Powerbags

Imagine you just got a shiny new computer. It's portable and wants to be carried around. Most likely you'll want to protect it. From scratches and from thieves. In style.

I first had that particular ‘problem’ when I got my Powerbook in 2001. Back then I wanted to get one of those neoprene sleeves to carry it around in. Unfortunately those were out of stock at the time and I was in a hurry. So I asked my mom to make a similar sleeve for me. Similar, but nicer and with custom details of course.

And that's how my mum started making ‘Powerbags’. By now I've got a number of them. For my old Powerbook G4, for the iBook I had in between and also for the MacBook I currently use. There are even bags for my iPod, and the graphics tablet. Each of them comes in a different design, using different fabrics and other details to make the bag more useful.

These were the more recent computer bags my mum made. I found that we are far from being the only people going for custom-made bags and there is a photo group on flickr showing many more designs people came up with. Be sure to join and add yours if you have one! And finally here come the original Powerbags all this started with. They have a number of common 'features':

Tailor made to snugly fit the Powerbook
Not too thick to easily fit in a backpack or messenger bag
Slightly padded
Providing scratch protection
Providing ‘Security by Obscurity’ – it doesn't look like a computer
Good looks – made to my specifications even
For the Powerbags: an A4 paper pocket at the inside of the flap

Each of the bags also has some special details to itself, which I'll describe separately on each bag's page. So here they come:

There are also certain things these bags don't do: They don't offer a lot of shock protection. They're for people like myself who carry another bag with them anyway and want their computer in there rather than all their other stuff in an ugly computer bag. The bags also don't offer space for the power adaptor or other paraphanelia (although I do have separate bags for my graphics tablet and my CD burner). Those have to go into the rucksack or so.

So you want one now. Well, we'll see what we can do. Make an offer and I'll try to convince my mom to do it. Keep in mind that we're using nice fabrics which aren't cheap and that it's all hand-made. Of course some effort could be saved by omitting some details like a fancy inner lining or the paper pocket in the sleeve. The bags also have proper ‘sides’ which are separate pieces of fabric sewn between the front and back. This is a lot of effort but gives the bag a much better shape.