(Jeff Abbott is a regular contributor at The Pen Addict. You can find more from Jeff online at Draft Evolution and Twitter.)
You can never have enough pens, paper, ink, and other stationery supplies, right? There's so much diversity and new things that may meet that specific need or itch that you are trying to remedy. In some cases, you aren't even aware that you need something until you see it and you instantly envision how perfectly it will fit in to a specific workflow or task in your routine. We can all relate to this unquenchable thirst, right? If so, we can also agree that it likely doesn't stop at stationery.
Bags! The things to hold all our other things. For every situation and occasion, there's a perfect bag or a specific product that will fit a niche use case. The struggle is real, and we all do our best to maintain a sane number of possessions and possession holders. That said, bags are extremely useful and having more than one is incredibly useful. There are bags for carrying small things, bags for traveling, bags for computers, bags for groceries, and on and on. For a long time, I've wanted a bag that was large enough to hold a computer and a few other supplies (like water, a jacket, and plenty of computer and stationery peripherals) without being bulky or heavy. My favorite laptop bag is a Tom Bihn Daylight Briefcase, but it stays small on purpose. For something a little larger that still manages to stay quite compact, I've been using the Nomadic NW-03 backpack. This is a small 13 liter daypack that excels at commuting and coffee outing trips.
The exterior of the bag is made of durable 1300D ripstop nylon that has an attractive diamond-pattern. Being nylon, it's easy to clean and repels water and stains. It's not the toughest grade of nylon, but this is also a fairly light-duty pack. At 13 liters, it's perfect for a water bottle, a jacket or outer layer, some other smaller accessories like headphones or books, a small laptop or tablet, and then lots of smaller gadgets and snacks on the front pockets.
The interior of the bag is lined with a bright red and white pinstripe fabric that is made of 70D ripstop nylon. The bright fabric makes it easy to see what's inside the bag when you're trying to fish out that tiny charger block that found its way to the bottom of the bag.
The straps don't look like anything special, but they're incredibly comfortable. They're made of the same 1300D ripstop nylon but with some additional foam padding to distribute the weight of the pack. The back panel is also lined with the same foam/mesh lining as the straps, and it does a great job of keeping air moving between it and your back while also staying comfortable.
The layout of this bag strikes a really great balance for my use. I typically lean toward bags that have very little internal organization so that I can make my own choices and use other kit bags to organize my stuff across different bags. In this sense, the Nomadic does have several pockets, but it's just enough to be useful without being overwhelming. The thing I hate about bags with lots of pockets and cubbies is that I always forget which pocket I've stowed something in. With the Nomadic, it's only in one of the 3 main areas.
The main compartment has a lot of space for larger items like clothing, books, tablets, and other bulky things. There's no other pockets in the main compartment, but there is a flat mesh liner on the inner front of the lid that works well for small laptops and tablets. On the JetPens page for this bag they specify that this bag will fit up to a 13.3" laptop, and they really aren't kidding. This bag barely fits my naked 13" MacBook Pro and the 14" ThinkPad I have just can't make the squeeze. Even the 12.9" iPad Pro is a tight fit in this sleeve. Anything smaller will have no problem fitting, but just remember that this is a thin mesh pocket that offers no protection from the other objects in the main compartment.
Moving to the outside, the bag has two pockets on the front. On the bottom side, there's a medium pocket with plenty of dimension and space for storing larger gadgets. For me, this is the perfect spot for my charging brick, some cables, a small A6 notebook, a pen or two, and some gum. There's also a middle divider that has a hidden mesh pocket that works great for small items like change, mints, receipts, or anything else you don't want rattling around in the main pocket. On the back side of the divider, there are a couple more flat mesh pockets, and then there are a couple of nylon slash pockets on the back wall of the pocket for more organization. These little pockets work great for storing cables, USB drives, a small mouse, pocket notebooks, or anything else of that size.
The top front pocket is my favorite pocket for quick access items. It's smaller than the bottom pocket, but it has a couple of unique features. For one, it's at the top of the bag and is easy to get into. And, it has a couple of padded slash pockets for storing more delicate items like a phone. When my phone is in one of these padded slash pockets, the other objects in the main pocket can't scratch my phone screen. The slash pockets are also fairly stretchy, so you can store larger items as well.
The other two pockets on the outside of the bag don't really count in my book, but there are identical side pockets that work perfectly for holding a typical 1 liter water bottle or a travel umbrella. These pockets both have a top layer that hide the pocket when not in use.
Another nice touch on the strap system is that Nomadic included two strap stays on the webbing. This means that you can adjust the straps to a comfortable length, and then you can fold up the excess webbing and secure it in the strap stay to keep them from flopping around and getting hung on random things as you move around. I wish all bags came with default strap webbing stays!
The grab handle on the top of the bag is strong enough for anything you care to throw in this bag, and I also appreciate how the strap is constructed in a way that makes it stay upright. This makes it easy to grab since I don't have to fumble around trying to find a loose strap that may have folded down to either the front or rear of the pack.
In my short time with this bag, I've taken it on errands in the city, out to coffee shops for brief stints of work, and I've even taken it out of town on a business trip. I've been really happy with it on all occasions. It's small enough to stay out of my way and feel like I'm hardly carrying anything at all, but it's big enough to easily carry my essentials plus a few extra nice-to-have items.
On my business trip, I actually packed this bag inside my main bag so that I could use the nimble and convenient Nomadic pack at the office instead of my travel bag. The fact that this bag is small enough to easily fit into a larger 30L pack or a small carry on case is ideal for my use cases. And when it is packed into another bag, it easily compresses down to almost nothing at all.
If I were to change one thing on this bag, I'd either opt for a full-fledged laptop sleeve or have no sleeve in the main compartment at all. In most cases, I just throw my laptop or tablet into a separate sleeve and throw that into the main compartment along with everything else. The size of the mesh pocket just feels weird to me.
Aside from that, this bag is so comfortable and manages to fit a lot of stuff without looking bulky or overpacked. It lays close to my back and allows me to be nimble in crowds without hitting other people with it, and it does this while also fitting everything I need for the day.
Aside from the black version featured here, you can also choose a classy Navy color. At $95, I think this bag can be a hard sell. It's small, the materials are somewhat thin, and it doesn't look like much from the outside. The real hero of this bag is the slim form factor combined with the impressive amount of capacity for such a small bag. On top of that, the materials, design, and construction really send this bag over the top that makes the price seem like a good value. Sure, you can spend a lot less on a bag that is larger, just as comfortable, and checks all the basic boxes. But the sleek form and "just enough" organization that this bag offers is great. For errands and using as an on-location work bag, the Nomadic NW-03 is one of my new favorites.
(JetPens provided this product at no charge to The Pen Addict for review purposes.)
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