REVIEWED: STM Radial laptop messenger bag
Good for a 15-inch laptop and tablet, this well-organised and compact black, blue or steel messenger is great for conferences & the commute
The trouble with messenger bags is that they’re usually too big. Whether or not hanging your belongings from one shoulder is your style, there’s no doubting the convenience of having everything to hand all the time. But this new bag from STM goes the extra mile.
Compact design
What STM has done that others refuse to do is to design a Messenger that is good for a large 15 inch laptop – and much more besides – within a compact design. This isn’t hugely surprising to TravGear; we recently managed to travel around Hong Kong for a week using only the brands Velocity Haven backpack/ but still – this is one small bag, and ideal for conferences.
Clever cables
Once again, STM has thought about cables. You can put your 15-inch laptop in the padded area inside and thread the power cable through a gap in the interior to a pocket that’s accessed from the outside. A zipped pocket, this is ideal for putting a laptop charger in, which you can therefore plug-in to a wall socket as and when you find it without having to take the laptop out of the bag. Genius!
Zip it
In lots of ways this bag is very similar to the Velocity Haven backpack we loved so much. Just like that backpack, this one has an easily accessed zipped front area that itself has a zipped security pocket, as well as lots of pockets ideally sized for phones, cables, pens, fasteners, and cash. It’s just totally ideal for conferences and very short overnight trips.
Added extras
We are totally sold on this bag for short trips and conferences by now, but a few niceties are worth mentioning before we finish this review. There’s a tablet compartment right next to the laptop, an area in the back ideally sized magazines, a zipped area on the front flap which is perfect for storing tickets (and which has an organiser pocket inside) and, lastly, there’s a decent grab handle and a comfortable, fully adjustable shoulder strap. We at TravGear might be backpack fanatics, but the STM Radial laptop messenger bag is so good it’s at the front of the queue for our next conference trip.