap! A case mod that's on topic for this!
http://www.homemade-sex-toys.com/case/