Two months with my Crumpler

A review of my Crumpler bag. 

During the winter break, I caved in and bought myself a new bag. There really was no need for it other than I couldn’t stop thinking about the bag since I saw it for the first time in Crumpler’s Rundle Mall store. With that followed a bunch of excuses I tell myself to justify my need for this bag. This is why I hate window shopping sometimes because it rarely ever is just “window shopping”.

Anyway, it’s been about two months since the damage was done, so I thought I would give my thoughts on the bag. 

About the bag

It’s called The Day By Day from their collection of messenger bags. It comes in four colours, but I went with the blue because I wanted something bright – I would’ve gone with red, but alas they only come in a salmony, earth-toned shade. Regardless, I think the blue is versatile and it goes with everything in my closet, especially my denims. 

It's boxier and more structured than a traditional messenger bag which I find suits my body and style better, whereas the traditional ones made me look like a high school student on her way to the tuition centre after class – I don’t think that’s the vibe I’m trying to emulate, especially as I’m way past that phase in my life. 

Oh, and it’s also a fold over bag which means if I'm not filling the bag up the whole way (which I haven’t had to do thus far but good to know it can be done should I need to do so in the future), parts of the main compartment can be folded to cover the front, giving extra security to my items. 

So, what can it fit?

The Day By Day measures 14” with three zipped compartments: one at the front, the main one, and a small one at the back.

The front one comes with four internal pockets that I use to store my pens, hand sanitisers, sticky notes, mini snacks, power banks, etc. You know, the small miscellaneous stuff, though it can also fit my 400ml water bottle and a pair of flipflops (not at the same time). It also has a carabiner attached which I think is for your keys, but I don’t really use it. Not yet at least. 

When unfolded, the main compartment stands about 24cm tall, so I can fit heaps in there. I’ve shoved my sweater, my notes and notebooks, lunch box, and makeup bag. Unfortunately, law textbooks are too thick to carry along with the other items, but who bothers lugging around textbooks anyway? We have the high use shelf at the library for that.

There’s also a padded laptop compartment that fits my 13” laptop perfectly. 

Another unfortunate thing I’ve noticed is that I can’t fit much else in the main compartment if I’ve already got my laptop in there. The hard structure of the laptop makes the bag less malleable, which doesn’t allow much space for my chunkier goods like the lunch box. That’s probably the biggest downside to the bag when compared to my old one which was wider, so could fit the bigger stuff. 

The small one in the back provides quick access to things I need ASAP like my purse, MetroCard, and lip balm. The compartment actually runs pretty deep, like half of the bag length, so I could fit more in there if I wanted to. It also stays pretty close to my body when I have it on, so again, I’d say it’s been pretty secure.

I just really love the number of compartments and pockets this bag has. My old one was lacking in that department and as someone who carries a lot of stuff, it’s nice being able to organise them in this spacious bag. It's also nice not having to fish around for stuff at the bottom of my bag anymore. 

Is it comfortable?

I would say so. Its strap comes with a pad, though I don’t use it much, but I’m sure that would make carrying the bag even more comfortable. Even without it, my shoulders are yet to chafe and turn red. 

Basically, the bag hasn’t made my arms feel like they would fall off at the end of the day which again, was what my old bag failed to do. Of course, I’ve only been taking this bag to classes and work, so I wouldn’t really know how comfortable it would be if used on longer hours – that will be something I have to test out on my next adventure. 

Overall, I’m really loving my Crumpler so far. It’s still in good condition despite all the pushing and shoving it has received on my rush hour commutes to work and class. Let’s hope it continues to hold on for much longer – that’s what I was promised anyway.