Timbuk2 Medium Messenger: stealth camera & laptop bag

2011 Update – the Timbuk2 Snoop

It’s been a couple of years since I wrote this post, but as it’s still getting a fair bit of traffic, I thought I’d let you know I’m still happily using this combination, which is working well. However, Timbuk2 have come out with their own (similar) solution – the Snoop. It’s more or less classic messenger with a detachable insert for the camera stuff, but I’m not sure if you need a sleeve for a laptop if you’re bringing one of those as well. I’ve not seen one in the flesh, and I don’t get a cut of any sales or anything, but it’s worth a look.

The 2009 article

I’m a photographer and web designer and I work partly from home, and partly from my office. At least once a week I ride my bike to work. I need a bag that’ll help me do all this stuff, while not making me look like a dork who’s carrying a bunch of expensive gear.

And after a long search, I’ve found it: a Timbuk2 Medium Messenger, with a Waterfield Designs sleeve for my MacBook Pro, and a Tenba camera insert for the DSLR and stuff.

I have a LowePro Slingshot for when I’m only carrying camera gear, but I was looking for something that would work for day to day commuting – I almost always carry the laptop, and often a camera and a couple of lenses.

Crumpler – nice guys, no joy

I like Crumpler as a company, and a lot of folks I know really like their bags. But nothing they make in a messenger shape (as opposed to a backpack) would really work for me.

I could have gone for a Complete Seed with a Bucket insert, but that looks huge.

And the Barney Rustle Blanket I (temporarily) bought turned out to be too small – it just about fits a 15″ Macbook Pro in a sleeve, but there’s definitely no room for a DSLR (even without an insert).

The guys at Crumpler were sympathetic when I told them my requirements, and didn’t try to sell me on something that wouldn’t work, but there’s definitely seems to be a gap there.

Tenba insert for the win

I already have a large Timbuk2 messenger, and while it can carry a massive amount of stuff (good for travelling when you need to bring everything), there’s a real danger that stuff just bangs around in the large main bag.

The Timbuk2 Medium Classic Messenger is obviously smaller, but I still wanted a way to organise things. Enter the bargain Tenba Photo Insert. It’s meant as a replacement for a specific Tenba bag, but as the review on B&H (where I bought mine) show, it’s a favourite for photographers looking to convert all kinds of bags.

It comes with a number of foam and velcro dividers, so you can set up the insert how you like it. I’ve got three compartments, with the camera face-down in the middle one. With lots of padding all around, it offers the protection and organisation I was looking for. Now all I needed was the bag to put it in.

Back to the old faithful

I got my first Timbuk2 bag in 1994 or so, when I coveted one my sister brought back from a trip to the US. But would they have a bag now that matched my specific requirements?

I liked the Commute (recently updated to be TSA approved). The rubberised bottom was nice, and the separate laptop sleeve cozy. But it doesn’t have a cross-strap which makes it useless if you ever do your commute on a bike. A strange omission, if you ask me.

That left the Laptop Messenger or the Classic messenger. Medium seemed to be the size I was after and I went with the Classic because I already have a sleeve I like (a Waterfield Designs one from 2000 that’s still in great shape), and figured every now and again I’d be travelling without the laptop so it’d be handy to take out the sleeve.

It fits the laptop sleeve and Tenba insert perfectly, I can get the Macbook Pro, Canon 5D, 17-40 f/4L, 24-105 f/4L, and 50mm f/1.4 with no trouble. I could actually stack another lens on top of the 50mm (say the 85mm, f/1.8) if they both had their own little bags. Fully loaded it’s not light, but not too awkward to handle.

And those days when I’m just travelling with laptop and some papers, it doesn’t seem too big. The myriad pockets make it easy to bring along extra small stuff and keep them altogether.

I got the stealth black one, as it needs to look presentable in business meetings, and I like that it doesn’t really suggest how much valuable stuff it has in it.

On the bike, it’s rock solid (as you’d expect from a bag company started by couriers), and the cross strap does a good job.

The cons? The velcro is loud if you were looking for something in a movie theatre, and the padded cellphone pocket is a bit short for an iPhone (or put another way, the iPhone’s taller than most cellphones). The off the shelf classic messenger doesn’t come with a grab strap on the top, so getting it in and out of cars (for example) isn’t as easy as it could be. (If you build a custom bag, you can spec one).

But these minor complaints don’t take away from my happiness at sorting out a bag that I can use every day, and carry a laptop and a bunch of camera stuff when I have to.