Best Laptop Bags and Essential Items to put in them
A Laptop bag needs to be functional, stylish and full of gadgets. These are the best of the best.
By jheary on Fri, 04/08/11 - 5:51pm.Laptop bags are a dime a dozen for sure, but I've picked a couple that I think stand apart from the rest. Why this topic you ask. Well, over the many years I've owned countless laptop bags, most of which were junk even if pricey. A laptop bag is something that you interact with all day long so having a good one can make each day that much more enjoyable. The bags I've picked range from techie to formal business personalities. I'll also go over the best gear, widgets and stuff that you'll want to cart around in your new bag to make your life easier or just to show off your master geek kung fu.
First the bags. My absolute far and away favorite, and current, bag is the briefcase by Saddleback Leather Co. I've owned it for about 5 months now and it has exceeded all my expectations. It is built like a brick shiznit house and backed up by a 100 year warranty.
The whole thing is made of 100% super thick full grain boot leather and metal buckles and snaps. It kind of looks like someone tore about a saddle and used the pieces to make this briefcase. As for the looks, well the positive comments I routinely receive from colleagues, strangers and customers speak for themselves. Of the many bags I've owned over the years I can only remember one other bag that ever got any comments from folks. It is a bag reminiscent of something Indiana Jones would carry. Just a heads up, this bag is big and heavy (about 7-8lbs empty). For me the weight is not an issue, even fully loaded up for a 2 day trip to Seattle. The shoulder strap is very comfortable and stays put on your shoulder without sliding off constantly.
Inside you have a slot for your laptop that is separated from the rest of your stuff by a hefty ½" thick slab of boot leather. The laptop slot is nicely lined with soft pig skin. It fits a 15" laptop like a glove. Anything larger might have issues so go with the x-large briefcase (mine is a Large). The inside is full of little and big pockets as well as a huge main compartment.
It took me a week to get used to the buckle closure but now I don't even think about it. It can be made into a backpack but I've never tried that. Overall this briefcase gets a 10 out of 10 rating in my book.
For those that prefer laptop backpacks instead of briefcases you can't go wrong with the M.A.S.K. bags from Slappa.
These backpacks are made for the techie, gamer, engineer ninja that rides a superbike to work. They look awesome and are super functional. The build quality is high but the warranty is not that great for some reason. Buy it on their website to get the best warranty (1 year) and 30day money back guarantee. What makes this bag stand apart is, among other things, the customizability of it. You get to select the inner lining color, the insert panel by a custom artist, and the backpack face style. You can even purchase multiple faces and switch them out as you feel like it.
Inside there are pockets galore and a nice comfy pouch for your laptop to slip into.
Always be prepared! Here are the things you'll want to be sure to store in your sporting new laptop bag. And no you cannot leave anything out, these are life's essentials folks.
Tech gadgets
-Screaming fast Laptop (of course)
-Power Supply, ethernet cable, serial cable, iPhone cable and pwr, video adapter cables, generic usb power adapter to charge any usb device
-MiFi card and pwr block
-iPhone
-iPad
-Solar panel charger for your gadgets
-Power converter if you travel internationally
-Micro GPS tracking device (to track down the thief of your new bag)
-noise canceling headphones and a set of earbuds as well
-HD video camera
-USB Hard Drive
-A couple 4GB USB flash drives
-Power inverter with a car and plane adapter to power your stuff on the road
-headphone jack splitter so two can listen to the ipad movie
Other gadgets
-Leatherman (leave it home when you travel!)
-Notebook and Pens
-Business cards
-H&K 45 USP (well you never know ☺)
-Flashlight
-AAA and AA batteries
-Energy bar
-Bottle of water or your favorite energy drink
-Cash Stash for emergencies
-Waterproof Matches or Lighter
-Compact first aid kit
-Gum and/or breath mints
What am I missing? What do you have in your bag?
Here are the links to the bags I mentioned
Saddleback Leather
http://www.saddlebackleather.com/
Slappa M.A.S.K
http://www.slappa.com/MASK-KOA-Backpack
The opinions and information presented here are my PERSONAL views and not those of my employer. I am in no way an official spokesperson for my employer.
More from Jamey Heary:
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* 2009 Top Urban Legends in IT Security/a>Go to Jamey’s Blog for more articles on security.
- About Cisco Security Expert
Jamey Heary, CCIE #7680, sits on the PCI Security Standards Council- Board of Advisors where he provides strategic and technical guidance for future PCI standards. Jamey is the author of Cisco NAC Appliance: Enforcing Host Security with Clean Access. (Check out all of Jamey Heary's books from Cisco Press.) He also has a patent pending on a new DDoS mitigation technique.
Jamey sits on several security advisory boards for Cisco Systems and is a founding member of the Colorado Healthcare InfoSec Users Group. He is an experienced speaker who is recognized as an expert in network security architecture, regulatory compliance, and routing and switching. His other certifications include CISSP, CCSP, and he is a Certified HIPAA Security Professional. He has been working in the IT field for 15 years and in IT security for 10 years. Jamey is currently a Distinguished Systems Engineer at Cisco Systems.
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