Messenger Bag Awards Announced

We just finished an exhaustive messenger bag review. here is the press release


CHEYENNE, WY—OutdoorGearLab.com revealed today the results of the 2011 Editors’ Choice Awards for the Laptop Messenger Bag category, listing this year’s best and best value for laptop messenger bags. The OutdoorGearLab Review Editors chose the following winners after extensive field testing and road trips in the High Sierra, Southeast Utah and The Cascades. We tested eight of the best laptop specific messenger bags in an eight-week head-to-head competition that assessed comfort, storage, versatility, laptop security, aesthetics, water resistance and durability. Our ranking and awards- which reflect the average of eight testers who used each bag for a week- identify the best overall messenger bag, the best value messenger bag, and the best messenger bag for transporting a computer and documents. Each underwent extensive side by side tests to evaluate these key performance metrics. View the complete Laptop Messenger Bag Reviews


The winners are:


Mission Workshop Rummy – winner of the Editor's Choice Award for 2011 . According to Gear Editor Max Neale, "The Rummy is the Bentley of messenger bags. It’s large, luxuriously comfortable, and surprisingly nimble. A cavernous 27 Liter main compartment swallows a computer, books, and packages like the champion of a pie-eating contest. On the whole, the Rummy provides a great balance between comfort, durability, water resistance, and features."


Timbuk2 Classic Messenger - winner of the Best Buy award for 2011. This award is given to a product that balances an extremely high score in our tests and a very reasonable price. According to Max Neale, "The Timbuk2 Classic Messenger is a well designed, reasonably comfortable, durable, and waterproof bag for those who do a lot of biking and want quick access to their belongings. The bag is constructed of durable, waterproof materials, has logical and easy to use storage for small and large items, and costs only $90. This is the updated version of the bag that kicked off the Messenger Revolution I.E., explosion of messenger bag use by non-messengers. It’s a great value."


Rickshaw Commuter 2.0 - winner of the Top Pick award for 2011. This award is given to a product that excels at a specific application. According to Max Neale, "The Rickshaw Commuter 2.0 is an innovative, fully featured, and well-made laptop bag best suited to those who commute directly to and from an office environment. The bag offers excellent storage for all office essentials: documents, loose papers, and a 15” laptop are well protected; pens and pencils are easy to access and organize; and the bag opens and closes silently with a removable magnetic closure (one of three five features). Of the sixteen laptop backpacks and messenger bags reviewed here this is our favorite for office work, meetings, and conferences. It’s highly functional, waterproof, durable, and looks good."