I usually agonize over bag sizes. Part of me at all times desires to go greater, simply in case. But then I find yourself with messenger luggage and backpacks that really feel too cumbersome to hold round every single day. If I go for the smaller one, it is usually too small to suit the issues I want and finally ends up overstuffed. The merchandise I usually carry with me that appears to complicate this concern is the 11-inch iPad Pro. It’s gentle however inflexible, and in small luggage it may really feel like carrying round a plank of wooden flapping towards your leg. Smaller luggage may also be too slim, making it a good match for every other gadgets you need to carry. WaterField’s Shinjuku Messenger goals to resolve a few of these issues with a design purpose-built for the iPad.
Everyday Carrying
Coming out of the field, it appeared method too small. There was no method this one was going to comfortably match my iPad, water bottle, chargers, and different stuff. It appeared doomed to be one of many tiny messengers that could not fairly minimize it.
Until I began placing stuff inside. The iPad slipped into the padded pill sleeve with ease, a slim water bottle match comfortably on the backside of the principle pocket. The different inward-facing pockets had been spacious and expanded a bit as I put in a charger, my pockets, a pair of earbuds, and a sun shades case. There was room for all the pieces, and the bag wasn’t even stuffed to capability. Its exterior form nonetheless felt gentle and pliable, not taut and stuffed to the brim the best way an overloaded messenger can really feel. Flipping open the lid, all the pieces was inside view, and each merchandise was reachable with out transferring something—a should for any bag so far as I’m involved.
Photograph: Waterfield
Slung throughout my physique, it did not even appear to be a messenger bag. Even absolutely laden, it appeared smaller—extra like a handbag or only a small crossbody to your cellphone and some different gadgets. I additionally seen how evenly distributed the burden felt. The straps connect to the bag itself at a slight angle, reasonably than being sewn on straight up and down; it is simply sufficient of a course to the bag that it falls towards your physique properly irrespective of the place you may have it slung—hip, decrease again, entrance, throughout your chest, hung from one shoulder. It’s the sort of quiet, intuitive design flourish that tells you this bag was designed by individuals who know what they’re doing.
Adjusting the strap can also be straightforward as you may lengthen or shorten it with out taking it off. The strap itself is a thick weave, virtually like a automobile seatbelt. It is a bit thinner than the straps on different WaterField luggage I’ve used, and the sides are just a little onerous and might rub towards your neck uncomfortably, although like different WaterField straps they’ll in all probability soften up over time.
The prime flap seals with a magnetic closure. It’s sturdy and snappy however not so sturdy that it’s important to battle it. As with all magnetic closures although, I fear about their sturdiness over time. I’ve a pair different WaterField luggage I’ve examined, and the magnetic closures are nonetheless going sturdy on these, however I’ve misplaced so many luggage to the damage and tear of magnetic closures abrading themselves free from canvas that I’m inherently distrustful. I didn’t discover any uncommon put on and tear on the canvas the place the magnets sit whereas testing, which is at all times a great signal.
The inside is vibrant orange with a textured sample. That’s one among my favourite issues about WaterField Designs. I’ve come to dislike luggage with dark-colored interiors; it’s method too straightforward to lose issues at midnight. Against a vibrant shade, I can at all times spot a lacking hair tie.
Photograph: Waterfield
Canvas, however Different
I examined the black canvas model with leather-based accents on the flap. I used to be just a little cautious of its materials development; canvas will be finicky and scuff simply, or grow to be waterlogged on the mere sight of a raincloud. This canvas, WaterField assured, was totally different. It’s a fabric referred to as X11 Cotton from X-Pac, an organization that spun off from Dimension-Polyant, a producer of high-performance sailcloth. According to X-Pac, the fabric is a specifically handled canvas with an internal layer of fibers woven in a diamond sample to boost sturdiness and weight distribution, and it is also water resistant. That waterproofing is achieved through a PFAS-free DWR coating. X-Pac makes different DWR supplies that do use PFAS, however I confirmed with WaterField and X-Pac that the X11 Cotton is PFAS-free.
Photograph: Waterfield