We got a message from one of our readers, asking us to review the Crumpler iPad bag. This is how we discovered Crumpler The Moderate Embarrassment, a heavy-duty, water-resistant messenger bag, sized to accommodate the iPad plus a few accessories and personal belongings. The bag is ergonomic and comfortable, it has a nicely padded separate compartment for the iPad and plenty of pockets for other things. The iPad compartment size is 11.02” x 7.87” x 1.18” and can therefore fit the iPad either naked or in a thin hard shell case. There’s another Crumpler bag which also fits the iPad: Skivvy, but that’s really small, it’s more a sleeve rather than a bag, therefore if you want room for more than your iPad, we’d advise you to go for The Moderate Embarrassment.
Crumpler The Moderate Embarrassment looks good. At least in the opinion of our team. All the details of this bag are beautifully made, the quality is amazing, the color combinations are modern without being garish. The materials are smooth, yet weatherproof and durable. This is not an elegant business bag, but it’s perfect for college students, casual day-to-day business, or for travel and weekend trips away.
Crumpler The Moderate Embarrassment - interior compartments
We appreciated the nicely padded shoulder strap. If you ever had to hold a bag on your shoulder for a long time, then you know how important this tiny detail can sometimes be. The outer flap closes securely thanks to a pair of Velcro fasteners. The good news is that thieves will have a hard time opening your bag. The bad news is that you’ll also have a hard time should you attempt to open your bag in silence. Other than this minor issue, Crumpler The Moderate Embarrassment makes a great iPad bag.
2011 UPDATE: The Moderate Embarrassment is no longer available on eBags. You can take a look at Crumpler The Considerable Embarrassment instead. It looks similar but it is a bit bigger.
The Booq Taipan Shadow S is one of our favorite bags and has rightfully made its way onto our list of best iPad bags. The style and functionality of this bag, combined with its superior manufacturing quality and reasonable price tag have earned this bag a 5 start rating from our team.
The Taipan Shadow S is an iPad messenger bag which can accommodate the iPad, or a small notebook if you wish. Internal dimensions are 12.8” x 9.4” x 1.3”. The bag looks very compact, but you’ll be surprised how much room there is inside for all your iPad accessories.
Taipan Shadow S, Open
The Taipan Shadow iPad bag is made from ballistic polyester, which makes it lightweight, yet very protective and durable. All internal compartments are padded and the interior is made of a super soft plush material, so no accidental scratches putting your iPad in or out of the bag. The adjustable shoulder strap is made from seat belt nylon, which is sturdy, comfortable and obviously very, very strong. Comfort is increased by the shoulder pad which is not fixed on the strap, leaving you the choice of setting it in the position that suits you best. Although the bag doesn’t have a classic handle, it features a recessed holder on the back side, which can be used as a handle when needed. Another cool feature is the zipper-opened luggage trolley pass-through which can be used as a pocket when you don’t need to attach your bag to a trolley. The two front pockets are in fact a single one, the separation being done via snaps. This is a very clever idea: the storage space converts from small to big by simply opening the snaps to allow the two pockets to merge into a single, bigger one. The interior of the bag is well-organized, with plenty of pockets, pen slots and other compartments that enable quick access to items such as your charger, phone, documents and pens. There’s even a handy keyfob available, in case you may want to use it to find your keys really fast. All zippers are YKK, the bag is durable and nicely finished.
Taipan Shadow Compartments
The Taipan Shadow S from Booq comes in two color options: charcoal with contrasting blue accents and a very nice black with orange accents. It’s a bag that makes you feel ninja-like when wearing it, while still being incredibly functional.
The best price we found was at eBags for $79.99, with free shipping and a 5 year warranty you can’t go wrong. You can also find the Taipan Shadow S on BooqBags.com.
UPDATE: The Scout Extra Small fits both iPad and iPad 2.
A small bag with padded interior compartments won’t offer too much room for anything else except for your iPad or netbook, a few pens and a couple more flat items such as a mobile phone and a notebook. However, when this is exactly what you want, there’s no reason to pay more for a bigger bag.
For people who need to have their iPad handy when traveling, the Scout Extra Small iPad shoulder bag is the perfect choice. This casual bag is a perfect fit for the iPad, but it can accommodate 11″ netbooks as well. If you already have a protective case on your iPad, you don’t have to worry, as most of them fit well inside. The protection offered by this shoulder bag is excellent, as the iPad compartment features high density padding all around and cushioned felt lining. The Scout Extra Small bag has one main compartment, one full sized document pocket, one mobile phone pocket and two utility pockets for a few pens and accessories such as cables, charger or ear buds. Additionally, there’s a slim pocket on the back side of the bag, perfect for keeping the travel documents and the airplane tickets.
Scout Messenger iPad Bag - Open
Neither of the the pockets, nor the main compartment are zippered, but this is not a problem, thanks to the Velcro bands closure over the iPad section and to the secure buckle on the front flap. Unlike other buckles which are awkward to handle, this one is easy to open yet secure, thanks to its special design. What we found a bit odd were the two padded side flaps which seem useless. Anyway, they don’t do any harm either, so you can just ignore them if you can’t figure out what they do, the bag still looks very cool.
The bag is made from water resistant canvas with water resistant nylon lining. The material is very nice and also durable. The padded shoulder strap is detachable, so you can remove it if you want to use the small handle.
The Scout Extra Small iPad messenger bag is available for a discounted price on eBags, so if you were still hesitating, maybe this is the best time to take action and get yourself this beauty that can be used either as an iPad bag, or as an all purpose, day-to-day shoulder bag. The only color available at the moment is ochre.
A solid and very protective, yet lightweight bag is a must-have iPad accessory while you’re on the move. I think we’ve already covered why special bags are better than all purpose bags: basically it boils down to the protective walls and pads which keep your gadgets protected without adding a lot of additional weight to the bag.
The Loopbag Transit iPad Case is actually a small and stylish bag made from a durable and waterproof material called Airguard. Unlike other waterproof bags, this one features waterproof coil zippers as well, so your belongings truly are protected from getting wet in the event you get caught by the rain.
On the inside this iPad bag is padded with double density EPE. One of the best features of Loopbag Transit bags is the EVA foam sleeve compartment which fits smaller laptops and, of course, the iPad, and it can fit the iPad even if it is inside another case.
Holding The Loop iPad Bag
The pockets to hold your other iPad accessories are generous in size, and the elastic cloth straps in the main compartment will help you quickly find items inside. To help you even more, the Transit iPad Case bag has two parallel zippers which open wide from side to side, enabling easy access even to the bag bottom. Moreover, all variants of the Loopbag Transit bag come with a brightly colored inner lining, which makes it easy to see stuff inside the bag because of the contrast. There are three color choices: Anth exterior with bright green lining, Coffee exterior with Olive lining and Anth exterior with Azure lining.
The shoulder strap is comfortable, thanks to its neoprene padding and adjustable length. There is also a small handle on the back side of the bag, just in case you want to carry it as a handbag. The handle is nicely padded, and thus gentle on your hand.
The buckles and hooks are made from matte varnished metal, giving the bag quite an expensive look, although it doesn’t cost as much as you’d expect. It falls in the $100 price range and is available on the Loopbag website. We like this bag.
2011 UPDATE: The Loopbag website has been redesigned and the old bag range has been replaced with a new one. Check it out here.
iPad cases are cool, they are a necessity and there’s no doubt about it.
Yet a simple case without any straps to carry it, or protective padding to cushion our favorite gadget, means a case by itself is not always the best way to carry the iPad around. Girls have a slight advantage here, because they usually carry a handbag with them which is roomy enough to easily hold the iPad, and whatever else they need.
Guys (and some Girls), may want a messenger bag, if they don’t intend to carry their bulky laptop briefcase around, especially in situations when all they need is their iPad and a few essential accessories.
The iPad Messenger bag from Skooba Design is one of the lightest courier-style bags we have come across, and it’s packed full of features. It combines a stylish, compact design with the functional efficiency of several smart pockets, allowing room for your iPad, its accessories and for a few of your other personal items such as drink bottle or iPod or phone.
Top Zipper
The bag features a special, padded iPad compartment with a fast access zipper opening on the top edge, designed for situations in which you want to get to your iPad without opening the main flap. Wouldn’t it be cool to be able to take your iPad out of the bag with only one hand and without having to take your bag off the shoulder? Just try to do that with a regular bag while waiting in line at the airport check-in and you’ll see our point. Moreover, the instant strap adjustment buckle enables easy switching from shoulder to cross-body, should you ever need to do that quickly. The iPad compartment is 10.5″ x 7.5″ x 1.5″, roomy enough to accommodate a small notebook, should you be interested in using it for that rather than the Apple iPad.
Messenger iPad Bag - Pocket Compartments
Another cool feature of the Skooba Design iPad Messenger bag is the front accessory compartment. Comprising of several stretchy neoprene pockets, this compartment will host your cords, adapters, chargers, ear buds or USB flash drives in perfect order, provided that you remember to put them back in place after you use them. The bag has a special water bottle holder which is barely visible when not in use. It’s useful and it doesn’t spoil the sleek look of the bag, so we found it a welcome addition.
This iPad bag is available in four color variants: Charcoal with Abyss Black, Charcoal with Blizzard White, Charcoal with Deep Ocean Blue and Charcoal with Inferno Red. All of them look great, but we are a bit reluctant about the white one, as we suspect it might not be so easy to keep clean. Nonetheless, when new, it looks awesome too, so it’s up to you not to get it dirty too soon if you’re keen on choosing this model!
What’s amazing about the Skooba Design iPad Messenger bag is the quality of the materials and the attention to detail in its manufacturing. For the reasonable price of $49.95 you get a bag made of nylon twill, with smooth checked nylon interior and Duraflex brand buckles and clips. Even the zippers are YKK genuine, a guarantee of long-lasting performance. If we also consider that all the materials used are water repellent, we can say that Skooba Design has done an outstanding job in providing people on-the-go with a stylish and functional iPad bag at a very reasonable price.
