What's In My Tech Bag #2 (ECBC Trident Messenger "Minimalist Edition")
Welcome back to another episode of "What’s in my Bag?" Today we're going to be taking a look at the Trident Messenger Bag, from a company called ECBC.
The theme of this episode is that I am going to try and be as minimalistic as possible and carry some of the essentials that I might need if I was going for a quick one or two night work trip. I am definitely the definition of an overpacker and the Trident Messenger Bag has a TON of storage. So please don't think the minimal theme is due to a lack of storage.
This bag has tons of different zippered compartments but some of the main features would be the ECBC Fast Pass system, which essentially allows you to unzip the main laptop compartment to leave open for TSA scanning instead of taking your laptop out of your bag. The bag fits up to most 15” laptops but if you decide to take a smaller laptop, you can use the removable insert to adjust the fit to your liking.
ECBC claims that this bag is made up of nearly industructable water resistant materials, and the weird thing is, with a rugged messenger bag like this, the bag still looks good but also feels good. Essentailly what I mean is that you can feel comfortable carrying your valuables and know that this isn't some cheap bag that will rip and drop any of your tech.
So what all would I take on this minimalistic themed trip? Well, since I am notorious for overpacking, being minimal is quite hard. I tried really hard to bring only the items that I would actually use on a 1-2 night trip and not overpack. This might seem like a bit more to you but trust me, this is minimal in my terms.
So the first essential item I would take with me would be my 12” Retina MacBook, which is covered in this beautiful skin from Toast. They customized this skin for me and I absolutely had to throw it on my Macbook because the natural wood looks really good. As far as the MacBook goes, this guy is perfect when on the plane or in my hotel room and I need to get a little work done. I try not to edit on this computer TOO much but it is definitely capable of handling Final Cut Pro with no problems.
With that said, for storage, I would take the Transcend 2TB USB 3.0 Hard Drive. Now this one is Mac specific and they do have a thunderbolt model but the USB 3.0 speeds are fast enough for me. Aside from the fast speeds, this guy offers some pretty good storage in a small form factor, coming in at 2TB right in the palm of your hand. You also won't have to worry about scratches or small drops because this hard drive is actually quite rugged and only has one USB 3.0 port, which is really all you need. Finally, you might have noticed the blue button on top and coupled with the Transcend elite software, this hard drive can auto backup your computer with just one press of the button. Pretty useful stuff.
Now, of course, to power my MacBook, I will bring it's dedicated charger but the beauty of the MacBook and it's one and only USB 3.0 port, is that it can be used with an external battery pack if some mobile juice for your Macbook is neccessary. To solve that, we have this super rugged 20,000mAh battery from EasyACC.
This guy is built like a tank. The only negative to it's rugged durability is the fact that it weighs a solid 1.5 pounds, which might not sound like a lot but it sure feels like more. The ports are covered by a protective flap, so of course this guy is IP67 certified and can withstand some water; assuming the waterproof lid is closed.
There are two charging ports and one micro USB port to charge this power bank up. The top has your only button and that is used to tell how much battery is remaining with one click and if you double click, you can activate the flashlight. Which might be useful. I think. Either way, this guy is more than enough to keep my MacBook charged up while on a plane, in a car, or anywhere that might not have an outlet available.
In order to acheive all this, we will need some cables and who else but Anker would have our back on this one. Seriously, there is not much to these cables except for the fact that you will only need to buy one because these guys are virtually indestructable. I have seen videos of these cables pulling cars. They are super strong and come in great lengths and for all devices that use USB C, lightning or even micro USB. When you're done with it, simply wrap them up and place them in this convenient magnetic pouch. It's not neccesary but a nice touch.
So when I am on a plane, I usually like to watch some movies or listen to music and so I like to bring another device besides my computer and I try to save battery life on my phone so that's where this iPad mini comes into play. It's a perfect size for media consumption or browsing the web while on a long flight and so I try to take it with me if possible.
In order to properly hear everything on a plane, you're going to need some headphones. When I just want to listen to music and try to fall asleep, I usually want to wear earbuds so I can lean my head against the window. That's a bit hard to do with over ear so I would choose to take these earbuds from 1byOne. They are extremely affordable, comfortable and sound great for the price, which again is really cheap. They come with a few additional ear tips and this handy carrying pouch. The only negative is that the wire is a bit too long. That gets annoying sometimes. Also, they dont reduce a lot of outside noise, which is expected because that's not their job.
That job belongs to these bad boys. These are the Bose QC35 Noise cancelling headphones. This is what I would use if I was trying to focus on watching a movie or listen to music and want to completely eliminate all background noise. Which is practically what they do. It’s pretty ridiculous. I never had their predecessor, which got rave reviews about the noise cancelling and I heard the QC35's were even better. I had to try them out and my God are they amazing. Not only does the audio sound great but you really can NOT hear any other noise around you. It’s hard to describe how incredible that is.
They are durable and look great and come in this protective case along with an airplane adaptor, if needed. The negative on these is of course the price. These guys were a steep $350 and although that might sound like a ton for headphones, I would honestly purchase them again, that's how good they sound. And no, these were not given to me for review, I purchased these myself and I don't regret it for a minute.
Finally, when I am in a hotel, I like to listen to music when getting ready or in the shower. Sometimes, your phone is just not loud enough but bluetooth speakers can be a bit hard to travel with.
Well, the Anker SoundCore Nano is honestly the perfect solution to this. It's extremely small but packs some pretty incredible sound. It's really surprising just how good it sounds given it's size. It's basically an all metal cube with one button on the bottom and your micro usb port on the side. Of course, low end is pretty empty but you will still get some decent bass and is a much better option than listening on your phones speaker.
Speaking of phone, the phone of choice here is my Samsung Galaxy S7 Edge. Now it would definitely be my Note 7 but given the whole exploding battery issue that the device has been reportedly having, I would not be allowed to travel on a plane with this phone. So the S7 Edge would be the next best bet and what’s even better is the Iron Man Spigen case from SlickWraps. These cases are awesome. They come from Justin Maller's Helmetica artwork and is slapped on a Spigen clear case. You can choose from a bunch of different characters. When the Note 7 is back in my hands, I have a Darth Vader case with it's name on it.
So to wrap things up, this bag is pretty great and can fit everything in this video perfectly and then maybe fit 20 more devices on top of that. It has tons of storage and is very easy to carry around.
If you want to pick up this bag or any of the items shown in this video, check out the following link: