Long time reader, first time poster so be gentle!
Have just bought a Crumpler Dry Red No.9 (in black as the red was a little too conspicuous for my tastes) to tote all my gear around in. My previous bag was a High Sierra Variable Wheeled 17" laptop bag (H8150) - however this fell apart after about 2 years when the plastic internal stiffener back shattered after falling from being stacked on my checkin bags and being saved by the stability strap on the back. Long story short, the warranty didn't cover that sort of abuse. The warranty on the Crumpler on the other hand is for lifetime.
Typical day to day stuff packed includes 17" Sony laptop + associated stuff, ipad2, a couple of portable hard drives, a big set of clamshell noise cancelling headphones, some smaller backup headphones and a couple of manila files, brochures etc. Occasionally for an overnight I need to pack in some clothes as well. So I needed something fairly versatile – hence the No.9 which seemed to fit the bill without having to mortgage the house for a Tumi…
First impressions are that it is pretty well made and thoughtfully designed. It seems to be able to hold a fair bit more than the High Sierra which initially seems odd but is mainly due to the placement of the laptop being much further towards the front in the Crumpler. This should give a bit more shock absorption for the ‘puter while wheeling and at the same time frees up some space at the back where you can mould smaller items around the telescopic handle mechanism.
The No. 9 doesn’t have as many pockets / nooks and crannies as the High Sierra either but still has enough to keep organised. Those pockets it does have, have been thoughtfully sized for passports, phones, pens, business cards etc. It also has a small clip which I generally use for keys. This was also present in the High Sierra but was detachable – so it was promptly stolen by my kids… One nice feature is that the main compartment can be opened fully like a suitcase to allow easy access.
Build quality seems good with high quality zippers (with locking rings on the pull tabs), nice material and invisible stitching. Rolling is easy and the telescopic handle seems sturdy. Weight wise – not too shabby at about 3.2kg vs the High Sierra at 3.5kg. Bag stiffness seems to be via a similar plastic stiffener plate in the back that the High Sierra had. However, the Crumpler doesn’t have the stability strap on the back that you can use to slip over the handle of your checkin bag so this should receive less punishment. On the other hand, it will make stacking this bag on top of others much less stable.
One minor gripe – there is nowhere for the obligatory FF luggage tags on the outside… Oh well never mind. It’s not like it goes out of my sight anyway!
I’ve got a trip to Europe in a couple of weeks so will give you an update of how it handles on the road. A wide variety of planes, trains and automobiles are planned...yay.
By the way – for those days I am at home and choose to cycle into work I have a Chrome Industries Soyuz. An amazing bag that fits a remarkable amount of stuff in it while remaining very comfortable. If only they did laptop wheelies…
