Laptop Bag Review: the Acme Made Clyde St. Messenger

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We’ve become big fans of Acme Made’s bags over the last few years and are always excited when they release a new design. A short time ago we brought word of a new bag, the Acme Made Clyde St. Messenger and we now have one for review that we have been using for the last few weeks. It is a big messenger bag and, in typical Acme Made fashion, it has a good bit of understated-style and quality construction.

Here’s a closer look.

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From Acme Made:

The Clyde St. Messenger is a solid, all-purpose messenger bag. It’s built tough with lots of interior space and pockets to store it all. With styling that looks as good in a conference room as it does on the street, the Clyde St. Messenger is simply a better messenger bag.

Features:

Fully padded laptop compartment for large screen laptops.

Unique “stay-flat” document pocket to protect important files.

Custom reinforced handle with a soft rubber grip.

Adjustable shoulder strap with shoulder pad.

 

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Dimensions:

External Dimensions

Height: 13″ | 33cm

Length: 18.1″ | 46cm

Width: 4.13″ | 10.5cm
Internal Dimensions

Height: Laptop Pocket: 10.63″ | 27cm

Length: Laptop Pocket: 16.92″ | 43cm

Width: Laptop Pocket: 1.18″ | 3cm

Weight: 2.43lb | 1.1kg

 

See that handle? I love it. Sturdy, comfortable to hold and solid. Awesome!

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Unsurprisingly, the bag has a small logo with the company name on the flap. This is pretty typical of all the products from the company and it doesn’t detract from the appearance of the bag in the least.

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The long zipper runs from the upper corner of the right hand side down somewhat, and as it makes its way to the left it opens to reveal a small, but easily accessible, compartment.

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As you can see from this side view, the construction of the bag is fantastic. The straps are thick, the hardware is plastic but solid, and the seams are straight, reinforced and solid. The other side has a pocket for a cellphone or mp3 player.

 

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Under the main flap, which is held in place by two strong clasps, are two zippered compartments as well as the opening to the large storage space typical of messenger-style bags.

 

 

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Inside the curved zippered pocket is a nicely sized space for keeping small items like cables, an external battery or a wallet. It is also a good place for stowing your phone if you are not using the side pocket or you want something more secure. At the back of this is an organizing area that includes a card pocket, pens pockets, a smaller interior zippered area

 

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Above the curved zipper is a straight zipper that extenders the length of the bag. It opens fully and is perfect for papers, a book or… an iPad. Yes, it is perfectly sized if you are carrying an iPad or similarly sized tablet.

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The main compartment is divided into two parts. The forward section is a large open area for large items. The back compartment is slightly padded and is designed for a notebook computer. The padding is fairly minimal and there does not appear to be any additional padding on the bottom of the bag. As such, I suspect that if you are using this bag your computer is better served if you also use some sort of protective sleeve. While some might consider that overkill I have never been a fan of putting my computer in a bag sans sleeve, if only to protect if from getting scratched by other items in the bag.

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If I were to sum up this bag I would say that it is a traditional messenger bag with just enough of Acme Made’s unique touch to keep it interesting. It offers great build quality, a nice array of compartments and a fairly decent amount of organizational structure within them. The laptop compartment is not a padded as I might like but, as a result, what could be a fairly heavy bag is actually surprisingly light. It is an interesting tradeoff and, having used the bag for a bit, a good one.

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The Clyde St. Messenger is designed to handle a large 17″ laptop. It is a great bag for that. As someone who uses laptops of the 11″ and 13″ variety however, I found it to be overkill. If you DO use a larger laptop and like a messenger-style bag this is worth a look. You can’t beat the quality construction!

MSRP: $119.95

What I Like: Great build quality; Just enough storage and organizational areas; Love the way it looks; Based on the bag itself and my experience with Acme Made products this bag should serve you a long long time

What Needs Improvement: Laptop compartment does not provide a tremendous amount of protection

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About the Author

Dan Cohen
Having a father who was heavily involved in early laser and fiber-optical research, Dan grew up surrounded by technology and gadgets. Dan’s father brought home one of the very first video games when he was young and Dan remembers seeing a “pre-release” touchtone phone. (When he asked his father what the “#” and “*” buttons were his dad said, “Some day, far in the future, we’ll have some use for them.”) Technology seemed to be in Dan’s blood but at some point he took a different path and ended up in the clergy. His passion for technology and gadgets never left him. Dan is married to Raina Goldberg who is also an avid user of Apple products. They live in New Jersey with their golden doodle Nava.

2 Comments on "Laptop Bag Review: the Acme Made Clyde St. Messenger"

  1. That’s a nice looking bag.  From the initial photos, I couldn’t even tell it was a type of ballistic nylon, and that’s a really slick looking bag handle.

  2. I usually stuff my laptop into a padded sleeve before putting it into a bigger bag anyway. The abundant pockets make that a nice bag.

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