Daylight Backpack/Side Effect go to London

[Vertandor]

I have to admit I didn't get the love for the DLBP straight away... but after today I am well and truly converted.

Mission: A work meeting in London featuring catching a train at just gone 7am, trial by tube station, a walk in the park, looking professional at the meeting and then home again (minus the park).

I go to this meeting every 6 weeks, it's right in central London and given the number of documents we discuss, keeping as may of them on my laptop saves my sanity and the environment. The Side Effect is my essential if all else fails EDC, sometimes on it's own, sometimes with or within other bags. I've tried this trip before with my WF (great for the backpack straps, bit too big for my packing list) and my trusty Cadet (right size, but the messenger format that is normally why I love it just doesn't seem to work for me in the bustle of the city) but with the DLBP I've found my Goldilocks set up for this trip

DLBP:
Work Laptop (referred to in our house as the laptop of plus one depleted uranium, as though it's small, it's dense) in sleeve.
Folder containing some papers and my A4 notebook for taking notes
Wasabi 3D organiser cube - first aid kit
Steel 3D organiser cube - cables and power brick
Small purple pouch - USB sticks
Outside pocket: pack of tissues, oyster card, train booking printout, pen, lip gloss, purple phone pouch containing my earphones

Side effect:
Phone
TB Wallet in side pocket (tethered with a key strap)
Folding hairbrush
Asthma inhaler in clear/dyneema pouch
Glasses/case
Car keys
House keys inc torch

And it was a breeze. Seriously this bag must have some sort of feather spell as it was so comfortable today, and I almost forgot I had the dratted laptop with me. I'd read up on these forums how to pack to get the best out of it (loved the tales of melons and macbooks) so knew good packing technique was required. The grab handle made it easy to get from the car on the way to the station. The DLBP ate all the gear and still looked slim and neat. I had what I needed, where I needed it and no more.

[Vertandor]

Couple of pics (I hope) to illustrate:

[moriond]

I have to admit I didn't get the love for the DLBP straight away... but after today I am well and truly converted.

Mission: A work meeting in London featuring catching a train at just gone 7am, trial by tube station, a walk in the park, looking professional at the meeting and then home again (minus the park).

I go to this meeting every 6 weeks, it's right in central London and given the number of documents we discuss, keeping as may of them on my laptop saves my sanity and the environment. The Side Effect is my essential if all else fails EDC, sometimes on it's own, sometimes with or within other bags. I've tried this trip before with my WF (great for the backpack straps, bit too big for my packing list) and my trusty Cadet (right size, but the messenger format that is normally why I love it just doesn't seem to work for me in the bustle of the city) but with the DLBP I've found my Goldilocks set up for this trip

DLBP:
Work Laptop (referred to in our house as the laptop of plus one depleted uranium, as though it's small, it's dense) in sleeve.
Folder containing some papers and my A4 notebook for taking notes
Wasabi 3D organiser cube - first aid kit
Steel 3D organiser cube - cables and power brick
Small purple pouch - USB sticks
Outside pocket: pack of tissues, oyster card, train booking printout, pen, lip gloss, purple phone pouch containing my earphones

Side effect:
Phone
TB Wallet in side pocket (tethered with a key strap)
Folding hairbrush
Asthma inhaler in clear/dyneema pouch
Glasses/case
Car keys
House keys inc torch

And it was a breeze. Seriously this bag must have some sort of feather spell as it was so comfortable today, and I almost forgot I had the dratted laptop with me. I'd read up on these forums how to pack to get the best out of it (loved the tales of melons and macbooks) so knew good packing technique was required. The grab handle made it easy to get from the car on the way to the station. The DLBP ate all the gear and still looked slim and neat. I had what I needed, where I needed it and no more.

These are great pictures of your Daylight Backpack setup, @Vertander! A couple of quick comments: You mention using an asthma inhaler in a clear/Dyneema pouch. If this is the circular disk sort of inhaler, you might try the size #4 Knitting Tool Pouch. Abby posted in the Share Your Bag Hacks/Creative Uses thread (posts #40 and #43):

3. For those traveling with allergies and asthma: Size 4 Knitting Tool Pouch is exactly the right size for a disk inhaler. (In Aubergine, it even matches the color of my disk inhaler!) And size 2 tool pouches neatly fit two epi-pens (although those come in different sizes, so measure yours). Both clip nicely inside your bag so you don't have to spend any time at all rooting for something you need RIGHT NOW

And she supplied a picture of this in her later post in that thread:


For your usual usage of a Western Flyer, @Perseffect's post in the Cache with Rails in a Western Flyer? thread on how to adapt that bag for use with a horizontal cache with rails may be useful. He used Fisual Chunky Reuseable Hook & Loop Cable Ties as Velcro ties wrapped around the webbing loops for the Annex Clips, in combination with Gatekeeper clips to secure to the rail straps of the cache. I've done something similar using the Tech Zone - Chunky Large Hook and Loop Fastener Cable Ties instead. (The U.S. Amazon store does sell the Fisual ties, too, but the Tech Zone ones seemed easier to order. My only suggestion is that a slightly tighter "roll" on the Velcro straps in pictures 2 and 3 seems to work a little better. The "chunky" design of these ties (wider and shorter than the Strapeez you can order under Accessories) seems to work better for these hacks, and also for securing webbing straps.

Here are some of @Perseffect's pictures from that post:





If you use a vertical cache with rails, you can simply open the Annex clips in the Western Flyer, and insert one of the rail webbing strips into the clips and then close the two Annex clips as a temporary way to secure the cache and keep it from moving too much.

Finally, if you prefer the messenger bag style, have you considered using the Daylight Briefcase (either separately or in combination with the Daylight Backpack? it's lighter weight than the Cadet, and very handy if your laptop doesn't require the larger sized Cadet (i.e., the DLBC works for laptops up to 14" in size, while the Cadet can handle 17" laptops). It's a very handy carry in crowded environments, and I like the easy access to my Kindle in one of the divided front horizontal zippered pockets, which opens easily one-handed.

HTH

moriond

[Vertandor]

moriond - thank-you for your thoughtful post It's always good to get some inspiration from what others have done - one of things I love about this forum. Unfortunately my inhaler is a larger 'easi-breathe' one, not the neat little disc. I'll have a look at the cache hacks and tips

[moriond]

And it was a breeze. Seriously this bag must have some sort of feather spell as it was so comfortable today, and I almost forgot I had the dratted laptop with me. I'd read up on these forums how to pack to get the best out of it (loved the tales of melons and macbooks) so knew good packing technique was required. The grab handle made it easy to get from the car on the way to the station. The DLBP ate all the gear and still looked slim and neat. I had what I needed, where I needed it and no more.

I forgot to add that if you want padded reinforcement of the webbing grab handle loop, the padded luggage handle wraps will work here. I'll quote a recent post to the Padded grab handle on Large Cafe Bag thread

Just wanted to update this thread with information posted by @celtical in the Daylight Briefcase thread back in November 2014. For those forum members who don't follow the discussion topics on other bags, the COSMOS neoprene padded handle wraps linked in that post are short enough at 5.3"/275 mm to work as padded grab handle wraps for the Cafe Bags, Synapses, Daylight Backpacks, etc. as well as for the webbing handles of the Daylight Briefcase.



HTH

moriond

ETA: The padded handle wraps are also available in different colors. I've linked to the Black color option, but you could always go for Aqua, Hot Pink, etc. And there are different options for ordering color assortments, for example, like this

The UK Amazon store shows this entry for the colored padded neoprene handle wraps. I'm sure someone with better searching skills can find a black version in this, or similar other brand. These will work on the Daylight Backpack grab handles should you need it.

And for more reading about the DLBC, @Moosezilla's recent The Burnt Orange DLBC as my new teaching bag! thread is a good place to start reading.

HTH

moriond