Average Reviews:
(More customer reviews)This is my third Timbuk bag. I have an original messenger bag from the 90's (which is indestructible) and an original Commute bag (which is not). Before purchasing this bag I looked at Chrome, Crumpler (Heegoer), booq (Cobra Courier), Domke, Manhattan Portage, Tom Bihn and others. All of these companies produce comparable bags that are better in some way than the Command Messenger, but not in all ways. The Command Messenger however, seemed to be the right kind of compromise for an all purpose bag that will go a few miles comfortably via bike or foot to the classroom or the office and also manage an airport or two.
The Useful:
1. The Command Messenger is designed like a real messenger bag; i.e. it straps like a messenger which makes it more versatile than a shoulder bag/satchel for securing and carrying stuff.
A bike messenger bag (a wide bag with a wide, rigidly secured strap) secures the load of the bag across one's back rather than allowing it to hang at the waist like a satchel does. While the (bike) messenger bag is designed for bike use, it also works well when walking for longer distances and you'd rather not have the contents of your bag banging into your hip. Most bags sold as "messenger" bags are satchels with a less 18th century name. For instance, if the bag has metal hook and ring fasteners to hold the strap to the bag, even if it also has a stabilizer strap, it is not a messenger bag (unless made by Cocotte). Another point to make here, however, is that although the Command Messenger is designed like a messenger bag, there are better choices if you are going to be using the bag primarily on a bike. The strength of this bag, however, is its versatility.
2. It has a handle for gracefully moving it short distances when you don't want/need to get strapped in.
3. The laptop compartment zips away from the main compartment to lie flat (TSA compliance). Also, the same compartment can be accessed from the top of the bag without opening the main compartment. If you are a person who gets into class/meetings after they have started this is crucial as it avoids having to tear away the loud velcro secured main flap to get to your laptop.
4. It has little velcro tabs on the inside top of the main compartment to help secure the contents against rain.
5. It has a panel on the back to fit over the extended handle of a luggage bag; a luggage handle pass-through. (Which may have a wider opening than shown in the pictures)
6. It is lightweight. This is more important than it might seem. A 3 lb laptop in a 5 lb bag is as heavy as a 5 lb laptop in a 3 lb bag.
Notes in response to other reviews: Having the Command Messenger fall to the ground when you unbuckle the strap is only possible if you are not wearing the bag as designed. Some bags (i.e. most Chrome bags) are designed to unbuckle and fall away and you can wear the Command Messenger in this way as well. Also, the two straps on the bottom/front of the bag that hook into the main flap are compression straps: they adjust the depth of the main compartment.
The Awkward:
1. The main strap is thinner than Timbuk's regular messenger straps and not at all rigid. The thin, floppy strap distributes the weight of the bag less effectively and also allows the strap to get in the way when you are snapping in the strap buckle. On the other hand, when you set the bag down the strap lies down with it instead of remaining insolently poised above the bag.
2. The protruding cam buckle lever. This is a new design which is meant to be easier to open and close than the old flush design. The flaw here is that when walking and wearing the bag in a messenger style (high on the back), the cam lever protrudes into the wearer's right arm. With the snap buckle allowing the strap to be set at a particular length and then snapped in and out, a protruding cam lever just isn't necessary. If you wear the bag low on the back or on the hip this will not be a problem.
3. Those metal hooks (anodized aluminum hardware) Timbuk says are for "quiet entry" will get you stealthily to the moment when you need to pull up the main flap and the sound of thousands of nylon hooks ripping away from a bed of nylon fuzz alerts everyone that you are using more velcro than you need. There will be no quiet entry. And there will be no quick closure either because you will need to thread those hooks behind a very thin and flat strap.
The Neither Here nor There:
1. There is no significant padding in the laptop compartment. A neoprene insert/sleeve will solve this problem.
2. No cross strap included.
2. The inner loops which allow inserts to be attached get in the way of moving things in and out of the main compartment.
3. So many compartments for "little things" that you may be unable to find a receipt or a credit card that you stashed away.
4. There is no way of knowing what color the "Potrero" bag is unless you are holding the bag in your hand. Maybe not even then.
Overall, not as rugged as Timbuk's regular messenger bag but a good redesign that creates a more versatile product. A great bag for under $100.
Update (after one month):
1. As other reviewers have noted, the metal hooks cause the reflective material around the front nylon webbing to tear a bit (about 2-3 mm). This happens almost immediately when the straps are tightened. This is only a slight cosmetic defect.
2. The back of the bag is not the same as in the photo's. The bag I received has a wider opening along the top and bottom of the back panel (the luggage pass-through) that is meant to go over a luggage handle. This may have been changed to make the panel easier to get over a luggage handle when the bag is full.
3. When the bag is picked up by the handle (or the strap), even if the front flap is not secure and the computer section is unzipped, the bag assumes its regular shape and nothing falls out of it. Other bags either open trifold or from the top (Commute 2.0) and if not re-zipped before being picked up, the laptop compartment will dangle below the bag. Locating the "hinge" for the laptop compartment along the top of the bag is probably the best design feature of the Command Messenger and is the only bag I know of to have this design. The downside of this design is the potential for water to get into the bottom of the laptop compartment when set down on a very wet surface. (So for those who delight in setting their bags down in puddles. . . This is not the bag for you.)
Useful modifications:
1. I cut down a gel shoe insert to 2" width and put it in the shoulder pad between the strap and the bottom of the pad. The gel insert has a fuzzy side and with the fuzz against the strap, the shoulder pad can move along the strap without displacing the gel insert. (Technically this would be against TSA regulations)
2. Added a cross strap (1" x 40" webbing strap from REI)
3. Added a super light foam insert (app 3/8" thick packing material from a 15" computer sleeve) under the luggage handle pass-through. It is not visible and puts some padding under the laptop which helps when wearing the bag like a messenger bag.
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Timbuk2 Command Laptop Messenger BagMore Berlin than Berkeley, the Command's oxford nylon and anodized hardware make it Timbuk2's most sophisticated bag. Pair that with its TSA compliant laptop sleeve with studded Loveglove technology and you're practically guaranteed to fly First every time.
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