The Knomo Kobe Messenger Bag
A few months ago I purchased the Hard Graft Flat Pack in the hope that it would be the ideal laptop bag. Turns out it wasn’t. After returning the Hard Graft Flat Pack I spent some time looking for a replacement. A month ago I purchased the Knomo Kobe Messenger bag and I think it could be the one.
Take it all
One of my main complaints with the Hard Graft Flat Pack was the limitations on what you can fit into the bag. Unlike the Flat Pack, I don’t have any problems fitting my charger into the Knomo Kobe Messenger.
The interior of the bag is made up of a section to hold your laptop and a main opening for everything else. The section for your laptop won’t comfortably hold anything more than your laptop. The main area of the bag has plenty of room for a charger, headphones, iPad and anything else you may need to carry. You have plenty of pockets to hold pens, USB keys and other small items. Some of these pockets are zipped as well so things won’t fall out.
On the front of the bag are two pockets, one with a zip and one without. This is great. You can keep things you need quick access to in the open pocket and things like your wallet or keys in the zipped pocket. The open pocket is deep enough so that nothing will fall out unless you were to shake your bag upside down.
There’s plenty of room to fit everything you need into the bag, without feeling like the bag is too bulky to carry. My original appeal of the Hard Graft Flat Pack was the slim look to the bag. It didn’t seem bulky, which is a difficult thing to do with a bag that has to be large enough for a 15 inch laptop. The Knomo Kobe Messenger manages to fit all the essentials while not looking too bulky.
Padded and protected
A major downside to the Hard Graft Flat Pack was that it offered very little protection for your laptop. There was no protection between the large metal zip or the metal hinges of the bag and your laptop. The Knomo has you covered on both fronts.
The separator between your laptop and the rest of the bag is padded on both sides and works almost like a built-in laptop sleeve.
There is no zip for the main opening. Which means there’s nothing for your laptop to scratch against as you lift it out of the bag. The bags cover is kept closed by magnets hidden under the front two pockets, so there are no buttons to press down on to keep the bag closed.
There’s also a little lip that opens up when you lift the cover of bag to take your laptop out (pictured to the right). This lip actually covers the area that the hinges of the strap sit, meaning that your laptop is protected from hitting the metal hinges of the bag as you lift it out. This is ingenious. Clearly Knomo have thought this out in detail.
Summary
I’ve been using the bag now for just over a month and I couldn’t be happier. Comforted in knowing my laptop is safe, while also having the option to carry along anything else I may need. Two things that were lacking in the Hard Graft Flat Pack.
Where to buy
You can buy the bag from the official website, but I found it cheaper on Amazon.