Waterfield Designs is a small
San Francisco based company founded by an ex-bike
courier by the name of Gary. The company has steadily gained acclaim
for designing IT industry friendly bags,
gear pouches and sleeves for
notebooks and mobile electronic devices which are functional and good
looking.
Part of
the success of Waterfield
Designs is the companies intuitive design approach and ingenuitive use
of materials. Durable synthetic fabrics like ballistic Nylon, Neoprene and industrial coverings like Indium
wear well and stand up to the rigors of a mobile
work life extremely well, while leather adds a touch of comfort. Add to
that aerospace-grade hardware like commercial aircraft seat buckles that can be opened behind
the back with one hand, and I think you'll agree Waterfield makes fashionable
items with substance.
To
date, the signature Cargo
Bag
that I picked up in 2001, has logged enough air miles to go around
world several times and outlasted two laptops altogether. Aside from a few scratches
on the anodized aluminum buckle, that bag has held up without any torn fabric,
squeaks, busted seams or dead zippers. Quite remarkable given the number of time
zones this bag has been to in nearly 9 years of
lugging it around.
Today PCSTATS is looking at three other types of Waterfield Design bags; a
piggyback case for hauling gear, a neoprene-padded horizontal notebook sleeve
and a vertical notebook SleeveCase with a shoulder strap - especially good for
airports.
 |
|
Waterfield Design
Sleeve Case |
|
|
| |
IT Editor's Trick to Laptop Lifespan Extension -
the Notebook Sleeve
A notebook sleeve
is best described as an outer covering to protect the
laptop from wear and tear while it's inside another bag. Notebooks are inherently fragile things, even with
the adoption of magnesium alloys, carbon fiber, and titanium chassis. By their nature, portability
puts notebooks in the path of a fair bit of rough handling
where the forces of friction usually end up winning on fancy surfaces.
|
The horizontal notebook sleeve from Waterfield Designs
runs about $40 depending on the size of laptop, is made from
ballistic nylon and neoprene padding and features a Velcro loop to stops the computer sliding
out. |
At its simplest a notebook sleeve need be nothing more than a soft cloth covering. This is
enough to prevent most errant paper clips, staples, grit, and metal pen clips
in a bag from scratching the outer surface of a laptop to death. In my
travels to and from tech trade shows around the world, going through the mandatory
security checks and luggage carousels has reaffirmed my belief in the usefulness of a
notebook sleeve.
|
The vertical SleeveCase from Waterfield Designs runs about $70
as pictured (depending on the size of laptop). It features a
large padded velcro flap to fully cover the computer and adjustable shoulder
strap. |
With airport X-Ray screening, laptops have to be removed from bags and placed
naked in those grey RubberMaid bins. A neoprene padded sleeve provides a nice
line of defense against careless airport security screeners and a bit
of anonymity when you need it. A shiny laptop is a prime target for thieves of
opportunity at busy security screening gates, whereas a laptop concealed in a
notebook sleeve is not nearly as conspicuous if you get held up putting
your shoes back on.
|
A
piggyback gear pouch can be quickly attached to the vertical SleeveCase for about $22 to
create space for cables and peripherals. The Metal hardware is powder coated
black. |
Sleeves can also be good intermediaries when attending meetings in
the office, and are certainly a lot lighter than lugging around a whole laptop
bag.
A good padded notebook sleeve allows you to use any
bag to carry your notebook, or like the
Waterfield vertical SleeveCase we're about to see, a carry strap can be quickly clipped on so you can pull out a laptop
with on hand. Let's go in for a closer look, first up the horizontal notebook
sleeve.
RSS Newsletter
