I’ve always been a fan of these kinds of posts so every couple of years I do an update of what I keep in my work bag and what I have as my every day carry:
The Bag
The bag itself a messenger bag designed for “11 inch laptops” by Knomo. I’ve had a look and it appears that it is now discontinued but it’s still going strong for me.
I got it back in 2014 to use with my Surface Pro 2. In my original post I speculated that “it will hopefully last even longer than the technology it will hold.” and I was right. It’s a perfect fit the Surface Book too.
I usually wear it just on one shoulder when going short distances but it it works fine across my body too. Previously I’d had larger backpacks for work, but these days the stuff I carry is so small and light that a messenger bag is the best option and just using one shoulder doesn’t cause any physical issues for me.
Surface Book
The main compartment of the bag is used by whichever Surface Book I am using at the time; I have one for work and another one for personal use.
The Surface Book is a beautiful machine and way better than the clunky and huge Dell or HP laptops I used to use for work.
It’s worth mentioning here that I do not carry a power adaptor with me by default. I have Surface power adaptors both in my home office and at work, plus the battery life is just fine for most situations where I am out and using the machine for work.
Notebooks
The middle compartment sometimes gets used for other things, but mostly it is where I carry my notebooks.
As a huge stationery nerd I often try out new pens and pencils – but one certainty is that I’ll have my Arts & Science leather case containing my Hobonichi, Field Notes, and whatever my pen of choice is at the moment.
Check out my analogue note-taking setup for 2016 for more information on the setup I had at the start of the year, or follow me on Instagram if stationery is your thing.
Analogue and Digital Pens
In the front compartment there are a couple of pen slots – at the moment it is currently holding:
- Surface Pen
- Zebra Sharbo X ST3
While the Surface Pen has a magnet to clip to the side of the device, I find that I prefer to keep it in it’s own place when I am storing it in my bag. I don’t want there to be any chance of it falling off and scratching the laptop.
The Sharbo X is probably my favourite multi-pen and I use it a lot when taking notes in meetings. It’s really handy to keep this one in my bag so I have a pen, pencil, and highlighter to hand at all times.
Small Accessories
Finally, there are also a small number of other miscellaneous items I carry in a zipped pocket:
- Small USB Cable
- USB Type C adapter
- micro SD card and USB adapter
- Pen knife
- Cleaning cloth
And that’s it! I really love how much lighter my bag is compared to previous years.