By sneedy on Tuesday, October 29, 2002 - 12:43 pm:

I'm looking for a gadget bag, preferably leather, to stow a cell phone, a PDA (sometimes), a small notebook, a checkbook, a few pens/toiletries, etc. any ideas? i've seen a lot of pda cases, but those are too specialized and too small. I've also seen some great smaller cargo-type bags, but I'd like something I could take into a meeting if necessary. Thanks.

By Gareth Branwyn (Gareth) on Tuesday, October 29, 2002 - 03:01 pm:

Hey Sneedy, welcome to the board (at least I don't think you've posted here before). Anyway, the first thing that came to mind was the Kensington SaddleBag, although I guess that'd be too big for what you're looking for. I assume you mean "notebook" as in dead trees, not a notebook computer?

You may want to look at Case Logic's site. They have a lot of bags in various sizes. I've seen people use camcorder bags for the kind of stowage you're talking about. Case Logic (and others) have these types of bags in many sizes and styles.

By Nate Heasley (Nheasley) on Tuesday, October 29, 2002 - 03:15 pm:

My current bag of choice is a Tumi Barrow. It's not exactly a laptop bag, but its got plenty of room for a small laptop. It's also got an interior pocket for PDA, another for cell phone, and a third for whatever else you care to put in it. It's got an three exterior pockets -- one the front flap, one under the front flap, and a third on the back.

It's what they call a "vertical tote" which means that it's designed like a messenger bag, but longer vertically than horizontally. It's got both a (very comfortable and removable) shoulder strap and a handle, so it goes from messenger bag style to briefcase with panache pretty quickly. The fabrics are Tumi's T2 design, which are sort of high-tech nylon, better looking than just plain old nylon.

They're pretty expensive though -- $125 from places like LuggageOnline. I got mine used on ebay for about $50.

By sneedy on Tuesday, October 29, 2002 - 03:34 pm:

I think that what I am looking for can be described, unfortunately, as a man purse. I'd like it to be small (like purse or PDA-case size) but not look like a purse. Some gadget padding is appreciated, but not crucial.

By Gareth Branwyn (Gareth) on Tuesday, October 29, 2002 - 03:35 pm:

I was just looking at my camera bag, which is a Case Logic (don't know which model). It might be perfect for you. It's 6-1/2 x 7 x 3. It has a zippered front pouch with three mesh pockets (one large -- CD-sized, and two smaller -- which can carry pens, etc.). The main pouch has a removable divider. It looks to be large enough to carry both a PDA and a celly (as long as they're both small-ish).

The bag is faux-leather, with nubby rubber accents on the flap and the bottom. The shoulder strap is not padded (your typical nylon camera bag strap), but since you wouldn't have much weight in it, you should be fine. You could fit all of the things you mentioned above, tho it might be a somewhat tight fit. They probably have similar bags with more generous dimensions.

By Nate Heasley (Nheasley) on Tuesday, October 29, 2002 - 04:57 pm:

Oh, when you said "notebook" I thought "laptop" -- goes to show you just how digital I am...

Aside from Gar's suggestions, check out the PDASkins.com products. Sounds like what you're looking for, maybe.

Here's a picture of their "PDA Plus" unit;

And here's a picture of a dork using it with the neck strap;

We should run a "come up with a quote for this picture" contest for that one :)

By Timmy Tuner (Tatertot) on Tuesday, October 29, 2002 - 05:02 pm:

You could take one of these CD wallets, rip out the CD holder insides, and sew in a pocket and sew on a strap. But that's just something I would do.

By Timmy Tuner (Tatertot) on Tuesday, October 29, 2002 - 05:03 pm:

Oh wow. How much did they pay that guy to pose like that?

By Gareth Branwyn (Gareth) on Tuesday, October 29, 2002 - 05:50 pm:

Not enough.

By Mark Crane (Mecran01) on Tuesday, October 29, 2002 - 06:13 pm:

That's a mannequin. They told him if he held that position he'd turn into a real little boy one day.

By John Massaglia (Mrklaw) on Tuesday, October 29, 2002 - 06:24 pm:

maybe he has lost the use of his arms

By John Massaglia (Mrklaw) on Tuesday, October 29, 2002 - 06:34 pm:

sneedy, sounds like you need a fanny pack or something like that.

A few years ago, I bought a little bag at a camping/outdoors equipment store, but it was made of cheapo nylon. I was able to fit my Newton and maybe a notebook and a checkbook in the main compartment and there were two little pockets on the side that could hold extra batteries and a small cell phone or something. Since I switched to a Palm, I have relied on cargo pants when I need to carry a few things around. I usually just use a soft laptop bag without a laptop in it.

Andy Ihnatko uses a belt with lots of little pockets (like an ammo belt or something) for his digital camera, PDA, cell phone, ipod, etc.

By Donald Melanson (Donaldm) on Tuesday, October 29, 2002 - 08:12 pm:

InCase makes some great cases. The site's all flash so I can do a direct link, but their Cross bags sound like what you're looking for. They look like mini bike messenger bags. Um...wait a minute, that might make it a purse.

By Donald Melanson (Donaldm) on Tuesday, October 29, 2002 - 08:15 pm:

Which I just noticed is what you were looking for. That'll show me for reading too fast before I post.

By George Slusher (Gslusher) on Wednesday, October 30, 2002 - 01:08 am:

I've gone through this same search, myself, so I hope that you can benefit from what I have found.

1) The first (and possibly last) place to look for this sort of item online is Levenger, which has become legendary. Their site is easy to use--browse through and you'll probably find a lot of stuff that you'd be interested in. Another in the same vein is Lizell, which has an extensive line of leather accessories.

2. Go to a good/upscale luggage store--they will usually have stuff like this. One brand to look for is Dilana, a brand made specifically for participating stores. They have several "man purses," including a line called "Santa Fe" that have a rugged, yet high-quality look and feel. There is one that I think is called a "Gadget Bag" for about $70-80. Also check this Dilana bag at Rapp's Luggage.

3. Another possibility is the Ameribag (or "Healthy Back Bag"), which comes in many sizes, including several small ones. The link is to the manufacturer's site. You can probably find better prices by doing a search on "Ameribag" in Google, Yahoo, etc. These may also be available locally. The Ameribags have an external cel phone pouch and several pockets that make organizing stuff easy. They are available in leather in a variety of colors, though they're not cheap. They also come in microfiber and distressed nylon.

4. If leather isn't an absolute requirement, also check out the wide range of "pouches," "guide bags," "travel companions," and similar items.

A superior brand is Eagle Creek's wide range of bags--look under their travel pouches, Protect-it pouches (padded) and wallets categories. (A good source is Le Travel Store; another is Magellan's, which also has other brands.)

If you have a local REI store, they carry Eagle Creek and other brands. They have some neat bags with their own brand. (Check this Personal Organizer, for example.)

Victorinox of "Swiss Army" fame, makes some personal bags (e.g., the Travel Companion and the Vertical Travel Companion. While you'll often see them in bright red, they are also available in black. (Also remember that Victorinox/Swiss Army products are usually seen as upscale and very high quality, even without being made of leather.)

Last, don't pass up Eddie Bauer. Most of their stores have good bags, often toward the back of the store.

By Timmy Tuner (Tatertot) on Wednesday, October 30, 2002 - 12:15 pm:

Or you could go to the army/navy surplus store and get a gas-mask bag.

By Gareth Branwyn (Gareth) on Wednesday, October 30, 2002 - 12:45 pm:

Hey George, thanks for posting that extensive information. That's very helpful.

BTW: I'm wondering if we should do an Ask Street Tech section and post this question/answer as our first one?

By sneedy on Wednesday, October 30, 2002 - 02:48 pm:

Thanks to everyone for the suggestions. George pointed me to a Dilana bag at Rapp that I think will work out just fine. Thanks again for everyone's assistance.

By Gareth Branwyn (Gareth) on Wednesday, October 30, 2002 - 04:22 pm:

Hey Sneedy, if you get the bag, maybe you can write a review of it for us!

By Mark Crane (Mecran01) on Sunday, November 03, 2002 - 09:37 am:

Tim Wrote:
" Or you could go to the army/navy surplus store and get a gas-mask bag."

Useful on so many levels these days.

By George Slusher (Gslusher) on Thursday, November 07, 2002 - 08:48 am:

Looks like my links got farkled. They are fine in the text file I used to copy and paste from, but it looks like some got truncated, so they won't work. I tried to redo them, but I can tell in the preview that they still get truncated. So, try the basic site links and browse for yourself. If you want those specific links, drop me a line, as I still have the text file.

Rapp's Luggage - go to "Leather Accessories" then "Acessories"

REI go to "Travel," then "Travel Packs/Duffels." Go down to "Packs and Bags," then "Day Bags and Packs," and click on "Shoulder Bags and Courier Bags" to get to the REI & Victorinox/Swiss Army organizers.

By NESSA on Friday, September 17, 2004 - 11:00 am:

HELLO I AM LOOKING FOR A CAMERA BAG THAT LOOKS LIKE A PURSE. A BOUGHT ONE AT TARGET BUT IT NEEDS TO BE A LITTLE BIGGER. IT HAS 5 REMOVABLE PADDED DIVIDERS ANY SUGGESTIONS ON WHERE TO GET A BAG LIKE THIS