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Mobile Edge SecurePack Laptop Backpack
by Glenn W. for webBikeWorld.com
More: wBW
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| Owner Comments (Below)
Mobile Edge may not be a familiar name to
motorcyclists -- yet -- but they've been a popular
manufacturer of laptop backpacks, laptop slip cases, briefcases, messenger bags
and all sorts of other carrying devices.
I first became aware of Mobile Edge products when I
purchased a laptop sleeve for my brand new Hewlett
Packard dv2000t computer. Even with my 20% off
coupon, HP wanted something like $80.00 for a notebook
case, so I started looking around and stumbled on to a
selection of Mobile Edge products at a local computer
store.
The Mobile Edge Slipsuit was $29.99 and I was really
impressed by the way it was made -- much higher quality
than the other computer bags they had in the store.
Anyway, I was looking through the Mobile Edge website
a few weeks ago and learned that they just released the
new Mobile Edge SecurePack laptop backpack for motorcycles, which
really piqued my interest.
I ordered it and got one of the first available and
I'm really pleased. I had been looking for a good
motorcycle laptop backpack but most of the products seemed to
be either cheaply made or not really designed with
motorcycling in mind. The SecurePack is not only a
very high quality item but it also has a couple of very
unique features that make it perfect for motorcycling
and also for simply trudging back and forth to work.
The biggest selling feature of the SecurePack and the
reason it's named is that the contents can only be
accessed when the pack is not being worn. So
there's basically no way that anything can fall out when
you're on the bike, which adds a certain comfort factor
to wearing it.
The reason for this is in the way the SecurePack
works; it only opens from the back side (the side
towards the wearer's back), so it can't open up if it's
being worn. But think about that for a minute:
this also makes the pack very secure for wearing to work
if you walk through crowded public transport stations
like, for example, the D.C. Metro (not that anyone
would think of stealing in a Metro station, right?!).
I've always been paranoid about having something of
value stored behind me when I'm on my motorcycle and I'm
just as concerned about someone grabbing my MP3 player
or keys or something out of one of the backpack pockets
without my knowledge if I'm in a crowd, but this is
basically impossible with the SecurePack.
However, since I ordered my SecurePack laptop
backpack online, I
wasn't really sure how much it would hold or how it
would fit. Its teardrop shape led me to believe
that maybe it wouldn't hold much, but I have to say, I'm
very surprised, because it holds way more than I
imagined, yet the shape and the wide, padded shoulder
straps distribute the weight evenly, making it easy to
wear.
This photo shows a pretty good load inside my
SecurePack. It swallowed both my new dv2000t
laptop and an older Dell D410 laptop; two CD-ROM disks
in their jewel cases; a flashlight; a cell phone; an
instruction manual for my GPS; a USB cable; a couple of
pens; a book and a ready to return DVD and, believe it
or not, a can of saddle soap (don't ask).
Oh, and my iRiver MP3 player is in the back, in a
special pocket at the top of the backpack that's
designed to hold media players. That pocket has a
hidden zipper and a small exit hole for earplugs, which
works great.
The photo above shows the Mobile Edge SecurePack
opened, so you're looking down into the back and the
area at the bottom of the photo is the side of the pack
that is closest to the wearer's back.
Inside, you can see the lower pocket with the wide
Velcro strap is holding the dv2000t. This is a
special padded pocket designed to hold a laptop.
It's 14" deep and 12" across but you can probably fit
about a 16" wide laptop in there -- Mobile Edge claims a
17" wide (diagonal) screen laptop will fit.
This pocket easily swallows the HP, which is what I
would call a medium sized laptop -- it has a 15.4" HD
format screen.
Just above the HP is another vertical pocket and you
can see the Dell D410 in there. This is one of the
smallest laptops available and it has a 12.1" screen
(this is a great computer to use when traveling, by the
way!). This section also includes a full-length
mesh pocket that closes with a horizontal zipper.
Above these two pockets you can see the main pocket with
the rest of my, uh, junk.
The main pocket is about 18" deep, measured up to the
top of the inside of the backpack. The back side
of the second sleeve (seen in the above photo with the
pens inserted into the horizontal pen holders) has some
built-in pockets for various items.
Besides the three pen holders, there are two smaller
3.5" by 4" deep pockets. these are made from what
feels like a type of neoprene stretchy material and they
each have a Velcro strip to keep them closed.
There's also a longer mesh pocket on one side, this
one is about 10" deep and 4" wide. It has an
elastic strip sewn across the top to keep the contents
tightly held.
Way at the bottom of this side is a covered CD-ROM
pocket. Unfortunately, it will only hold a single
CD in a jewel case, but there's plenty of room elsewhere
to store more. The back side of the pack has two
removable rectangular cases that look just like toilet
kits. They are attached to the back wall by Velcro
strips; that is, the wall of the backpack is the "loop"
part and the strips on the small bags are the "hook"
part.
The back of the Mobile Edge SecurePack has a sort of
"speed hump" pocket on top to hold an MP3 player, iPod,
CD player, etc. This can be opened with a hidden
zipper that's pretty near impossible to open when the
pack is being worn.
It's easy to run the earbud
speakers out of the pocket and this is a great place to
store an MP3 player to use when riding the motorcycle.
In fact, I've discovered that this is one of the best
features of the SecurePack, because it locates my MP3
player out of the way and the earbud wires are behind me
and out of the wind.
There are two more mesh pockets, one on either
shoulder strap. These are indicated by the red
arrows in the photo below. The orange arrow points
to the nicely padded shoulder straps and the padded
carrying handle in the center, which is slightly hard to
see in this photo. The carrying handle makes it
easy to carry the backpack when it's not being worn.
Also, you can see the nicely padded back and the
adjustments for the shoulder straps at the waist and
shoulders.
Close-up of the padding and stitching on the back of the
Mobile Edge SecurePack.
The front view with shoulder straps and waist band.
Top view of the Mobile Edge SecurePack showing the media
pocket.
The earbud speakers are shown outside the pocket.
The SecurePack has an easy-to-use
adjustable waistband that snaps around the front.
This helps ensure that the backpack will stay in place
when riding. The belt could be slightly longer;
although it fits me, I think it could become tight on
anyone with over a 38" waist or so, especially if
wearing a thick motorcycle jacket with a liner and/or
sweater underneath.
By the way, one other nice feature of
the SecurePack is that there are no exposed zippers
anywhere to scratch the paint. The zipper pulls
are made from a mostly hard plastic, but the pulls
usually remain underneath the fabric.
The SecurePack is currently available in
either the gray/yellow color shown here or a camoflauge
version. I wish they made one in brighter colors,
like orange or red or something. But at least the
yellow piping helps provide some visibility. Also,
the edging that can be seen around the outside of the
pack that looks like it has little dots on it is highly
reflective.
The fabric used in the Mobile Edge
SecurePack is said to be "water resistant" but the
backpack is not waterproof. And the backpack
carries a lifetime replacement warranty.
Conclusion
I really like the SecurePack and I use it all the time,
on and off the bike. It feels comfortable to wear
and it holds way more junk that I really should be
carrying on the bike. As long as I keep it light,
the backpack is just about unnoticeable when I'm riding
with it and I'd like to think that its shape helps -- or
at least doesn't hurt -- the aerodynamics.
The pack is robust and it weighs 3.0
lbs. empty, so it doesn't take long to get it up to 10
pounds or so when loaded with a laptop and other gear.
Overall, this is a high-quality item; better, I think,
than any of the other motorcycle backpacks I've seen and
I think it's well worth the asking price.
| Product
Review: Mobile Edge SecurePack Laptop Backpack |
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| Available
From:
Mobile Edge |
Suggested
Retail Price: $79.99 |
| Colors: Black/yellow.
Camouflage/orange. |
Made
in: Unknown |
| Review Date: April
2007 |
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