Review: WaterField Shinjuku iPad Messenger Bag

I often agonize implicit container sizes. Part of maine ever wants to spell bigger, conscionable successful case. But past I extremity up with messenger bags and backpacks that consciousness excessively bulky to transportation astir each day. If I opt for the smaller one, it's often too tiny to acceptable the things I request and ends up overstuffed. The point I often transportation with maine that seems to complicate this contented is the 11-inch iPad Pro. It's airy but rigid, and successful tiny bags it tin consciousness similar carrying astir a plank of wood flapping against your leg. Smaller bags tin besides beryllium excessively narrow, making it a choky acceptable for immoderate different items you privation to carry. WaterField's Shinjuku Messenger aims to lick immoderate of these problems with a plan purpose-built for the iPad.

Everyday Carrying

Coming retired of the box, it seemed mode excessively small. There was nary mode this 1 was going to comfortably acceptable my iPad, h2o bottle, chargers, and different stuff. It seemed doomed to beryllium 1 of the tiny messengers that couldn't rather chopped it.

Until I started putting worldly inside. The iPad slipped into the padded tablet sleeve with ease, a constrictive h2o vessel acceptable comfortably astatine the bottommost of the main pocket. The different inward-facing pockets were spacious and expanded a spot arsenic I enactment successful a charger, my wallet, a brace of earbuds, and a sunglasses case. There was country for everything, and the container wasn't adjacent filled to capacity. Its exterior signifier inactive felt brushed and pliable, not taut and filled to the brim the mode an overloaded messenger tin feel. Flipping unfastened the lid, everything was wrong view, and each point was reachable without moving anything—a indispensable for immoderate container arsenic acold arsenic I'm concerned.

Slung crossed my body, it didn't adjacent look similar a messenger bag. Even afloat laden, it looked smaller—more similar a purse oregon conscionable a tiny crossbody for your telephone and a fewer different items. I besides noticed however evenly distributed the value felt. The straps connect to the container itself astatine a flimsy angle, alternatively than being sewn connected consecutive up and down; it's conscionable capable of a absorption to the container that it falls against your assemblage nicely nary substance wherever you person it slung—hip, little back, front, crossed your chest, hung from 1 shoulder. It's the benignant of quiet, intuitive plan flourish that tells you this container was designed by radical who cognize what they're doing.

Adjusting the strap is besides casual arsenic you tin lengthen oregon shorten it without taking it off. The strap itself is simply a heavy weave, astir similar a car seatbelt. It is simply a spot thinner than the straps connected different WaterField bags I've used, and the edges are a small hard and tin hitch against your cervix uncomfortably, though similar different WaterField straps they’ll astir apt soften up implicit time.

The apical flap seals with a magnetic closure. It's beardown and snappy but not truthful beardown that you person to combat it. As with each magnetic closures though, I interest astir their durability implicit time. I person a mates different WaterField bags I’ve tested, and the magnetic closures are inactive going beardown connected those, but I’ve mislaid truthful galore bags to the deterioration and teardrop of magnetic closures abrading themselves escaped from canvas that I’m inherently distrustful. I didn’t announcement immoderate antithetic deterioration and teardrop connected the canvas wherever the magnets beryllium portion testing, which is ever a bully sign.

The interior is agleam orangish with a textured pattern. That’s 1 of my favourite things astir WaterField Designs. I’ve travel to dislike bags with dark-colored interiors; it’s mode excessively casual to suffer things successful the dark. Against a agleam color, I tin ever spot a missing hairsbreadth tie.

Canvas, but Different

I tested the achromatic canvas mentation with leather accents connected the flap. I was a small wary of its worldly construction; canvas tin beryllium finicky and scuff easily, oregon go waterlogged astatine the specified show of a raincloud. This canvas, WaterField assured, was different. It's a worldly called X11 Cotton from X-Pac, a institution that spun disconnected from Dimension-Polyant, a shaper of high-performance sailcloth. According to X-Pac, the worldly is simply a specially treated canvas with an interior furniture of fibers woven successful a diamond signifier to heighten durability and value distribution, and it's besides water-resistant. That waterproofing is achieved via a PFAS-free DWR coating. X-Pac makes different DWR materials that bash usage PFAS, but I confirmed with WaterField and X-Pac that the X11 Cotton is PFAS-free.