Crumpler Chester Squander Review

by Sarah Meyer

The first time I visited Crumpler's website I was bewildered, to the say the least. They have creepy monkeys dancing across the front page and a weird red button that says "nerds" and when you push it brown splattered paint fills the page. To clear it, you pull a chain in the top right hand corner of the browser window and a sound similar to a toilet flushing plays while the page cleans itself.

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But once you get past all of this craziness, it's easy to see that Crumpler makes unique, durable notebook and camera bags. I'm reviewing the Chester Squander, one of the strangely named but good looking notebook bags Crumpler manufactures. Will it be as useful as it is unusual?

The Chester Squander Specifications

• Dimensions: 15.6" x 11.8" x 4.3"
• Notebook compartment: approx. 14" x 10.5" x 3"
• Weight: approx. 1 lb. 12 oz.
• Water resistant 600D polyester exterior
• 150D Ripstop lining
• Brushed polyester lined main compartment
• Adjustable notebook compartment for snug fit
• Storable handles, adjustable/removable shoulder strap
• Limited Lifetime warranty

Design and Aesthetics

The Chester Squander sort of resembles a cloth briefcase. It is made of durable water resistant 600D polyester and comes in four colors.

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My Chester Squander is green olive with lighter green accents. On the front of the bag there is a small design that resembles a person, the Crumpler logo. It's stitched in the color of the inside lining. In my case, it's stitched in bright orange. The black zipper pulls also have the Crumpler man logo.

On both sides of the bag are large outside pockets that Velcro shut. In the front Velcro pocket, there is a zipper that opens into two smaller pockets, each large enough to hold a billfold, sunglasses, digital camera, etc. Sort of confusing, and maybe a tad bit overkill but that's how it is set up.

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Both of the handles at the top of the bag are easily storable into their own medium sized pockets. Store your boarding passes or other items you want easily accessible in these pockets or just simply store the handles, it's up to you.

Past the handles, the notebook and the full briefcase organizer compartments can be found. Both zip shut and are lined in bright orange brushed polyester, which is just a softer polyester material.

The notebook compartment fits a 15" laptop but also comes with two extra 14.5" long strips that are about a ½ thick to create a snug fit for smaller notebooks. They Velcro into place and also have two elastic loops attached but I have no idea what purpose the loops serve.

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Besides the two strips, the entire compartment is surrounded in a similar ½ thick padding.

The briefcase organizer compartment zips almost the entire length of the pocket for easy access. Inside, there is one large expandable filing pocket for papers, spiral bound notebooks, etc. Also, there are five pen holders, three open pockets, one medium sized Velcro pocket and one large zippered pocket.

The three open pockets are about the perfect size for business cards or maybe post it notes. The medium sized pocket could be good for keeping cash, MP3 player, IDs or even a wireless mouse.

The large zippered pocket is similar to the outside front pocket. When you unzip the pocket, it actually separates into three smaller pockets. The largest of the three is similar to the medium sized Velcro pocket. The other two could be useful for chapstick, memory cards, extra batteries, etc.

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The black shoulder strap is adjustable but only partially removable I came to find out. I could undo the strap on one side and slide it out of the loop but the other side was impossible to remove without damaging the shoulder strap. And while you can store it on the side of the bag, it's still attached and in view.

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Using the bag

After testing a heavy, bulky backpack last week, I enjoyed caring around this lightweight, compact bag. There is plenty of room to store extra accessories as well as a notebook.

I like that you can stow the handles when you are using the shoulder strap. The shoulder strap has no padding to ease the material from digging into your shoulder when carrying a heavier load but is fine normally.

The notebook compartment padding is standard, definitely enough to protect the notebook from the usual beating a bag can take. The brushed polyester lining protects the notebook from scratching or dings.

Conclusion

The Chester Squander is a good looking, lightweight bag that can be carried as a briefcase or messenger.

My biggest concern for this bag would be price, because at $95, it seems a bit expensive.

Pros

• Several color choices
• Lightweight, compact
• Briefcase organizer
• Limited Lifetime warranty

Cons

• Expensive
• Shoulder strap lacking in padding

Pricing and Availability

The Crumpler Chester Squander can be purchased via the Crumpler website or an authorized reseller. The Chester Squander is $95.00.

 

Nice review. The bag looks stylish enough, I suppose. My big problem is that I tend to carry too much technoclutter around, and I still want the bag to be comfortable. $95 is too much for something that's probably going to cut into my shoulder whenever I carry it. :\

 

They are too cute to be hip in their naming conventions (or lack of). The website navigation is some of the worst. I refuse to buy any of their products from this trendy, overrated, "way cool" company.

 

Nice review on a company that is known to have over-priced items and terribly customer support and service. I agree with wtloyd that they think that they, and not their products, are too cool for you. I would take my hard earned money elsewhere.

 

I guess I'm not "trendy" enough, because I wouldn't be caught dead using one of their horrible-looking bags, let alone paying nearly $100 for one. Although the people I've seen with these bags are far from trendy.

 

Wow. A lot of hate for the folks at Crumpler on the forum today.

I've found some of their laptop bags to be pretty nice and most of their camera bags are quite good. However, none of their bags are "perfect." Still, I don't know of any bag manufacturer that makes "perfect" bags.

I guess there's only so much perfection you can expect from a company that was started by bicycle messengers and regularly has "beer for bags" promotions where you can bring beer to one of their stores and trade it in for a bag.

Anyway, "some" of their bags are worth MORE than every penny they charge. This one ... probably (almost certainly) not.

 

I'm kind of on the same page as the other reviewers. The Crumpler Web site is difficult to use - way to flashy and gimmicky. The bag itself is moderately cool, but $95? Not out of my pocket! I bought a Kensington Messenger bag at Circuit City for $30 a few days ago. Fortunately, they also carried some Crumpler bags, so I was able to compare the two. The Kensington bag was built better, built sturdier, and almost $70 cheaper. My guess is that Crumpler's cost of goods is 10% of their selling price. The other 90% goes to establishing their coolness factor which isn't cool if you can't afford the bag. Next!

 

Maybe the elastic straps are for keeping the two strips together when not in use.

 

Greetings from Big Bad Benny at Crumpler HQ, Melbourne Aus,
I'd just like to dodge them (comments) bullets and clear up a couple of points made in this (otherwise absolutely excellent) review...
Firstly, the shoulder strap is completely removable, and this may be done without damaging the strap, although care must be taken threading the Velcro part through the ladder lock, and patience is a must. At least it's secure!
Secondly, the elastic mentioned on the strips is there to enable users to double the strips over to accommodate even smaller portable computers.
Cheers, BBB)))

 

Your Circuit City carries Crumpler bags? I've been dying to check one out but no one in SoCal seems to carry them.

 

Thanks for reassuringly proving our points Hillary!

And the seemingly lack of follow through speaks for itself:

http://forum.notebookreview.com/showthread.php?p=2362944#post2362944