Horizontal caches clip to an ID bag?

[cjr]

Hi,

I've got a ~ 10yo ID bag, and have used 3 Brain Cells so far with 3 different size MacBook Pros. (Actually maybe the first was a PowerBook!)

I'm thinking that when I get one of the new MBPs released yesterday I'll go for a horizontal Cache instead, just to get me a bit more space in the ID. Does the Cache attach to the ID bag's internal clips? I couldn't figure it out from the Cache's page.

Plan b would be to get a whole new bag, but I still like the ID..

Thanks!

[moriond]

Hi @cjr,

There's a very simple hack to let you adapt any of the older bags designed with Annex Clips for holding horizontal Brain Cells to use the Horizontal Cache with Rails by removing the Annex Clips and replacing them with Velcro loops and Gatekeeper clips. You'll need to order a pair of Single Gatekeeper Clips from Parts from Parts, and use some chunky velcro ties, similar to these Fisual Chunky Reuseable Hook & Loop Cable Ties Wraps (or, for forum members in the U.S. or Canada, I'd recommend the Tech Zone - Chunky Large Hook and Loop Fastener Cable Ties).

See @Perseffect's post in the Cache with Rails in a Western Flyer? thread for details:





The Annex Clip spacing for horizontal Brain Cells matches the rail spacing for the horizontal caches with rails, but since the webbing loops from which the Gatekeeper Rail Clips that come with your Cache with Rails will be suspended are sewn to the top seam of the bag, you don't want there to be a large drop between the Gatekeeper Clip and the top of the Cache with Rails. Hence, after inserting velcro loops into the webbing where you've removed the Annex Clip, just use the pair of Single Gatekeeper Clips to clip to the rails of your Horizontal Cache. You might also want to use a slightly tighter roll of the Fisual Chunky Cable Wraps than is shown in @Perseffect's picture. Any velcro ties will do, but the width of the chunky cable ties I've recommended are a good match to the webbing gap left when you removed the Annex Clips. So, you could also order Strapeez, but those velcro ties are longer and narrower, as well as not having the appropriate length of (Velcro hook-free) flat surface at the end of the ties.

Hope that you were able to find your adapter for using an Absolute Strap. Have you read @Boolie's The ID at Twelve (and a Half) thread? I have to say, I also really enjoyed his Tom Bihn Goes to the Olympics (Not Those Olympics) thread -- especially the described comments from all the accessories, stuff sacks, travel trays, organizer pouches, packing cubes, etc. who were disgruntled at only hearing "the big bags" mentioned at the start of the post.

HTH

moriond

[cjr]

Hi @moriond!

You have a good memory - I was indeed thinking about retrofitting an Absolute Strap to my old ID. Sadly that didn't get anywhere because I couldn't find a source of the adapters that would actually sell just 2 of them I will read @boolie's thread...

Thanks for the tip about using some velcro to attach some gatekeeper rail clips, that looks like a good solution.

Chris

[ScottE22]

Great timing on this thread.... This year has been an "iPad Pro only" year for me! As such, when I've been on the road I've discovered that I need to carry less and less with me. I've also been using a (gasp!) rolling bag more often as well. I have used my Cadet a few times as well as my DLBC. There isn't enough organization in the DLBC for my taste (spots for pens, Apple Pencil, etc), and the Cadet is just a touch too small. I have also learned the hard way that I don't do well switching into different bags on different days and always seem to forget something when I do that...

Since it seems pretty clear that TB has no interest in getting back into the messenger bag biz, on Black Friday I had a moment of weakness... I ordered a TSA-friendly laptop messenger from another manufacturer who specializes in those kinds of bags and it arrived this morning. Overall, it was decent quality and nicely laid out but it just didn't have the nice pockets and O-rings to clip stuff to that I'm to so I's on its way back for a refund.

My TB ID messenger was what hooked me on TB bags years ago and it's still in pristine condition. I'd avoided breaking it out sooner because it doesn't accommodate a Cache on rails, isn't "TSA-friendly," and lacks a quickly adjustable strap. When I dug it out of storage this afternoon, I was reminded just how great the organization is in this bag. The other bag I ordered didn't even come close.

I threw my 12.9" iPad Pro in an old horizontal Cache for MacBook Air and it fits OK. Certainly well enough for now until the horizontal Cache for iPad Pro with Smart Keyboard that I just ordered today shows up. Of course the Cache I just ordered won't attach to the side of the ID, but that isn't a dealbreaker for me. I realize the hack you've described won't work on a newer Cache without the rails on the Cache itself, but I'm fine just throwing it in the bag. I will use this hack if I need to carry my MacBook again because I have an older horizontal MB Cache (with rails!) that I can use.

It's nice to see other people still continuing to use and repurpose their ID bags!

[moriond]

Upgrading "Youthful" ID Messenger Bags

Hi ScottE22,

Your ID Messenger Bag is from 2010, so it classifies as "youthful" rather than "old", and should be relatively easy to bring up to date.

My TB ID messenger was what hooked me on TB bags years ago and it's still in pristine condition. I'd avoided breaking it out sooner because it doesn't accommodate a Cache on rails, isn't "TSA-friendly," and lacks a quickly adjustable strap. When I dug it out of storage this afternoon, I was reminded just how great the organization is in this bag.

The earlier discussion in this thread describes how you can accommodate a cache on rails, and thereby also make that bag more "TSA-friendly". You can also easily fix the "lacks a quickly adjustable strap". In your early thread from 2010, First Order Placed - Medium Cafe Bag, ID, with a side of buyer's remorse... you wrote:

So after nearly three years of lurking around here, I finally placed my first order...

I ordered an ID in black/steel/wasabi for me with a couple pouches and a Medium Cafe Bag in olive/wasabi for my wife for Valentine's Day.

After spending a couple hundred bucks on bags, I'm feeling a little bit of buyer's remorse, BUT I also can't wait to get them.

I'm sure that nagging feeling will go away once I get "moved in" to my new ID bag...

and I replied:

Congratulations,

You've just graduated to this thread (smile). Out of curiosity, did you order the Q-AM messenger strap that maverick showed in his video or the Absolute Strap? I use the Q-AM strap with my Imago and the Absolute Strap with my ID bag (the deciding factor being the weight typically carried).

moriond

At the time you answered:

moriond -

I'm sure I'll immediately regret this, but I did not purchase either of the "upgrade" straps. I'm considering the Q-AM, but I want to see how I end up wearing the bag before committing to a strap style.

Well, you can still order the Quick-Adjust Messenger strap for your "Youtful" ID Messenger bag. In another thread from the owner of an old Super Ego user, I posted (just the day before your latest post):

They continued to sell the Q-AM straps for the bags they retired (including the Ego, Super Ego, and ID Messenger) as long as they were still being sold. For the Ego and ID bags, that was through November 2015. The Super Ego was still sold up through February 2016, I think, and the Q-AM strap option for the Parental Unit and Large Cafe Bag was offered up until the new web site transition in March. At that point, they still had Q-AM straps in stock, but they just didn't advertise it on the web site, since the remaining products were discontinued.

I called up Customer Support, and they have roughly 30 Q-AM straps still in stock. They also have the stabilizer ends (these are the webbing loops that slip over the long, padded portion of the Q-AM strap, with a female buckle end that allows you to clip into one end of the waist strap) in both 1" and 1.5" size, and still have "several" of each -- more of the 1" size that is used with the Imago and pre-March 2016 Large Cafe bags. I believe that your ID Messenger bag uses the 1.5" stabilizer similar to the latest model ID bags (that was true of ID bag models back in 2011, and I'm fairly certain that it's also true of your ID Messenger from 2010, but you should check this. Older ID messenger bags dating from before you were offered the option of upgrading to either Q-AM or Absolute strap use the narrower waist step.)

The Q-AM strap will allow you to do a quick, one-handed adjustment of the length of your carrying strap. @jujigatame posted just a couple of weeks ago:

The ID is here and it's pretty great. QAM strap is excellent so far.


ID 1 by Nate E, on Flickr


ID 2 by Nate E, on Flickr

His model ID Messenger bag uses the latest design with built-in webbing loops (introduced in 2013) to support the cache with rails.

By the way, the only major improvement that I think older ID Messenger Bags (meaning those that are at least 10 years old and were bought before the strap change in 2006, such as the ones @Boolie and @cjr own) could use is the Adapter described in the linked thread from March 2007, and that they continued to sell as a separate part until sometime in early 2014, I think. The older ID bags used a 2" wide strap, so they couldn't be directly matched to Q-AM and Absolute straps that used 1.5" wide webbing. I immediately bought the Adapter in 2007, so I could use an Absolute Strap for heavier loads. There were other nice improvements to the handle (padded version, like on the Pilot), and to the pockets (lined with Halcyon), and the front pockets layout was redesigned, but the ability to switch out straps was the biggest feature.

HTH

moriond

ETA: From the pictures it looks as though @jujigatame is not using the stabilizer cross strap with his ID messenger bag. If the load is relatively light, and you dont want the option of carrying the bag high up on your back, and in a fixed position (if you are cycling), you can use the Q-AM strap without the stabilizer cross strap. It gives you quick, one-handed adjustment regardless.

[ScottE22]

You, my friend, are amazing! Thanks so much! FWIW, I do use an Absolute Strap now (having procured many more bags since 2010, I have several laying around the house now...).

Just so I make sure I'm understanding, the Q-AMs that may still be in stock use 1.5" webbing and would be a direct fit to my ID? I just measured and the webbing where you attach the strap is 1.5" wide.

I just got home from a 3-day trip and forgot how much I love the ID. Sometimes the original is still the best! My 12.9" iPad Pro Cache was waiting for me when I got home and it fits like a glove. It's not a huge deal to me that it doesn't attach inside the ID because (a) I have TSA Pre so I don't have to remove my laptop, and (b) the iPad Pro is not a laptop and doesn't have to be removed anyway.