I need a bag

I have a shoulder strap-style bag, manufactured and used by the German army, bought as surplus and dyed black. My 12" thinkpad fits perfectly inside of it. But the strap is sewn in place, and seems to fail every few years -- and now's the time.

The bag is really good, and I am going to get it fixed, but that doesn't mean I can't look at alternatives. So, I need something that fits a 12" thinkpad, isn't too big, preferably comes in black, and is otherwise non-attention grabbing and doesn't look like it'd contain a laptop. According to Lenovo, my laptop is about 268x211x20mm.

My options:

  • small messenger bag: 1 , 2
  • hard-shell attache case (not really my style, but a 12" one in black might rock it -- though I'm not going to buy a 15" case with internal padding to make a 12" laptop not bounce around, I want a smaller case too; it'd still be plenty big for the obligatory dead tree notes and docs; for pics, see 3 , 4
  • the manliest purse ever from Maxpedition : I'd be willing to carry that (in black of course;) if it fit a 12".. And I don't think it will.
  • more classical military style: M-51 Engineers Field Bag , Urban Explorer Black Canvas Shoulder , etc ..
  • something from http://booqbags.com/ but the style doesn't really smack me in the face with want
  • something from Timbuk2 , but they really don't seem my style

None of those really work for me. I guess considering the bags I already own, I might go for something I don't have. Mmm, a smallish hard-shell attache case in black, with a good enough shoulder strap that I can sling it over my head. That might just do it. Now where do I get one?

2006-11-26T22:14:00-08:00, originally published 2006-11-17T11:30:00-08:00