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Ask Slashdot: Is There a Good Device Holster?
gurps_npc writes "I have seen several technology holsters. There are a lot of good ones for cell phones, but I am looking for something larger — for a tablet (Nook/Kindle/Nexus/iPad). There is, however, a direct trade-off between being discreet and having decent carrying capacity. Has anyone found an ideal balance? I would love to hear from people with direct experience. Do you look like the worst kind of geek hipster while wearing it? Any feature I should look for? I found one from a company called techslinger, but it looks a bit too geeky for me (double-sided makes it really stand out)."
Good news, you won't have to worry about looking like a hipster at all. You will however, look like the worst kind of utility belt nerd, and there's no getting around it.
nice advertisement!
When I was travelling around Europe, for getting through airports I sewed my own leg-webbing for my phone and it's accessories out of black canvas. It wound up being very low profile since I wear black cargo pants normally, but was much easier to take off quickly in airports (and kept everything spread out for X-ray scanners) and allowed me to keep my phone much higher and closer to my belt (which was great for making sure I had my phone on me and keeping it easy to keep an eye on).
Carrying a tablet the same way could probably be done pretty discreetly - a 7" tablet would easily fit along the space of one's thigh without standing out at all. But I seriously doubt you'll find anything to buy - break out the sewing the machine and see what you come up with is my recommendation.
If you need to carry around stuff that does not fit nicely in a pocket, get a purse. I understand the attraction of slinging out your tablet with lightning speed. But really, despite our male need to have tools right where and when need them (it is both genetic and cultural, I guess), unless you need your other hand to hang on to your other tools (or a branch), a purse is really way more convenient for carrying around bulkier stuff.
To holster your equipment I recommend a jockstrap or brassiere.
Unless you are built like a low-poly linebacker, there isn't anywhere on your torso where something as large as a tablet won't rest awkwardly with at least one protruding corner, unless you wear a McMurdo-grade winter jacket at all times.
Since you can't hide something of that size, you might as well go with a small messenger bag, which will have the same capacity as a very large holster; but won't look utterly ridiculous.
This is a true scene from the early 2000's when I was involved in some Linux conferences as a speaker...
Imagine if you will a white male, late teens/early twenties. Full length leather jacking swaying as he walks the floor. His sunglasses obscuring where he is looking. He is clearly carrying something under the leather jacket, but you can't quite see what it is...
Something catches his attention from across the floor. Quickly he moves across the aisle, his jacket and whatever is underneath following a split second later, the inertia of something heavy slowing it down. He walks across to a booth, and nervously asks a question or two. He looks agitated and frustrated. He adjusts his glasses reaches under his jacket and pulls out... His laptop.
I think it was LinuxWorld in 2000. There was a guy that had all his gadgets attached to cables under a full length Morpheus-style jacket. I swear, everything up above is true (well maybe not the agitated and frustrated part).
I can't quite recall if his sunglasses where nose-clip glasses...
All tech holsters look like they were made by the Dork Brothers, AKA the guys who design bicycle helmets. So forget holsters. And we won't even talk about fanny packs. Barf. I carry a small over-the-shoulder "messenger-style" laptop case that happily holds my little 11.5" subnotebook, my smarty-pants phone, some odds and ends, and my .22 pistol (along with a couple of extra magazines).
After looking at the Techslinger, I recognized it from the Missionary Training Center (30-some-odd years ago, next to BYU), they used to sell something like those in the missionary book store to stash our Books of Mormon, so we could always be ready with one! I kept it for years after my mission to Belgium before finally passing it along to one of my kids who thought it was cool. The only difference was that it was a zipper pouch, like an over-sized vinyl bank bag. (We also stashed our brochures in them.) The downside is that you always have to wear a coat or vest, even today, unless you want to start a trend somehow. The ones they sold us were inexpensive, though, made with simple straps and Velcro. Gosh, this brings back memories. (Those were the days when I was a true believer!)
I have never, ever, ever looked at a person with a device holster, and not thought that they looked silly. Be it for your phone, tablet, or otherwise, device holsters are the crocs of technical accessories.
Dilbert
Techno-bill
you look like a nork. That is 1/4 nerd and 3/4 dork. I'd rather work in marketing for the rest of my life than be seen here on the streets with such a thing.
Religous speak to God. Insane are spoken to by God. When all shut up, one can finally hear Shostakovich in peace
I'm sure that you can find something from the Hello Kitty line.
Why is Snark Required?
What about a device for storing my tater tots?
How about it science?
For fashion advice, you might want to try a more appropriate site.
During a summer job we wore holsters to hold our tools when working on a roof. Dare to walk up to the nearest roof construction worker and call him a nerd? :P
:(
On a different note, how about those of us who actually had to do technical drawings by hand? I also fit in that category
I think what you're looking for is a purse. Pick a design and a colour and own it.
https://www.google.com/search?q=messenger+bag&tbm=isch
Is that a smartphone in your pants or are you just not that happy to see me?
Sleep your way to a whiter smile...date a dentist!
It's the only viable solution I've seen so far:
http://www.scottevest.com/
I've been wanting to get one for months, but TBH I'm a bit afraid it'll cost me twice as much here in Germany (with shipping and taxes)...
I moved from nerdy bat-belt over backpack to handbag for my EDCs. Seriously: Get a top-notch handbag or small messenger bag. Crumpler is good ... allthough I just see the german collection is by orders of magnitude better than the US one (???) - don't know what to make of that (Link is to the German collection with english copytext).
Another one, Freitag, is über-hip in Europe right now - they direct-recycle truck tarps, wasch them with rain-water and sow them into individual grungy cyberpunk-style pockets and bags. Entirely swiss-made btw. Sturdy, practical and very cool and fashionable. Popular with girls and guys alike over here. Cost a small fortune, but guaranteed no sweat shop work and about the most envionmentaly friendly you can get. ... A Freitag probably is going to be my next.
Not having my gadgets on me all the time in my bat-belt made me a more sociable person for that simple reason. You look cooler and you feel better not lugging your toolkit around with you all the time.
Bottom line: Ditch the bat-belt syndrome and get a neat rugged modern bag for your EDC - once you've gone through the initial withdrawal you'll feel much better. :-)
My 2 cents.
We suffer more in our imagination than in reality. - Seneca
If one wears a large phone, let alone a tablet, on one's belt one is going to look like a dork. You are better off getting a bag of some sort. It won't matter if it is a man bag, a messenger bag, a backpack, a laptop bag, or a briefcase, you are better off getting a bag. Now, if you or someone you know does leather craft, Tandy Leather Factory has two kits, one for a "vertical messenger bag" and one for an "expedition brief case". Of course, if you have the money, you can always check the Saddleback Leather Company.
There is no "-1 offended" or "-1 you don't agree with me" mod options for a reason.
Just get a bag. Backpack or sling-type bag, depending on preference. Don't use belt pouches or anything like that. Ever. It doesn't make you look like a geek or hipster, it makes you look like an idiot. It's like having a bluetooth phone thing on your ear. Sure if you can strap a thing to your body under a jacket like a gun holster that is probably a good thing, it won't attract pickpockets and you won't have to carry a bag. But then you can't take yuor jacket off without looking like an idiot.
I have a modified Roman armor breastplate and use my iPad to make it look like I have a six-pack.
No sig today...
You've got it the wrong way around. Cycling fast can heat you up quickly enough, even in winter.
"It's such a fine line between stupid and clever" -- David St. Hubbins, Spinal Tap
Not sure if packing devices ion your pants is good for your transmitter part. Your data rate may soon plummet.
I put all my devices in my pants so it looks like I have a really big genitals. All the hot women want a piece of the action! I reccommend it. I am 100% percent serial.
Woman: Is that an iPhone in your pocket, or is your penis just an extremely odd shape?
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Any Utilikilt other than the "new original" has huge pockets which hang down and to the front. I keep my (2nd-gen) Nexus 7 (the 1st-gen was a little wider, and fit in the pockets but not as easily), cell phone, and external battery in a single side/front pocket.
No, but saying the word "cunt" bothers some men. The word itself makes some men uncomfortable. Cunt. They don't like hearing it and find it difficult to say whereas without batting an eye a man will refer to his dick or his rod or his Johnson.
"Our two-party system is like a bowl of shit looking at itself in a mirror." - Lewis Black
Yes, you can always hire a manservant to lug around your crap. Preferably on a silver platter.
A real man would buy body armor, and replace the trauma plate with his tablet.