Tester: Angie
Date: January 5, 2002

This being my first product review turned out to be an easy one. It all started when the guys from Timbuk2 traded a messenger bag for a drunk cyclist T-shirt when Jon was in Vegas. He came home with the small black messenger bag. I tried to finagle my way into ownership by complaining that the crappy old green backpack I used as an undergrad at ASU was not compliant with my needs as a law student. Jon didn’t budge. Then I argued that the pack didn’t accommodate my laptop (specifically that my backpack wasn’t padded and our $1500 investment was being knocked around with no protection). To my dismay that didn’t work either, so I pulled out the big guns. I pouted and whined that my backpack was ugly and only dorks carried around backpacks. I added that all the other kids had messenger bags and made fun of me. It worked on Daddy and it worked on Jon. And that is how I ended up with my very 1st Timbuk2 messenger bag.

The bag itself was great, but it was a little small for my laptop and all my books, so I gave it back to Jon and went to the Timbuk2 website to order a larger one. That site is really cool. You get to build your very own bag, and as you add things (i.e. laptop carrier, strap pad, etc.) flash animation shows them being added to your bag. You get to choose your colors from a wide variety, which I liked because I always like to have accessories that are unique to my personality. You can choose one uniform color, or different colors. You even have the option of material used for the bag itself. I began to piece together my bag.

I ordered the largest bag they offer, which ended up being really big. So, if you don’t have a whole lot of crap to carry around, you should stick with the mid to small sized bag. I chose lime green and black as my colors and opted for the free-floating accessory bag (I use this mostly for computer chords, but it is very versatile). But the coolest extra that I ordered was the removable laptop carrier. It’s padded, has handles and fits nicely into the larger bag. You can even choose to match colors and material of the carrier with everything else. The laptop carrier also comes in 3 sizes to fit most any laptop.

The bag with all the perks ended up being a little pricey, which was concerning. However, when I received the bag in the mail (3 days later) I knew that the bag is worth every penny. The materials and design of the bag are of very high quality and will undoubtedly last forever. I've been using my bag for a couple months now, and I love it. If you’re looking for a new messenger bag, I would highly recommend Timbuk2 (If you’re looking for a backpack - you’re a fucking dork). You probably won‘t have to buy another one for decades. If you‘re not in the market for a messenger bag, it‘s worth the time to go and check out the Timbuk2 website . . . it‘s that cool!