Considering that the author likes the idea of carrying his stuff in a brown paper bag. I don't think a beat up looking laptop would bother him. In fact, if you look at the picture, there are a few scratches and dings on his laptop.
Minor scratches won't affect functionality in any way, in fact, I think there is a certain beauty to it. A laptop is a tool, a tool is meant to be used, and usage leaves marks. If it looks spotless, it is as if no work has been done on it.
I‘m fairly sure that generation of MBP is USB-C only. If a UK plug prong is smashing its way in there, you‘ve got much bigger problems than a shorted port.
In my netbook bag: charger, ac cord for the charger, hdmi cord, tiny wired mouse, laser pointer thing, pens/paper, notes, business cards, usb sticks with various linux distros (i often give these away) a kick-ass wifi dongle, ubertooth, and various usb cables. Im not having all that bouncing around in a canvas sack. This thing is small enough to qualify as a "purse" when the flight attendant tells me to check my carryon.
Couldn’t you just mod the bag or add another bag to put inside the movie prop bag? I think the whole point of it is security through obscurity. i.e. People are less likely to rob a cheap bag.
TBF, you didn't mention chairing the board meeting, and you've more than earned what could be read as a humble-brag intro, but is just a Tuesday for you. I found the contrast chuckle-worthy.
Nothing to argue about arbitrary disdain for backpacks ¯\_(ツ)_/¯, but I don't remember one backpack that I saw and thought "wow that backpack is ostentatious, that guy is a showoff". Not once.
They also mentioned theft deterrence as secondary goals, so my recommendation stands for everyone else who doesn't have random hatred towards backpacks. :)
It might not be ostentatious looks that are the problem. Dell used to be big on up selling rucksacks and briefcases. Their bags were never good looking but they did advertise the contents of your bag as likely to contain a Dell laptop - 'please steal me now'.
As for bags as status symbol, men don't go into that but women have these things called handbags. No man in history has been interested in a woman due to her taste in handbags, which is fine since the signalling is only to other women. Compare with cars where a Porsche is only going to be noted down to model number by men, with women not caring about the specification, to them it is just a Porsche with colour being the only noteworthy aspect.
Naturally this does not apply to all men or women, however, there are patterns. Showing off is also about poor utility. A rucksack designed to carry a laptop is far too functional to be high status. However, if you make a handbag and design it so it can barely carry so much as a toothpick, then that is high status, much like how a Porsche car is high status because it is essentially not practical.
A laptop bag designed for the task, much like a Dell laptop bag of old, might stand out as advertising its contents but it is far too well designed for the task in hand to be desirable. Hence the owner won't be a showoff.
You don't need to drop $300+ on a Tom Bihn to have a totally functional backpack with a laptop sleeve, for cryin' out loud. So many backpacks have it, and it's not a premium feature.
I live in a university town with lots of rich kids, which seems like the kind of place to find good-quality used backpacks if there were one. If there's an easy way to get my hands on free used backpacks that I'd actually want to use, then I certainly don't know about it.
Also, when the semester gets out. Usually there is a [local college name] Christmas and the rich kids just put their stuff outside rather than transport it back home.
We used to raid the giant dumpsters they put in the parking lot and we'd always go to the dorm that had all the international students first because the loot was best. Scored an xbox 360 once, a monitor that still worked another time.
When I need a minimal carry for my laptop I use a regular canvas tote, it’s the right size for 13” with its neoprene sleeve plus power brick and cable and a few other essentials (notebook, pens, maybe a small snack or light jacket) and is fairly unconspicuous. Cheaper than the movie prop heh.
> For me, the ultimate laptop bag is one that looks nothing like a laptop bag; it should look like nothing special at all.
That sounds like almost any regular backpack then. They can also be pretty weather proof, don't need to be carried in one hand, aren't open topped showing what's inside easily, and padded. Any simple and cheap backpack would solve this exact problem but better surely, unless your desire is to be different rather than just to move your laptop from one place to another with little ceremony.
Where I'm from, a simple and cheap backpack is just as much a target as a laptop bag. The only solution is to just keep an eye on your stuff, and be aware of your surroundings, at all times.
I have to admit I prefer living in places where you can leave your laptop on the front seat of your running car and come back twenty minutes later and it’s all still there.
> I prefer living in places where you can leave your laptop on the front seat of your running car and come back twenty minutes later and it’s all still there.
We have that and it's one of the few perks of our suburban hell. My neighbor was gone for two weeks and had 10-20 packages on his doorstep. Our only concern was that rain might get to them.
We had just moved into a small town and then left for a week or so in the winter; the sheriff tracked down my phone (presumably from there real estate agent) and called to make sure we were OK when the driveway didn’t get plowed after a snowstorm.
I don't even live in SF but I'm a bit skeptical that a lot of people even carry around an obvious dedicated laptop bag at this point. I don't see them.
I really hate this! Long ago, I had a quarterlight window smashed because someone broke into my 20 year old Toyota Corolla to steal a 4L, but half empty bottle of engine oil and a street directory. Obviously the engine oil wasn't expensive, and no-one used street directories anymore, even back then.
This was in nice suburb in New Zealand, so it was a bit of a surprise. The replacement window cost many times the value of what they took, and I was finding small pieces of glass for a while afterwards despite careful vacuuming.
Since then I'm more careful that there is nothing removable visible at all through windows. Ideally, anyone looking through the window should think I am the kind of compulsive person that carries every single thing inside each night. Unfortunately, the trick to making that work almost requires it to be true.
> This was in nice suburb in New Zealand, so it was a bit of a surprise.
A friend had her ancient Toyota’s back window smashed in and they stole an old dirty blanket lying on the back seat that they could have gotten for free from any number of places (clean and in better condition)
In a warm climate New Zealand suburb.
My takeaway at the time was that a subset of thieves will steal anything, with zero rational basis and no regard for consequences.
My guess, from experience: they assumed the blanket was hiding something of value underneath it.
One thing I learned living in a dangerous area was that you should keep zero visible things inside your car when it's parked, otherwise someone will smash the window. :(
I disagree! Out in the woods, a few pages ripped out of an old street directory found in the trunk once saved my ass... quite literally. Couldn't have used a smartphone or GPS for that!
>Ideally, anyone looking through the window should think I am the kind of compulsive person that carries every single thing inside each night.
When I have to park my car in a shady-looking spot, I usually open my glove box to reveal nothing but garbage inside, and a note saying "nothing to steal here". I obviously can't prove this works, but I would like to believe it does, because thieves might consider it a courtesy that saves them unnecessary hassle.
Because a) it would be awkward to remove and replace the laptop from a slot on your back, and 2) sitting down in any chair with a back would be uncomfortable at best, and potentially damage your laptop.
I dunno about drawing attention. I've heard enough stories of physical pentesters getting into secure areas using the "wear a hi-viz vest and a hard hat" strategy. The outfit seems a little like Douglas Adams' "Somebody Else's Problem Field". People seem to be blind to the stereotypical "workman" getup.
Ha! I used to be a land surveyor before I was an engineer. I had one of those vests and yes, I did put a laptop in there a few times during lunch breaks when I didn't want to leave the laptop in the truck.
Laptop sleeve are nice, I used to use them... but they need to be the _perfect_ size for your laptop.
Otherwise they are hard to open/close if they are just a bit too small, or they are floppy if they are too big.
I currently have three laptops, they all have their own dimensions. So I would need three sleeves to carry anyone of them at any given time.
For work, I switched between three sizes in the last two years.
Meanwhile, my 5yo hiking backpack with a water pouch dedicated space is able to carry any of those laptops safely.
Yup simple laptop sleeve with a good zip and a reliable handle works well for me. In case of inclement weather there's a ziplock bag inside big enough for the laptop.
That goes inside another thin bag for safe carry. If I'm visiting somewhere new and carrying other things, bag-in-bag works well; leave the day bag in the conference room, the thin bag with the laptop comes with me.
Yeah I don't get why I don't see these more often. I have a case around my MacBook and it's a pretty good protector. My tip: get something cheap from Amazon. I tried the Incase Hardshell and it broke within a year.
When I lived in San Francisco, backpacks were marginalized as being associated with being too poor to own a car. High-school students might carry a backpack, college students might carry a backpack, people on the bus might carry a backpack, but mostly not professionals who drove to work.
Maybe that's changed, though. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4zwWpqsI_3s purports to be from 02022, and in its first minute, I count 17 pedestrians of whom 4 are wearing backpacks. So maybe backpacks are mainstream in SF now.
Maybe it's just startup life, but living in SF during the 2010s decade, I didn't know many people who drove to work. Who wants to sit in traffic and then pay like $300 a month in parking fees when you can sit in traffic on MUNI vehicles for much less, while doing something useful?
Even people who lived in the farther-out suburbs usually drove to BART.
These comments always make me laugh a bit. When the conversation is about cars, people chime in about how owning a car is dumb and public transpo is great. Yet, when the stories pop up about how public transpo is failing, people complain about how horrible the experience of using public transpo is and it's just easier to own a car
I didn't say owning a car was dumb, just that driving to downtown SF specifically for an office job is pretty inconvenient and expensive and therefore most of my startup colleagues didn't do that.
Also it's hardly a hot take, I am sure 90% of the ones who do that commute would agree!
It's possible to have lots of different experiences across the many people with different lifestyles who might interact with public transportation. I loved my bus lines when I lived in sf because they were safe and super convenient and I hated city parking and I don't have kids. I can imagine the bus being crappy if those things aren't true.
Even if it's marginalized, you can still just use it. I think I used to think that way in high school, but it's hard for me to understand functioning adults avoiding a type of bag, otherwise useful, because it's associated with being poor.
The majority of all commuters in SF do not commute by car
A plurality do (35% in 2022 vs 17% via transit). Remote work knocked down the percentage that commute by car a bit, but took a bigger chunk out of the other modes (e.g. 34% used transit in 2018 but 17% in 2022).
I've used a messenger bag for decades and never felt marginalized in the least. Plenty of other folks seem to rock employer swag backpacks. vOv
Sure, it's just ...pretty odd? for OP to say "backpacks were marginalized as being associated with being too poor to own a car" when it's 65% of people who do not use a car in this context at all.
This was 20-25 years ago. No Uber Cab, no Google shuttles, no e-bikes, no rental scooters, Caltrain was diesel and hadn't been renovated, and there was no real-time tracking of Muni buses' positions, so unless you were taking an express bus, you had no idea when the bus would arrive at the stop. And a large part of San Francisco's population was still poor.
There were a lot of people who didn't use a car in that context at all, but people who could mostly did.
> Isn’t looking poor a good strategy for being an unattractive target for theft?
Looking poor is also an expression of wealth where wealth is defined money one has not yet spent which provides options in the future. (Source "The Psychology of Money" by Morgan Housel.)
>When I lived in San Francisco, backpacks were marginalized as being associated with being too poor to own a car. High-school students might carry a backpack, college students might carry a backpack, people on the bus might carry a backpack, but mostly not professionals who drove to work.
Huh? By extension you seem to be implying anyone who doesn't drive to work is not a "professional", which is bananas.
Smart people took Caltrain, BART, or a company sponsored gentrification shuttle into work and reclaimed the time they'd spend driving to "work". (AKA shitpost -- I noticed a remarkable uptick in trolling during commute hours back in the days I lived in the bay during rush hour.)
Anyways, no, carrying a backpack is not a sign someone is "poor" in SF, or anywhere else -- it's usually a sign they value their back.
Some folks wear messenger bags instead, but those were usually bicyclists.
The time I'm talking about was before company-sponsored gentrification shuttles and before shitposting. I agree that the society was pretty bananas, which is part of why I left.
I see people who look like hedge fund managers wearing backpacks (obviously not Jansport). VCs and founders certainly do. Go on Bart- most people have a backpack. Nothing to do with whether you own a car. Driving to and/or parking in the city is a nightmare.
I'm in the suburban Seattle area, and many, many adult professionals carry a backpack...even when they commute a few miles by car and walk 100 feet into their offices.
It's only a Y10K problem if people assume that a year that happens to be 4 digits is existing in a system that doesn't permit years of 5 or more digits.
But as soon as you put a leading 0, (besides confusing people) you seem to be telling people to definitely use arbitrary fixed lengths for years and analogous purposes. Even though they weren't necessarily doing that before.
Honestly I don't know how date parsing code coped back when we ticked over from 999 to 1000, a lot of monastic accounting software must have shit the bed.
Anyway I'm creating the Long Long Now Foundation to solve the shortsighted 5-digit year issue. Look for more news in Q000001 of 002026
You may be in the wrong place. Hacker News is not for posting comments about how you are superior to people you find contemptible. Kindergarten is that way →
I'm sure you can find even more things to sneer at me about. Perhaps you would find my choice of programming languages flamboyant and my attire effeminate, as well.
> For me, the ultimate laptop bag is one that looks nothing like a laptop bag; it should look like nothing special at all.
Why, exactly? Is the thought that a thief is less likely to steal your laptop if he thinks it's a bag of groceries?
All of the other shortcomings seem to vastly outweigh the gain (lack of bang/bump protection; the fact that you're carrying a laptop in a grocery bag makes it more likely to naturally sway and bang against your leg as you carry it; that if you set it down like a grocery bag it will probably topple over due to lack of structural integrity; that you're leaving it out in the open rather than concealing it in your backpack; etc). And for all that trade-off, I'm not even sure what problem he's trying to solve in the first place that he feels his laptop bag should be inconspicuous above all else.
And it is easy for a thief to see that a bag is heavy and slim to judge that it contains something valuable. Anf then the thief can just forcefully take the bag from you.
In Barcelona there are a lot of cases when a thieve on a motorbike would try to snatch a bag or women handbag from a pedestrian waiting on a red light.
With a back pack it does not work. The drawback of a backpack is that a thief can just open the backpack or even cut with a sharp knife and one would not notice. But more expensive back-packs with a good design have protection against cutting and easy opening while on the back and with a cheaper one can be held in front.
Slightly related: the ultimate move prop laptop was from "Twister" where they had sgi laptops. Note that sgi never made a laptop.
However what is even cooler is that someone actually circuit bent a sgi O2 into laptop form factor. Unfortunately the link to the project page is dead, my disappointment is immeasurable.
I have an O2 in storage and have been meaning to try a rebuild of this for... well, at least a decade at this point. Since I finally have a decent 3D printing setup now maybe I can actually make some progress this winter!
A common strategy among bicycle messengers too. A high end bike wrapped in electrical tape with a crap paint job doesn't look to appealing and will be a struggle to sell.
How would any bag be an obvious diaper bag? A quick image search for diaper bag shows bags that could just as easily hold laptops or cameras. Parents want to look fashionable too.
The ruse would fail instantly you took the camera out of the bag. Or when you have no child, and look like you are wealthy enough to have a camera hobby.
Not very fashionable, has wet wipes hanging out the side, the pockets have stitched icons for what they're meant to hold like a soother and diapers, etc.
Having a child as a prop would definitely help, but a frazzled look and some wet wipes hanging out the side would probably help it along quite a bit.
the ultimate laptop bag is an inflatable orange swimming tow float bag:
1. it looks nothing like a laptop bag
2. it will protect your laptop from water, even completely submerged.
3. it will protect your laptop from falling when side pockets are inflated.
4. you can take your laptop to the beach and not worry about it getting stolen.
5. you can use it as a pillow when hiking or at the beach.
6. much cheaper than a laptop bag.
mine's a Decathlon OWS 500, but i guess that it's as good as any.
warning: all tow floats do leak in the storage compartment, especially if you do swim with it (as opposed to sitting on the beach), so if you really intend to put a laptop in, make sure to put it into a proper water tight sleeve/ziplock bag, e.g. an aloksak.
I really like the idea of making everyday objects into computing devices/holders for computing devices. For example, I have a set of 5 vintage American Tourister suitcases [1] lying around, and I think they would make for awesome suitcase computers.
For this movie bag, it would be cool to see some more modifications. Maybe sew in a laptop sleeve and accessories pouch to make everything fit better?
This kind of laptop bag is understated and practical, and it's fine if you're only carrying a laptop. But once you add things like a charger, cables, or a mouse, the lack of compartments becomes a real issue. Everything gets jumbled together, which not only makes it messy but also risks scratching your laptop. The practicality takes a hit.
OP uses a laptop sleeve[0] so scratching isn't a worry.
Some people are "pocket for everything" organizers and some just aren't. I throw it all together anyway, and at least this has a modicum of stealth and misdirection. Nice to have extra space to chuck in a few things, too.
For a hacker community (original definition) many seem to dislike actual hacks...
I have a laptop bag that's made from tyvek and looks like a wrinkled manilla envelope. Quite strong and durable, although it totally looks like old brown paper.
Weight. Packed size. Most people don't need a handle, so why waste volume and material on it?
I think the Toshiba Toughbook had a handle. I think many folks here, given their druthers, would design something that looked like a Toughbook, then become disenchanted with it for various completely foreseeable reasons, and go back to using their standard issue MBP.
(There were generations of these with handles, but at least in the early ones, the handle didn't dominate the dimensions - things like "removable drives encased in impact gel" did.)
I'm with the parent. But then again, my bag also has a shoulder strap, two large compartments and a ½doz pockets. I carry 1-2 laptops along with an assortment of tools, cables and adapters. I serve to live.
Huh. This is back on the front page after a hiatus of many hours. A bunch of people here question why I'd use a paper bag to carry a laptop from one place to another. As I said in the post it is "inconspicuous". That can be interpreted in a couple of ways.
One is simply not carrying something obviously containing expensive electronics which might be a target for theft. But having thought about this for a while that's not my biggest motivation. I hate ostentation. That's the reason I wear a Casio watch, would never wear clothes with a brand name plastered all over them, and drive a very boring car.
I do have a laptop sleeve that I use to protect the laptop and it slips easily into a bag. Prior to my silent bag purchase I did use random shopping bags (including canvas bags that seem to have sprouted like weeds in my cupboard), but after the board meeting situation mentioned I decided I'd try to find a long-lasting "paper" bag for the hell of it.
And I stumbled upon movie prop bags! Oh, and I hate backpacks.
Not a joke... but I see the humor in saying it which is why I did. It's is a loss leader, counterfeits Casios tend not to be as waterproof. YouTube video can help you ensure you buy counterfeits.
> A bunch of people here question
Sucks you have Hacker News talking about you. Just remember they are not real life... of pretend that's true at least.
I liked the post. I had a Waterfield shoulder bag for my 12” MacBook that I loved because it just didn’t seem like a laptop bag (maybe because of the size), but in the same vein I also took a seamripper to it to remove the brand label (did you ever follow the old SDR Traveler, uh, luggage? A little overwrought but I liked the no-branding aesthetic).
i used to slip mine in a manilla envelope whenever i needed to take it home from the office and i hadn't brought my backpack with me. our stationary cupboard was well stocked with these!
ostentatious : "characterized by pretentious or showy display; designed to impress."
You think when people see you get your laptop from a "paper bag" that doesn't create an impression? I'd say a regular laptop bag would be far more inconspicuous. Your solution just makes you seem like you go out of your way to be special. Same as if all your colleagues wore suits and you choose to wear cargo pants and a t-shirt. At least in that case you can argue comfort. This bag isn't as comfortable to carry, not as functional nor as inconspicuous as a regular laptop bag
What bothers me is the hypocrisy not the attention seeking.
Sometimes HN confuses me. I'd use a laptop sleeve with any other bag too, but all the 'smart' comments never think of that before posting?
It's like all power has been diverted to the Criticism Drive, with none left for the Self-Reflection Array... but only for oddball ideas of course. Conventional ideas and reasoning only.
For (supposedly) a hacker community I expect we can do better, and thanks OP for sharing! I'll be grabbing one of these bags even just to experiment.
I also stay off the branded clothing and I took rock the Casio watch.
But part of me wants to spend at least one day wearing the team outfit for a team on a sport that I know nothing about, for example, rugby or just normal football (not American 'foot ball'). With this outfit would be desirable footwear, maybe with a Nike swoosh, which is something I have never worn.
Maybe add some fake gold jewellery to complete the look. How would my interactions differ with just a simple change of attire? Would I be drinking lots of beer by the end of the day?
Blogging about this makes you seem ostentatious about not appearing ostentatious. You might want to stop worrying about bags and start worrying about how you actually present yourself (or stop - depending on where your issues lie :P).
I've carried my laptop around in so many different bags over the years ... sling bags, tote bags, waterproof messenger backpacks, IKEA backpacks with laptop sleeve compartment, drawstring bags. I usually pick the bag depending on the occasion ...
bike ride in the rain? -> waterproof messenger backpack
downtown stroll to satisfy my inner hipster? -> tote bag
etc ...
All I know is that I'm a "single compartment" person ... I've always found that having a separate compartment for everything just comes at excess weight and loss of flexibility.
I'd give the movie prop a try for sure. Still looking for a decent source of Tyvek to take an attempt at making my own bag (it's not super commonly used where I live).
You can more easily get strong canvas grocery bags, with and without branding.
Including ones with two sizes of handles (one set of handles for dangling from hands, the others for slinging over shoulder), which I guess you could alternate based on whether you're visible to to muggers.
I even saw a canvas design that had a color and finish to look very reminiscent of grocery store brown paper bags.
The similar bookstore canvas tote bags might be seen as more likely to contain a laptop or tablet (since some people use them just like others do backpacks). So I like the grocery one.
One advantage of the movie prop one -- in the office -- is that I could imagine a stylish designer type carrying it to a conference room table, more easily than a frumpier canvas bag.
Personally, I use a functional plain all-black backpack that looks presentable in the office (including carrying into the conference room, but put on the floor/chair), yet understated on the street.
I used one as a laptop etc. bag for a long time. As laptops got a bit smaller I now tend to repurpose a Mountainsmith bag (used over the shoulder) these days as my travel "personal item." But, in any case, some sort of shoulder bag is my goto. I find there are some downsides to backpacks on public transit, etc. and I end up with them slung over one shoulder anyway so why not use something designed for that usage.
Good to know. I know they shifted some production, but it wasn't clear to me if the custom ones were still made in SF, and if the non-custom bags were made in SF any time in the last 15 years.
Let's be honest, it's a conversation piece with an extra "gotcha" since it's a move prop. It's pretty cool as that, no doubt, but I can't see it being a practical laptop bag.
The ultimate laptop bag (for my particular life style) is a waterproof backpack. I have a backpack that is a drybag-rollup style. And I've had my laptop in it and had it go underwater (paddleboard flipped while going down a river), and in a rain storm that came out of nowhere. No problems. Also, it's nice to have the peace of mind that if I was out somewhere with my laptop, I wouldn't have to worry about it raining. For me, the primary factor of consideration for a laptop bag is a bag that will protect my laptop.
I have a big roll of leather ready to make my (laptop) bag.
I keep putting it off though because I can't settle on the design...
and now I'm wondering again how I would incorporate padding at the bottom of the laptop compartment.
Has anyone else here made their own backpack like that and stumbled into issues and considerations they didn't expect?
Haven't done a backpack, but I do have a couple of leather laptop sleeves for the M#Airs. One is from scrap napa furniture leather (1mm chrome tanned), so it's soft and colorful, but doesn't protect as well. The other is ~2mm natural + pull up leather, so a bunch stiffer, to the point of being difficult to get the laptop in the first few times it was used.
Both of these sleeves are vertical envelope style, with a tucked tongue closure, and they're generally carried in some other backpack/bag. So these are basically the padding. They replaced _really_ low budget bubble wrap envelope laptop sleeves.
What I'd say from observation of the crafting/development process is that you're going to do one to figure out the issues and one to fix them all. (Or more, having seen a bunch of shoes made in my dining room)
"For me, the ultimate laptop bag is one that looks nothing like a laptop bag; it should look like nothing special at all."
Not sure what the point is for a laptop but I've been doing this with my cameras for decades. It's the ideal way to carry a camera because it combines quick access with inconspicuousness and theft protection.
These threads always kinda depress me with the fact that a 300$ device needs to be protected from thieves like this in countries where avg salary can cover it in a day of work. Something is fundamentally broken with society here and maybe these camouflage hack efforts could be spent better.
Occasionally articles like these remind me how I’ve completely let my guard down after being spoiled living for years in a place where theft and burglary are not a concern. Whenever I go back to a Western metropolis I have to learn to be alert again.
SFBags.com (redirects) have amazing vertical laptop sleeves. Just add D-rings and a strap and you’re set! I’ve loved mine for over 15 years and counting.
I used to take the Montreal metro to work just carrying my laptop. Someone I kmow from a big European city was very surprised and said nobody would do that there, it would make you a target for theft. Here I wouldn't think twice about it.
Depends. Some parts of Berlin can be a bit dodgy. I take the U8 regularly Generally it's safe but stations on that line like Kottbuser Tor have a reputation for theft, pick pocketing, robbery, etc. Lots of people desperate enough in that area that you don't want to tempt them too much by being an obvious target.
I use a weather proof backback (Ortlieb). I got it two years ago and it's great. I walk a lot around town with it and the hip belt is great for offloading most of the weight from my shoulders. I can easily walk for a few hours with this thing. I have the 16" macbook pro, which is not exactly light.
You will learn to love the Ortlieb backpack. I bought mine (comparable to the current commuter backpack) more than 30 years ago and it is still in great condition.
That isn't a problem at all for most Western/Northern European cities though, without naming it makes it quite hard to judge if it was sensible advice or anxiety.
I live in Edmonton, a friend of mine from London was astonished that I'd leave my bag by my chair unattended when using the bathroom at a pub. I don't even think about it, my stuff has never been nicked.
The same thing done with stolen iOS devices; end up in Shenzen or Varanasi in a "might-be-used-for-parts" bin., until sufficient harrasment/social engineering of the original owner has failed. Then it goes into the "used-for-parts" bin.
It’s not in my opinion. Look how wide the bottom is, so the laptop will rest diagonally across the bag which makes it not ideal to carry or put other items inside. I’m all for the perfect laptop bag, this isn’t quite it.
That type of bag wouldn't be for me but the bags I do use don't really have much in the way of padding either. I can always put the laptop in a slightly padded sleeve.
No it is not ultimate it is a sad state of things that one is so worried about laptop bags being stolen that you have to hide it and make it inconspicuous in a paper bag.
It's really sad that SFO is now the car burglary capital of the world.
Crime is probably the best hypothesis but the other one to consider is that they have some sort of minimalist aesthetic, and they genuinely like the look of grocery bags (and nondescript bags in general).
If this was a security through obscurity tactic, why would they publish this blog post?
You think laptop thieves will read the blog and start stealing brown paper bags on the off chance there's a laptop inside?
To me it seems like a pretty good strategy, with the downsides being you have to lug it around by the handle (no back or shoulder strap, which would spoil the camo effect), and it doesn't have pockets for small things like cables / dongles / etc.
When I was a poor college kid living in Rochester, NY I used to park my car on the street outside the little house I was renting with a bunch of friends. I would leave a sign on the car saying, "door is open, help yourself to whatever you find inside," in an attempt to at least keep people from damaging the car, as they were inevitably going try to break in about three or four nights a week anyway. There wasn't anything in my car worth anything to take, including the car itself really. Though I was a little annoyed when somebody took my crappy cassette copy of the "Happy Nation" Ace of Base album and I had to make another one.
This passes Betteridge's law [1] just fine, since I guess the answer from those of us who actually have to carry the laptop any distance is a big "no". A backpack or messenger back is way more comfortable, right?
Also, one usually has other things to carry along with the laptop, and there's also the question of the environment in which the bag is to be carried. That bag wouldn't be great for carrying electronics in heavy rain.
My thought is, for carrying a laptop, I'd rather have a backpack or messenger bag made of paper than a fabric grocery bag. The primary reasons I wouldn't carry a laptop in a grocery bag don't include the fact it's made of paper or the sounds of it rustling (though, it is nice to not have to worry about this one ripping).
No, I was quite serious. I like carrying my laptop to/from places in an inconspicuous bag. I used to use random bags and found these movie prop bags to be ideal.
i liked it. i make my own laptop sleeves and bags, and it gave me an idea for a thinner padded version of a prop bag that would work better for a laptop.
I didn't upvote because I think it's not a good laptop bag, but I'm sticking around for the comments for the discussion. Sometimes I'll upvote a post just because the discussion is good, but not in this case.
I'm upvoting some of the comments though, and I'm guessing the algorithm takes that into account when determining it's position on the frontpage :-/
I upvoted because even though I prefer backpacks, it gave me the idea to try to create a movie prop bag. And also because there are few "hacker" submissions nowadays, and I consider this one of them.
My laptop stand is a repurposed cardboard wine delivery box, plain brown corrugated. been using it for seven years. Each side is covered with notes: my contact data for different regions, feature ideas, architecture sketches, even little 'zen' reminders for dealing with daily inbound slop, like "if you can read this, you are getting paid for this."
It has three usable heights (standing, sitting, with/without external keyboard) and actually prevents neck and eye strain.
Today’s new note for the 'zen' side: 'This box is not the ultimate laptop stand. Do not blog about it.' 0% joking. Well except for the zen note.. that was the joke
- It has a wide base, so the laptop just swings back and forth while carrying.
- Gets the rainwater or any other hazardous material in.
- Extremely easy to check out what's inside for a thief.
- Can slide out easily and fall when toppled.
Terrible overall. Could make it to Top 10 Worst Laptop Bags though.
Just use a Tom Bihn that uses a separate, rigid, harder to access sleeve inside your backpack for laptops.
don't forget there's no divider, so the prongs of your charger can scratch the shit out of your laptop. you might as well use a tote bag
Considering that the author likes the idea of carrying his stuff in a brown paper bag. I don't think a beat up looking laptop would bother him. In fact, if you look at the picture, there are a few scratches and dings on his laptop.
Minor scratches won't affect functionality in any way, in fact, I think there is a certain beauty to it. A laptop is a tool, a tool is meant to be used, and usage leaves marks. If it looks spotless, it is as if no work has been done on it.
Not so good if the charger prongs start banging into the laptop's jacks and ports.
I‘m fairly sure that generation of MBP is USB-C only. If a UK plug prong is smashing its way in there, you‘ve got much bigger problems than a shorted port.
In my netbook bag: charger, ac cord for the charger, hdmi cord, tiny wired mouse, laser pointer thing, pens/paper, notes, business cards, usb sticks with various linux distros (i often give these away) a kick-ass wifi dongle, ubertooth, and various usb cables. Im not having all that bouncing around in a canvas sack. This thing is small enough to qualify as a "purse" when the flight attendant tells me to check my carryon.
Couldn’t you just mod the bag or add another bag to put inside the movie prop bag? I think the whole point of it is security through obscurity. i.e. People are less likely to rob a cheap bag.
the author linked to a comment where they described primary drivers for this as: disdain for the ostentatious as well as backpacks
personally I use an old shoulder bag, but we've all got our proclivities
> ...disdain for the ostentatious
I chuckled when I read that because the post's introduction casually mentions attending Cloudflare's board meeting.
Touché
TBF, you didn't mention chairing the board meeting, and you've more than earned what could be read as a humble-brag intro, but is just a Tuesday for you. I found the contrast chuckle-worthy.
Nothing to argue about arbitrary disdain for backpacks ¯\_(ツ)_/¯, but I don't remember one backpack that I saw and thought "wow that backpack is ostentatious, that guy is a showoff". Not once.
They also mentioned theft deterrence as secondary goals, so my recommendation stands for everyone else who doesn't have random hatred towards backpacks. :)
It might not be ostentatious looks that are the problem. Dell used to be big on up selling rucksacks and briefcases. Their bags were never good looking but they did advertise the contents of your bag as likely to contain a Dell laptop - 'please steal me now'.
As for bags as status symbol, men don't go into that but women have these things called handbags. No man in history has been interested in a woman due to her taste in handbags, which is fine since the signalling is only to other women. Compare with cars where a Porsche is only going to be noted down to model number by men, with women not caring about the specification, to them it is just a Porsche with colour being the only noteworthy aspect.
Naturally this does not apply to all men or women, however, there are patterns. Showing off is also about poor utility. A rucksack designed to carry a laptop is far too functional to be high status. However, if you make a handbag and design it so it can barely carry so much as a toothpick, then that is high status, much like how a Porsche car is high status because it is essentially not practical.
A laptop bag designed for the task, much like a Dell laptop bag of old, might stand out as advertising its contents but it is far too well designed for the task in hand to be desirable. Hence the owner won't be a showoff.
I mean, yes, but: how much does a Tom Bihn bag go for these days? $300?
Maybe also add lower-budget recommendations.
You don't need to drop $300+ on a Tom Bihn to have a totally functional backpack with a laptop sleeve, for cryin' out loud. So many backpacks have it, and it's not a premium feature.
Agreed. Parent is the one who said “just get a Tom Bihn bag” - i am saying exactly “maybe mention some other choices because damn!”
Yes, I know. I was responding to the grandparent, not you. I get it.
I use a Belkin F8N179[0,1], paid £23/€26/$31 for it ~8 years ago.
It's getting a bit old, so I guess it's time to upgrade... maybe for something a bit smaller, but it has served me well so far.
[0] https://celsoazevedo.com/files/2025/Belkin_F8N179_1.jpg
[1] https://celsoazevedo.com/files/2025/Belkin_F8N179_2.jpg
He doesn't want a laptop backpack. He wants the minimalist cool vibe.
The solution proposed to me is ridiculous:)
More or less any backpack will do. You can even find them for used for for free.
> You can even find them for used for for free.
I live in a university town with lots of rich kids, which seems like the kind of place to find good-quality used backpacks if there were one. If there's an easy way to get my hands on free used backpacks that I'd actually want to use, then I certainly don't know about it.
Also, when the semester gets out. Usually there is a [local college name] Christmas and the rich kids just put their stuff outside rather than transport it back home.
Thriftstores, craigslist, fb marketplace, the facility on/near campus that takes in abandoned/donated items from students, etc.
Facebook marketplace or Craigslist might be a good place to check around the end of a semester.
Trash bins at end of term
We used to raid the giant dumpsters they put in the parking lot and we'd always go to the dorm that had all the international students first because the loot was best. Scored an xbox 360 once, a monitor that still worked another time.
This one is $47 right now:
https://www.osprey.com/astronova
You probably even have a bag somewhere that has a laptop sleeve. I have two that I was given by my current employer.
I hate to find out how much that movie prop bag would cost. Labor alone would probably amount to $300
Appears to be about $37 for a grocery bag with handles
https://www.dependableexpendables.com/products/silent-grocer...
When I need a minimal carry for my laptop I use a regular canvas tote, it’s the right size for 13” with its neoprene sleeve plus power brick and cable and a few other essentials (notebook, pens, maybe a small snack or light jacket) and is fairly unconspicuous. Cheaper than the movie prop heh.
$300 could run a whole sweatshop for a day
> It has a wide base, so the laptop just swings back and forth while carrying.
> Can slide out easily and fall when toppled.
What..? Do you live in some ideal zero-friction world or what?
> For me, the ultimate laptop bag is one that looks nothing like a laptop bag; it should look like nothing special at all.
That sounds like almost any regular backpack then. They can also be pretty weather proof, don't need to be carried in one hand, aren't open topped showing what's inside easily, and padded. Any simple and cheap backpack would solve this exact problem but better surely, unless your desire is to be different rather than just to move your laptop from one place to another with little ceremony.
> Any simple and cheap backpack
Where I'm from, a simple and cheap backpack is just as much a target as a laptop bag. The only solution is to just keep an eye on your stuff, and be aware of your surroundings, at all times.
Sounds like generally good advice, with or without a laptop on hand.
I have to admit I prefer living in places where you can leave your laptop on the front seat of your running car and come back twenty minutes later and it’s all still there.
But that’s a luxury and I know it.
> I prefer living in places where you can leave your laptop on the front seat of your running car and come back twenty minutes later and it’s all still there.
We have that and it's one of the few perks of our suburban hell. My neighbor was gone for two weeks and had 10-20 packages on his doorstep. Our only concern was that rain might get to them.
We had just moved into a small town and then left for a week or so in the winter; the sheriff tracked down my phone (presumably from there real estate agent) and called to make sure we were OK when the driveway didn’t get plowed after a snowstorm.
Username makes me a little apprehensive nonetheless
Such jokes are a luxury as well
> regular backpacks look nothing like a laptop bag
You're missing some context here — this is in San Fransisco.
Any city, an office drone carrying a container has good odds of holding a laptop.
I don't even live in SF but I'm a bit skeptical that a lot of people even carry around an obvious dedicated laptop bag at this point. I don't see them.
I've had my car burgled twice for them to only steal a backpack with nothing in it. I'm pretty sure the assumption is that backpacks have laptops.
It's simpler than that: the assumption is that a bag will hold something of value, whether laptop, purse, wallet, cash, or otherwise
I really hate this! Long ago, I had a quarterlight window smashed because someone broke into my 20 year old Toyota Corolla to steal a 4L, but half empty bottle of engine oil and a street directory. Obviously the engine oil wasn't expensive, and no-one used street directories anymore, even back then.
This was in nice suburb in New Zealand, so it was a bit of a surprise. The replacement window cost many times the value of what they took, and I was finding small pieces of glass for a while afterwards despite careful vacuuming.
Since then I'm more careful that there is nothing removable visible at all through windows. Ideally, anyone looking through the window should think I am the kind of compulsive person that carries every single thing inside each night. Unfortunately, the trick to making that work almost requires it to be true.
> This was in nice suburb in New Zealand, so it was a bit of a surprise.
A friend had her ancient Toyota’s back window smashed in and they stole an old dirty blanket lying on the back seat that they could have gotten for free from any number of places (clean and in better condition)
In a warm climate New Zealand suburb.
My takeaway at the time was that a subset of thieves will steal anything, with zero rational basis and no regard for consequences.
A paper bag would be just as enticing.
My guess, from experience: they assumed the blanket was hiding something of value underneath it.
One thing I learned living in a dangerous area was that you should keep zero visible things inside your car when it's parked, otherwise someone will smash the window. :(
>no-one used street directories anymore
I disagree! Out in the woods, a few pages ripped out of an old street directory found in the trunk once saved my ass... quite literally. Couldn't have used a smartphone or GPS for that!
>Ideally, anyone looking through the window should think I am the kind of compulsive person that carries every single thing inside each night.
When I have to park my car in a shady-looking spot, I usually open my glove box to reveal nothing but garbage inside, and a note saying "nothing to steal here". I obviously can't prove this works, but I would like to believe it does, because thieves might consider it a courtesy that saves them unnecessary hassle.
I always wonder why no one invented hoodies or jacket with some kind of built in laptop pocket in the back.
Some of scottevest's can apparently fit a laptop in the pocket: https://www.reddit.com/r/onebag/comments/6w2p0o/scottevest_o...
Because a) it would be awkward to remove and replace the laptop from a slot on your back, and 2) sitting down in any chair with a back would be uncomfortable at best, and potentially damage your laptop.
They have!
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XBQBKseozuY
https://www.less-is.jp/products/bagless-shirt_less-is-jp
Surveyors vests have those. Probably draw a lot of attention to yourself wearing hi viz though.
I dunno about drawing attention. I've heard enough stories of physical pentesters getting into secure areas using the "wear a hi-viz vest and a hard hat" strategy. The outfit seems a little like Douglas Adams' "Somebody Else's Problem Field". People seem to be blind to the stereotypical "workman" getup.
Ha! I used to be a land surveyor before I was an engineer. I had one of those vests and yes, I did put a laptop in there a few times during lunch breaks when I didn't want to leave the laptop in the truck.
Field vests for biologists or other folks who work outdoors but not near a highway or construction site have lots of pockets and aren't hi-viz.
> and padded
I prefer to use a laptop sleeve, and then it doesn't matter if it is padded or not.
Laptop sleeve are nice, I used to use them... but they need to be the _perfect_ size for your laptop.
Otherwise they are hard to open/close if they are just a bit too small, or they are floppy if they are too big.
I currently have three laptops, they all have their own dimensions. So I would need three sleeves to carry anyone of them at any given time. For work, I switched between three sizes in the last two years.
Meanwhile, my 5yo hiking backpack with a water pouch dedicated space is able to carry any of those laptops safely.
Yup simple laptop sleeve with a good zip and a reliable handle works well for me. In case of inclement weather there's a ziplock bag inside big enough for the laptop.
That goes inside another thin bag for safe carry. If I'm visiting somewhere new and carrying other things, bag-in-bag works well; leave the day bag in the conference room, the thin bag with the laptop comes with me.
Yeah I don't get why I don't see these more often. I have a case around my MacBook and it's a pretty good protector. My tip: get something cheap from Amazon. I tried the Incase Hardshell and it broke within a year.
When I lived in San Francisco, backpacks were marginalized as being associated with being too poor to own a car. High-school students might carry a backpack, college students might carry a backpack, people on the bus might carry a backpack, but mostly not professionals who drove to work.
Maybe that's changed, though. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4zwWpqsI_3s purports to be from 02022, and in its first minute, I count 17 pedestrians of whom 4 are wearing backpacks. So maybe backpacks are mainstream in SF now.
Maybe it's just startup life, but living in SF during the 2010s decade, I didn't know many people who drove to work. Who wants to sit in traffic and then pay like $300 a month in parking fees when you can sit in traffic on MUNI vehicles for much less, while doing something useful?
Even people who lived in the farther-out suburbs usually drove to BART.
These comments always make me laugh a bit. When the conversation is about cars, people chime in about how owning a car is dumb and public transpo is great. Yet, when the stories pop up about how public transpo is failing, people complain about how horrible the experience of using public transpo is and it's just easier to own a car
I didn't say owning a car was dumb, just that driving to downtown SF specifically for an office job is pretty inconvenient and expensive and therefore most of my startup colleagues didn't do that.
Also it's hardly a hot take, I am sure 90% of the ones who do that commute would agree!
It's possible to have lots of different experiences across the many people with different lifestyles who might interact with public transportation. I loved my bus lines when I lived in sf because they were safe and super convenient and I hated city parking and I don't have kids. I can imagine the bus being crappy if those things aren't true.
Two different groups of people commenting different things.
Even if it's marginalized, you can still just use it. I think I used to think that way in high school, but it's hard for me to understand functioning adults avoiding a type of bag, otherwise useful, because it's associated with being poor.
Maybe you're used to being around functioning adults who don't need other people's approval, for example because they're rich.
You don't need to be rich to have enough backbone to do your own thing, and not worry what someone else might think.
Not if you're willing to die. Otherwise you do.
Maybe... I mean in the sense that the median lifestyle in North America is 90-some percentile in the world. Is that even true?
> backpacks were marginalized as being associated with being too poor to own a car.
The majority of all commuters in SF do not commute by car: https://www.sf.gov/data--vision-zero-benchmarking-commute-me...
This has been true for at least a decade. The trend, even ignoring COVID, is that a decreasing proportion do so.
I've used a messenger bag for decades and never felt marginalized in the least. Plenty of other folks seem to rock employer swag backpacks. vOv
Sure, it's just ...pretty odd? for OP to say "backpacks were marginalized as being associated with being too poor to own a car" when it's 65% of people who do not use a car in this context at all.
(aside: transit is up to 25% again recently, apparently; https://www.sfchronicle.com/bayarea/article/remote-work-home.... And that graph has an even more interesting number which is that in 2019 transit was the plurality.)
This was 20-25 years ago. No Uber Cab, no Google shuttles, no e-bikes, no rental scooters, Caltrain was diesel and hadn't been renovated, and there was no real-time tracking of Muni buses' positions, so unless you were taking an express bus, you had no idea when the bus would arrive at the stop. And a large part of San Francisco's population was still poor.
There were a lot of people who didn't use a car in that context at all, but people who could mostly did.
Isn’t looking poor a good strategy for being an unattractive target for theft?
> Isn’t looking poor a good strategy for being an unattractive target for theft?
Looking poor is also an expression of wealth where wealth is defined money one has not yet spent which provides options in the future. (Source "The Psychology of Money" by Morgan Housel.)
Also keyword is "looking" poor. 300 hundred dollar jeans, fifty thousand dollar hybrid civics -- meanwhile, my Casio got a lot of curt remarks.
> fifty thousand dollar hybrid civics
Bro - the highest trim line civic hybrid has an MSRP under $35k…
Type R gets up there
No, police punish theft from rich people, not theft from poor people.
Good thing my backpack was stolen so I won’t look poor when I go into the police station to report the theft.
Police (and DA) in SF don't punish any theft from anyone in my experience.
>When I lived in San Francisco, backpacks were marginalized as being associated with being too poor to own a car. High-school students might carry a backpack, college students might carry a backpack, people on the bus might carry a backpack, but mostly not professionals who drove to work.
Huh? By extension you seem to be implying anyone who doesn't drive to work is not a "professional", which is bananas.
Smart people took Caltrain, BART, or a company sponsored gentrification shuttle into work and reclaimed the time they'd spend driving to "work". (AKA shitpost -- I noticed a remarkable uptick in trolling during commute hours back in the days I lived in the bay during rush hour.)
Anyways, no, carrying a backpack is not a sign someone is "poor" in SF, or anywhere else -- it's usually a sign they value their back.
Some folks wear messenger bags instead, but those were usually bicyclists.
The time I'm talking about was before company-sponsored gentrification shuttles and before shitposting. I agree that the society was pretty bananas, which is part of why I left.
In this millennium humans have not yet begun using five digit years. Otherwise, nice job covering your time travelling tracks.
Kragen not human?
How long ago was that? I’m 40, grew up in the SF Bay Area, and never had that impression.
I see people who look like hedge fund managers wearing backpacks (obviously not Jansport). VCs and founders certainly do. Go on Bart- most people have a backpack. Nothing to do with whether you own a car. Driving to and/or parking in the city is a nightmare.
I'm in the suburban Seattle area, and many, many adult professionals carry a backpack...even when they commute a few miles by car and walk 100 feet into their offices.
By car? Where they all parking?
Suburban office parks still have lots of parking.
As do suburban neighborhoods.
I'm glad to hear it.
What is 02202? A postal code?
He wrote 02022. It's the year in a Long Now [0]context, avoiding the Y10K problem that's just around the corner.
[0] https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Clock_of_the_Long_Now
It's only a Y10K problem if people assume that a year that happens to be 4 digits is existing in a system that doesn't permit years of 5 or more digits.
But as soon as you put a leading 0, (besides confusing people) you seem to be telling people to definitely use arbitrary fixed lengths for years and analogous purposes. Even though they weren't necessarily doing that before.
Sincerely,
Assuming it's an octal number: 1042.
Honestly I don't know how date parsing code coped back when we ticked over from 999 to 1000, a lot of monastic accounting software must have shit the bed.
Anyway I'm creating the Long Long Now Foundation to solve the shortsighted 5-digit year issue. Look for more news in Q000001 of 002026
Cringe (him, not you)
You may be in the wrong place. Hacker News is not for posting comments about how you are superior to people you find contemptible. Kindergarten is that way →
No, it's an affectation.
I'm sure you can find even more things to sneer at me about. Perhaps you would find my choice of programming languages flamboyant and my attire effeminate, as well.
I'm guessing they use 5 digits for displaying the year. 02022 = 2022.
> For me, the ultimate laptop bag is one that looks nothing like a laptop bag; it should look like nothing special at all.
Why, exactly? Is the thought that a thief is less likely to steal your laptop if he thinks it's a bag of groceries?
All of the other shortcomings seem to vastly outweigh the gain (lack of bang/bump protection; the fact that you're carrying a laptop in a grocery bag makes it more likely to naturally sway and bang against your leg as you carry it; that if you set it down like a grocery bag it will probably topple over due to lack of structural integrity; that you're leaving it out in the open rather than concealing it in your backpack; etc). And for all that trade-off, I'm not even sure what problem he's trying to solve in the first place that he feels his laptop bag should be inconspicuous above all else.
And it is easy for a thief to see that a bag is heavy and slim to judge that it contains something valuable. Anf then the thief can just forcefully take the bag from you.
In Barcelona there are a lot of cases when a thieve on a motorbike would try to snatch a bag or women handbag from a pedestrian waiting on a red light.
With a back pack it does not work. The drawback of a backpack is that a thief can just open the backpack or even cut with a sharp knife and one would not notice. But more expensive back-packs with a good design have protection against cutting and easy opening while on the back and with a cheaper one can be held in front.
Slightly related: the ultimate move prop laptop was from "Twister" where they had sgi laptops. Note that sgi never made a laptop.
However what is even cooler is that someone actually circuit bent a sgi O2 into laptop form factor. Unfortunately the link to the project page is dead, my disappointment is immeasurable.
https://www.siliconbunny.com/silicon-graphics-laptops/
Details from the archived page
https://web.archive.org/web/20050212100138/http://www.jumbop...
And the bit on product placement
https://web.archive.org/web/20000414090221/http://www.bftr.c...
There's another photo of it in the thread here that didn't make it into the archived version: https://deskthority.net/viewtopic.php?t=5632
I have an O2 in storage and have been meaning to try a rebuild of this for... well, at least a decade at this point. Since I finally have a decent 3D printing setup now maybe I can actually make some progress this winter!
Reminds me of the uglified camera to deter theft. https://web.archive.org/web/20090521084503/https://blog.jimm...
A common strategy among bicycle messengers too. A high end bike wrapped in electrical tape with a crap paint job doesn't look to appealing and will be a struggle to sell.
My “parts bin bike” has a frame that I suspect got this treatment. Pretty good Giant frame spray painted completely black.
My bike is a bit eco rubbish with bad green paint and the word recycle. Seems to work as a theft deterrent thing.
Reminds me of tips I used to see about how to cover valuable stuff up with one or two "dirty" towels to make criminals skip right past your "carbage".
A very unfashionable diaper bag makes a good case for camera gear.
How would any bag be an obvious diaper bag? A quick image search for diaper bag shows bags that could just as easily hold laptops or cameras. Parents want to look fashionable too.
The ruse would fail instantly you took the camera out of the bag. Or when you have no child, and look like you are wealthy enough to have a camera hobby.
> How would any bag be an obvious diaper bag?
We used to tote around one of these: https://www.ebay.ca/itm/388909924480
Not very fashionable, has wet wipes hanging out the side, the pockets have stitched icons for what they're meant to hold like a soother and diapers, etc.
Having a child as a prop would definitely help, but a frazzled look and some wet wipes hanging out the side would probably help it along quite a bit.
> How would any bag be an obvious diaper bag?
Well, I found one but it brought us full circle. It looks like a grocery bag and says Big Stinky Diaper Bag. https://www.lifesoleil.com/cdn/shop/products/fai1-ecb007-cre...
No, just think about your car in a parking garage. The thief doesn’t want golf clubs or diapers, but messenger bags.
[dead]
just get something girly, no thief is going to look twice at
https://www.marymaxim.com/products/flower-bed-diaper-bag-pat...
Now I'm curious what a fashionable diaper bag looks like.
the ultimate laptop bag is an inflatable orange swimming tow float bag: 1. it looks nothing like a laptop bag 2. it will protect your laptop from water, even completely submerged. 3. it will protect your laptop from falling when side pockets are inflated. 4. you can take your laptop to the beach and not worry about it getting stolen. 5. you can use it as a pillow when hiking or at the beach. 6. much cheaper than a laptop bag.
mine's a Decathlon OWS 500, but i guess that it's as good as any.
Plus, you're not any more ostentatious than any other triathlete at the beach.
warning: all tow floats do leak in the storage compartment, especially if you do swim with it (as opposed to sitting on the beach), so if you really intend to put a laptop in, make sure to put it into a proper water tight sleeve/ziplock bag, e.g. an aloksak.
It's not just for carrying, but protection as well. So to answer the question, no, it's not the ultimate laptop bag.
But what if you wrap the Laptop in a towel?
Or just put a laptop bag in this bag? Best of both worlds.
Not all laptop bags are waterproof so definitely put a towel in there too
Never go anywhere without your towel.
plus you have a towel! I do this in my normal non-laptop backpack
I really like the idea of making everyday objects into computing devices/holders for computing devices. For example, I have a set of 5 vintage American Tourister suitcases [1] lying around, and I think they would make for awesome suitcase computers.
For this movie bag, it would be cool to see some more modifications. Maybe sew in a laptop sleeve and accessories pouch to make everything fit better?
1. Like this: https://i.etsystatic.com/42664500/r/il/709f97/5624109170/il_...
Neat! You could cosplay a 1970s fictional president, carrying the "nuclear football".
This kind of laptop bag is understated and practical, and it's fine if you're only carrying a laptop. But once you add things like a charger, cables, or a mouse, the lack of compartments becomes a real issue. Everything gets jumbled together, which not only makes it messy but also risks scratching your laptop. The practicality takes a hit.
OP uses a laptop sleeve[0] so scratching isn't a worry.
Some people are "pocket for everything" organizers and some just aren't. I throw it all together anyway, and at least this has a modicum of stealth and misdirection. Nice to have extra space to chuck in a few things, too.
For a hacker community (original definition) many seem to dislike actual hacks...
[0] https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=45338980
I have a laptop bag that's made from tyvek and looks like a wrinkled manilla envelope. Quite strong and durable, although it totally looks like old brown paper.
Any bag you need to actually hold in your hand is not ultimate for anything but short trips.
Reminds me the old ads of Macbook Air, where it was pulled out from a manila envelope.
Forget laptops -- I'd prefer this for my grocery bags. It has a clean, nostalagic look that all my free, loud, branded bags are missing.
Why do almost all laptops not come with a built-in handle? That is the quintessence of a portable item. Forget the bag.
Weight. Packed size. Most people don't need a handle, so why waste volume and material on it?
I think the Toshiba Toughbook had a handle. I think many folks here, given their druthers, would design something that looked like a Toughbook, then become disenchanted with it for various completely foreseeable reasons, and go back to using their standard issue MBP.
*Panasonic Toughbook
(There were generations of these with handles, but at least in the early ones, the handle didn't dominate the dimensions - things like "removable drives encased in impact gel" did.)
Hah, I guess I'm a sucker for alliteration. Thanks for the correction.
It's worth noting that by the time you make a rugged laptop it's actually bulkier than a small laptop bag with a handle.
The original “Toilet Seat” iBook from 1999is the only one I can recall that came with a handle: https://lunduke.substack.com/p/ode-to-the-clamshell-ibook-g3...
Also the eMate 300! https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/EMate_300 (from 1997)
(And if you go much farther back, the TRS-80 Model 4p - but "sewing machine class" portables kind of had to.)
To me a handle implies that the object is somewhat sturdy. It’s okay to have it bump against other things and to set it on the floor.
Laptops ape notebooks (the paper kind). When’s the last time you saw a notebook with a handle?
I'm with the parent. But then again, my bag also has a shoulder strap, two large compartments and a ½doz pockets. I carry 1-2 laptops along with an assortment of tools, cables and adapters. I serve to live.
Huh. This is back on the front page after a hiatus of many hours. A bunch of people here question why I'd use a paper bag to carry a laptop from one place to another. As I said in the post it is "inconspicuous". That can be interpreted in a couple of ways.
One is simply not carrying something obviously containing expensive electronics which might be a target for theft. But having thought about this for a while that's not my biggest motivation. I hate ostentation. That's the reason I wear a Casio watch, would never wear clothes with a brand name plastered all over them, and drive a very boring car.
I do have a laptop sleeve that I use to protect the laptop and it slips easily into a bag. Prior to my silent bag purchase I did use random shopping bags (including canvas bags that seem to have sprouted like weeds in my cupboard), but after the board meeting situation mentioned I decided I'd try to find a long-lasting "paper" bag for the hell of it.
And I stumbled upon movie prop bags! Oh, and I hate backpacks.
> I wear a Casio watch
I only wear counterfeit Casio watches.
Not a joke... but I see the humor in saying it which is why I did. It's is a loss leader, counterfeits Casios tend not to be as waterproof. YouTube video can help you ensure you buy counterfeits.
> A bunch of people here question
Sucks you have Hacker News talking about you. Just remember they are not real life... of pretend that's true at least.
Cool blog post.
I liked the post. I had a Waterfield shoulder bag for my 12” MacBook that I loved because it just didn’t seem like a laptop bag (maybe because of the size), but in the same vein I also took a seamripper to it to remove the brand label (did you ever follow the old SDR Traveler, uh, luggage? A little overwrought but I liked the no-branding aesthetic).
i used to slip mine in a manilla envelope whenever i needed to take it home from the office and i hadn't brought my backpack with me. our stationary cupboard was well stocked with these!
ostentatious : "characterized by pretentious or showy display; designed to impress."
You think when people see you get your laptop from a "paper bag" that doesn't create an impression? I'd say a regular laptop bag would be far more inconspicuous. Your solution just makes you seem like you go out of your way to be special. Same as if all your colleagues wore suits and you choose to wear cargo pants and a t-shirt. At least in that case you can argue comfort. This bag isn't as comfortable to carry, not as functional nor as inconspicuous as a regular laptop bag
What bothers me is the hypocrisy not the attention seeking.
You think when people see you get your laptop from a "paper bag" that doesn't create an impression?
You think that "creates an impression" is linguistically identical to "designed to impress"?
im·press verb 1. make (someone) feel admiration and respect.
Your solution just makes you seem like you go out of your way to be special.
This is pure projection.
I saw a homeless guy on the sidewalk today. Can you believe that? Such an ostentatious display of freedom from responsibilities.
Sometimes HN confuses me. I'd use a laptop sleeve with any other bag too, but all the 'smart' comments never think of that before posting?
It's like all power has been diverted to the Criticism Drive, with none left for the Self-Reflection Array... but only for oddball ideas of course. Conventional ideas and reasoning only.
For (supposedly) a hacker community I expect we can do better, and thanks OP for sharing! I'll be grabbing one of these bags even just to experiment.
I also stay off the branded clothing and I took rock the Casio watch.
But part of me wants to spend at least one day wearing the team outfit for a team on a sport that I know nothing about, for example, rugby or just normal football (not American 'foot ball'). With this outfit would be desirable footwear, maybe with a Nike swoosh, which is something I have never worn.
Maybe add some fake gold jewellery to complete the look. How would my interactions differ with just a simple change of attire? Would I be drinking lots of beer by the end of the day?
Blogging about this makes you seem ostentatious about not appearing ostentatious. You might want to stop worrying about bags and start worrying about how you actually present yourself (or stop - depending on where your issues lie :P).
I've carried my laptop around in so many different bags over the years ... sling bags, tote bags, waterproof messenger backpacks, IKEA backpacks with laptop sleeve compartment, drawstring bags. I usually pick the bag depending on the occasion ...
bike ride in the rain? -> waterproof messenger backpack
downtown stroll to satisfy my inner hipster? -> tote bag etc ...
All I know is that I'm a "single compartment" person ... I've always found that having a separate compartment for everything just comes at excess weight and loss of flexibility.
I'd give the movie prop a try for sure. Still looking for a decent source of Tyvek to take an attempt at making my own bag (it's not super commonly used where I live).
You can more easily get strong canvas grocery bags, with and without branding.
Including ones with two sizes of handles (one set of handles for dangling from hands, the others for slinging over shoulder), which I guess you could alternate based on whether you're visible to to muggers.
I even saw a canvas design that had a color and finish to look very reminiscent of grocery store brown paper bags.
The similar bookstore canvas tote bags might be seen as more likely to contain a laptop or tablet (since some people use them just like others do backpacks). So I like the grocery one.
One advantage of the movie prop one -- in the office -- is that I could imagine a stylish designer type carrying it to a conference room table, more easily than a frumpier canvas bag.
Personally, I use a functional plain all-black backpack that looks presentable in the office (including carrying into the conference room, but put on the floor/chair), yet understated on the street.
I like the hipster factor of the fabric grocery bag, but if you are looking for a more standard option, this is just a funny looking cotton tote bag.
Rich people use paper bags. Only poor people worry about dropping their M4 Mac on the ground.
This has peak "suburbanite afraid of big cities and crime" energy
That means it's pretty widely applicable I think.
Well Cloudflare's office is in downtown SF...
Crime is bad.
A made in SF Timbuk2 bag was (and is?) the ultimate laptop bag.
I used one as a laptop etc. bag for a long time. As laptops got a bit smaller I now tend to repurpose a Mountainsmith bag (used over the shoulder) these days as my travel "personal item." But, in any case, some sort of shoulder bag is my goto. I find there are some downsides to backpacks on public transit, etc. and I end up with them slung over one shoulder anyway so why not use something designed for that usage.
Vintage ones, maybe. Timbuk2 has been slowly moving their manufacturing overseas.
Rickshaw Bagworks is the made in SF successor from the previous Timbuk2 CEO.
That'll be good to know in 30 years when I need to replace my Timbuk2 bag.
Good to know. I know they shifted some production, but it wasn't clear to me if the custom ones were still made in SF, and if the non-custom bags were made in SF any time in the last 15 years.
Let's be honest, it's a conversation piece with an extra "gotcha" since it's a move prop. It's pretty cool as that, no doubt, but I can't see it being a practical laptop bag.
The ultimate laptop bag (for my particular life style) is a waterproof backpack. I have a backpack that is a drybag-rollup style. And I've had my laptop in it and had it go underwater (paddleboard flipped while going down a river), and in a rain storm that came out of nowhere. No problems. Also, it's nice to have the peace of mind that if I was out somewhere with my laptop, I wouldn't have to worry about it raining. For me, the primary factor of consideration for a laptop bag is a bag that will protect my laptop.
I have a big roll of leather ready to make my (laptop) bag. I keep putting it off though because I can't settle on the design... and now I'm wondering again how I would incorporate padding at the bottom of the laptop compartment.
Has anyone else here made their own backpack like that and stumbled into issues and considerations they didn't expect?
Haven't done a backpack, but I do have a couple of leather laptop sleeves for the M#Airs. One is from scrap napa furniture leather (1mm chrome tanned), so it's soft and colorful, but doesn't protect as well. The other is ~2mm natural + pull up leather, so a bunch stiffer, to the point of being difficult to get the laptop in the first few times it was used.
Both of these sleeves are vertical envelope style, with a tucked tongue closure, and they're generally carried in some other backpack/bag. So these are basically the padding. They replaced _really_ low budget bubble wrap envelope laptop sleeves.
What I'd say from observation of the crafting/development process is that you're going to do one to figure out the issues and one to fix them all. (Or more, having seen a bunch of shoes made in my dining room)
No, it is not. Unless you don't care about the laptop.
Unfortunately, backpacks are a better solution due to padding and reinforcements.
Unfortunately because they attract attention by thieves.
Moreover I don't like walking with one hand busy carrying a bag, especially when I bike or commute between public transportation means.
Author is going to have their mind blown when they find out about tote bags.
"For me, the ultimate laptop bag is one that looks nothing like a laptop bag; it should look like nothing special at all."
Not sure what the point is for a laptop but I've been doing this with my cameras for decades. It's the ideal way to carry a camera because it combines quick access with inconspicuousness and theft protection.
counterpoint - a single drop of rain
These threads always kinda depress me with the fact that a 300$ device needs to be protected from thieves like this in countries where avg salary can cover it in a day of work. Something is fundamentally broken with society here and maybe these camouflage hack efforts could be spent better.
Occasionally articles like these remind me how I’ve completely let my guard down after being spoiled living for years in a place where theft and burglary are not a concern. Whenever I go back to a Western metropolis I have to learn to be alert again.
Theft and burglary is a concern everywhere.
I’ve been robbed and assaulted in Zürich, one of the safest cities on earth.
Never let your guard down, be vigilant.
Maybe GP is from a smaller town where it's less likely to get robbed.
I will never again carry a laptop in something doesn't have a zipper (or some sort of closeable sides)
Why, what happened to your last one?
If you pick the bag up at the wrong angle, the laptop can fall out
Yep, so someone sees a rando paperbag and pays no care to it (containing my pricy macbook pro). Genius!
SFBags.com (redirects) have amazing vertical laptop sleeves. Just add D-rings and a strap and you’re set! I’ve loved mine for over 15 years and counting.
Fits in small and larger bags as needed too.
A diaper bag is better! Nobody will look inside.
(Howerver, you'll need to get a movie prop baby, if you don't want people to think you're a ABDL.)
The title made me want to buy the Pulp Fiction briefcase just so I can carry around my Thinkpad in it
So that was in the briefcase!
I've used a 10x13 cardboard envelope a few times. It protects a bit from liquid/dirt and is inconspicuous.
I have a nice laptop sleeve that can hold a charger and cord in a side pocket, I'd use OP's bag.
I've been using a cheap folio case (the kind with a pad of paper in it) for my MacBook Pro 14-inch.
Fits great.
I think people who like this kind of style are probably more low key.
I used to take the Montreal metro to work just carrying my laptop. Someone I kmow from a big European city was very surprised and said nobody would do that there, it would make you a target for theft. Here I wouldn't think twice about it.
I wonder what that "big European city" would be? I don't think in Berlin anyone would grab a laptop from your hands in the U-Bahn.
Depends. Some parts of Berlin can be a bit dodgy. I take the U8 regularly Generally it's safe but stations on that line like Kottbuser Tor have a reputation for theft, pick pocketing, robbery, etc. Lots of people desperate enough in that area that you don't want to tempt them too much by being an obvious target.
I use a weather proof backback (Ortlieb). I got it two years ago and it's great. I walk a lot around town with it and the hip belt is great for offloading most of the weight from my shoulders. I can easily walk for a few hours with this thing. I have the 16" macbook pro, which is not exactly light.
You will learn to love the Ortlieb backpack. I bought mine (comparable to the current commuter backpack) more than 30 years ago and it is still in great condition.
That isn't a problem at all for most Western/Northern European cities though, without naming it makes it quite hard to judge if it was sensible advice or anxiety.
In Sweden I wouldn't think twice either...
I live in Edmonton, a friend of mine from London was astonished that I'd leave my bag by my chair unattended when using the bathroom at a pub. I don't even think about it, my stuff has never been nicked.
I also wonder if the Laptop Brand has to do with it. I would think the most targeted Laptops are Apples.
What does one do with a stolen MacBook, since you can't just wipe it and reactivate on a different account? Sell for parts?
The same thing done with stolen iOS devices; end up in Shenzen or Varanasi in a "might-be-used-for-parts" bin., until sufficient harrasment/social engineering of the original owner has failed. Then it goes into the "used-for-parts" bin.
Why is a grocery bag the "ultimate" laptop bag exactly?
It’s not in my opinion. Look how wide the bottom is, so the laptop will rest diagonally across the bag which makes it not ideal to carry or put other items inside. I’m all for the perfect laptop bag, this isn’t quite it.
Well, it's the last one you'll ever need (for that particular laptop that breaks the first time you put it down too fast on something).
That type of bag wouldn't be for me but the bags I do use don't really have much in the way of padding either. I can always put the laptop in a slightly padded sleeve.
No it is not ultimate it is a sad state of things that one is so worried about laptop bags being stolen that you have to hide it and make it inconspicuous in a paper bag.
It's really sad that SFO is now the car burglary capital of the world.
Maybe you meant SF in 2022. Car break-ins are down 61% since then FWIW.
https://www.sfchronicle.com/crime/article/sf-bipping-car-bre...
The post doesn't say anything about worrying about it being stolen.
I think many are failing to come up with a more likely explanation for
> For me, the ultimate laptop bag is one that looks nothing like a laptop bag; it should look like nothing special at all.
Crime is probably the best hypothesis but the other one to consider is that they have some sort of minimalist aesthetic, and they genuinely like the look of grocery bags (and nondescript bags in general).
If this was a security through obscurity tactic, why would they publish this blog post?
Yes! https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=45338980
You think laptop thieves will read the blog and start stealing brown paper bags on the off chance there's a laptop inside?
To me it seems like a pretty good strategy, with the downsides being you have to lug it around by the handle (no back or shoulder strap, which would spoil the camo effect), and it doesn't have pockets for small things like cables / dongles / etc.
I won't make that claim but I do think obscurity tactics are not normally publicized.
it implies that "laptop bag is one that looks nothing like a laptop bag; it should look like nothing special at all. "
Why else try to hide that this is laptop bag?
Well it's not for aesthetic reasons.
There's no accounting for taste!
I'm not even trying to be snarky! The author just says he's looking for the least flashy, most forgettable bag possible.
It's difficult to convey tone over the Internet, I get it.
When I was a poor college kid living in Rochester, NY I used to park my car on the street outside the little house I was renting with a bunch of friends. I would leave a sign on the car saying, "door is open, help yourself to whatever you find inside," in an attempt to at least keep people from damaging the car, as they were inevitably going try to break in about three or four nights a week anyway. There wasn't anything in my car worth anything to take, including the car itself really. Though I was a little annoyed when somebody took my crappy cassette copy of the "Happy Nation" Ace of Base album and I had to make another one.
>It's really sad that SFO is now the car burglary capital of the world.
The airport?
I meant the city as a short code I used the airport code.
Maybe it's more of an anecdote than based on facts, it looks like burglaries are actually down in San Francisco now
Maybe San Francisco wins California, but are you sure it’s higher than other parts of the world?
6F Jiffy Bag. Still the best case for a 13inch MB Air.
Photographers sometimes carry their expensive equipment in diaper bags to avoid unnecessary attention and theft.
just use a backpack and dont leave it in the car
and for god sakes move to nowhere, kansas
This passes Betteridge's law [1] just fine, since I guess the answer from those of us who actually have to carry the laptop any distance is a big "no". A backpack or messenger back is way more comfortable, right?
[1]: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Betteridge%27s_law_of_headline...
Also, one usually has other things to carry along with the laptop, and there's also the question of the environment in which the bag is to be carried. That bag wouldn't be great for carrying electronics in heavy rain.
My thought is, for carrying a laptop, I'd rather have a backpack or messenger bag made of paper than a fabric grocery bag. The primary reasons I wouldn't carry a laptop in a grocery bag don't include the fact it's made of paper or the sounds of it rustling (though, it is nice to not have to worry about this one ripping).
I think the author just wanted to brag about their movie prop paper bag.
No, I was quite serious. I like carrying my laptop to/from places in an inconspicuous bag. I used to use random bags and found these movie prop bags to be ideal.
Y'all are mean. I think it is fun.
Best bag? No
Fun? Yeah
It is and should be indicated in the title.
Betteridge's law of headlines strikes again.
He literally just said that. In TFA. You cannot make the joke if it's already there, in TFA.
The answer to the questions is probably no. No it's not.
I just don't understand how people can walk around with anything other than a backpack nowadays :s
[flagged]
Someone submitted it, and others upvoted it to the front page. You may be new, so that's how things work around here in a nutshell. Bienvenidos!
The real story is that you need to conceal an electronics gadget as groceries in order to not have it stolen in SF
A-ha! The author tricked you too, it's actually his laptop bag! /j
i liked it. i make my own laptop sleeves and bags, and it gave me an idea for a thinner padded version of a prop bag that would work better for a laptop.
JGC has star status here.
If true, that's a bad reason for this to be upvoted. My guess is that it got upvoted because people were surprised that these movie prop bags exist.
I didn't upvote because I think it's not a good laptop bag, but I'm sticking around for the comments for the discussion. Sometimes I'll upvote a post just because the discussion is good, but not in this case.
I'm upvoting some of the comments though, and I'm guessing the algorithm takes that into account when determining it's position on the frontpage :-/
I upvoted because even though I prefer backpacks, it gave me the idea to try to create a movie prop bag. And also because there are few "hacker" submissions nowadays, and I consider this one of them.
Exactly, now I want such prop bag and not for laptop.
if the bag was dropped in a forest would it make a sound? or just void your warranty… what's the sound of one hand clapping? Answer: OP's blog
My laptop stand is a repurposed cardboard wine delivery box, plain brown corrugated. been using it for seven years. Each side is covered with notes: my contact data for different regions, feature ideas, architecture sketches, even little 'zen' reminders for dealing with daily inbound slop, like "if you can read this, you are getting paid for this."
It has three usable heights (standing, sitting, with/without external keyboard) and actually prevents neck and eye strain.
Today’s new note for the 'zen' side: 'This box is not the ultimate laptop stand. Do not blog about it.' 0% joking. Well except for the zen note.. that was the joke