Just completed a 4 day / 3 night business trip to DC and used only the Brain Bag. It was perfect for my needs.
How I packed it:
Front right pocket - Spiff Kit with all my toiletries
Front left pocket - Small snake charmer with laptop power brick, phone charger, air pods, portable battery, Apple Watch charger
Front top pocket - keys, electric razor
Large compartment against back - 15” lap top and iPad in cache, 3 dress shirts and pair slacks in medium eagle creek packing folder (perfect fit), empty laundry sack, empty large travel tray, notebook, Sony n/c headphones in case, hat
Other large compartment - A45 small pack cube with socks, t shirts, underwear, pullover. A45 end pocket pack cube with size 12 dress shoes
Note: on the way home I had a fully stuffed laundry sack that fits nicely across the width of the bag in one of the large compartments (in place of the A45 small packing cube).
I had a 45 minute metro ride from Reagan airport to my hotel with no issues. Once I arrived at hotel I could easily unpack bag, compress sides, and use to carry laptop, notebook, files, as needed. I had the opportunity to walk around the city for a few hours before my flight home. One of the real benefits of this bag vs my A45 is that the padded back and shoulder straps are much more comfortable for this extended walking. The bag did get a bit heavy, but that was to be expected.
For longer trips I will travel with my A45 (and Pilot when required to take a laptop), but for shorter business trips, the BB is ideal for me. My A45 accessories work very well with the BB. I know a lot of people like the TriStar for business travel, but there are four reasons I don’t: 1) I don’t find that bag much smaller/differentiated from my A45. 2) Getting size 12 shoes to fit inside a TriStar is a challenge. 3) you really need separate packing cube sets for the A45 and TS to make them shine. The A45 packing cubes work really well with the BB. 4) The BB is more versatile because it has full back pack functionality and it can be compressed or expanded to a small or big bag.
How I packed it:
Front right pocket - Spiff Kit with all my toiletries
Front left pocket - Small snake charmer with laptop power brick, phone charger, air pods, portable battery, Apple Watch charger
Front top pocket - keys, electric razor
Large compartment against back - 15” lap top and iPad in cache, 3 dress shirts and pair slacks in medium eagle creek packing folder (perfect fit), empty laundry sack, empty large travel tray, notebook, Sony n/c headphones in case, hat
Other large compartment - A45 small pack cube with socks, t shirts, underwear, pullover. A45 end pocket pack cube with size 12 dress shoes
Note: on the way home I had a fully stuffed laundry sack that fits nicely across the width of the bag in one of the large compartments (in place of the A45 small packing cube).
I had a 45 minute metro ride from Reagan airport to my hotel with no issues. Once I arrived at hotel I could easily unpack bag, compress sides, and use to carry laptop, notebook, files, as needed. I had the opportunity to walk around the city for a few hours before my flight home. One of the real benefits of this bag vs my A45 is that the padded back and shoulder straps are much more comfortable for this extended walking. The bag did get a bit heavy, but that was to be expected.
For longer trips I will travel with my A45 (and Pilot when required to take a laptop), but for shorter business trips, the BB is ideal for me. My A45 accessories work very well with the BB. I know a lot of people like the TriStar for business travel, but there are four reasons I don’t: 1) I don’t find that bag much smaller/differentiated from my A45. 2) Getting size 12 shoes to fit inside a TriStar is a challenge. 3) you really need separate packing cube sets for the A45 and TS to make them shine. The A45 packing cubes work really well with the BB. 4) The BB is more versatile because it has full back pack functionality and it can be compressed or expanded to a small or big bag.
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