STM Medium Alley Bag Review

I finally decided to register since I used this site a lot. Don't know if reviewing bags is common, but I thought it would be good since we're laptop users, and most need to carry their computer around with them.

I bought an STM Medium Alley bag from radtech

http://www.radtech.us/Products/ShoulderBags.aspx#Alley

It came pretty fast since it had to ship from Missouri to Hawaii (ordered on Thursday night, came Tuesday.)

When picking a bag, I had a few needs/wants:

1. Messenger style bag.
2. Vertical orientation.
3. Compartments for papers and small things.
4. At least one quick access pocket which is big enough for papers.
5. Doesn't look like a laptop bag.

The Alley meets all those needs.

Most of these pictures are to show size. They're also not of that great quality. Scroll to the bottom if you just want a review. I also don't really know how to write very eloquently, so bear with me.

Under the flap, there's a laptop compartment, a separate compartment the same size, a zippered compartment about two thirds the size, and an open pocket a quarter the size of the zippered one.

There's also a detachable key holder inside the zippered pocket.

The flap covers both the laptop compartment, and the other compartment that's the same size.

There's a rubber handle to hold in case you don't want to sling it over your shoulder.

The back has a zippered compartment.

The clasps to hold the shoulder strap.

Included shoulder pad has a small design on it.

I took off the cellphone holder before taking the pictures, it goes on the strap.

This is a letter sized manila folder in the back pocket. It doesn't show the height because it's not touching the bottom of the pocket, it's just to show how wide it is and that it can fit one.

In the non padded pocket on the front. Again, not touching the bottom, just showing width.

Gateway M250 in the laptop compartment (14" widescreen), and on the bag to show size.

This is the bag full with papers and books.

What was inside.

Thicknesses of things inside.

Quality
The quality of the bag isn't anything to write home about, but it's also nothing bad. It's good, but not great. Supposedly the material is "self healing" which means you can put a pin through it and you can just rub out the hole if you take the pin out. I haven't tried this, but just in case it would affect your opinion. The outside material is textured, but not rough.

The only part of the whole bag that I might worry about the quality would be the inside of the outer flap. The velcro is attached to the material on the inside, and the material is pretty thin, so my worry is that if you don't hold close to the velcro, it might tear the material.

Inside the laptop compartment, the pad itself is pretty thick. It's on every side, even on the small flap to pad the top. The laptop compartment is too big if you have a similarly sized laptop as I do, but if you have a sleeve, it should be a snug fit. I don't think it's necessary to have an extra sleeve since there is padding in the bag. The material on the inside is some kind of smooth material. Shouldn't scratch anything.

All the zippers are of good quality. Also, the velcro is sewed on pretty securely. There's an "x" sewed on the velcro so it probably isn't coming off.

Convenience
I don't really like how the small flap covers the unpadded compartment, and I would want quick access to it, but others might like it since it covers everything up. I don't regularly turn my bag upside-down, but I guess this is for the others that would. I just tuck the inside flap into the pocket, which would make the top unpadded, but that's not a concern for me.

Something I didn't mention by the pictures, but you can see, is the pocket on the outer flap. It's zippered.

I like having 2 compartments where I can put papers, but the outside pocket is zippered, and that sort of makes the useful size of the pocket smaller for me, meaning if it didn't have a zipper, I wouldn't have to worry about the zipper damaging papers.

The bag doesn't have any pen or card holders if that's an issue for you.

The shoulder pad has slightly grippy material on the bottom of it, and the pad slides on the strap so you can slide the bag around while the pad stays on your shirt.

One of the trends I was seeing of other high quality bags is that they have a bright liner on the inside to help seeing things inside. This bag doesn't, and I wanted it, but it wasn't a deal breaker for me.

Size
I think it's a good size. It can hold a lot of papers. If you look at the pictures, when I put the stuff in the bag, I just put whatever I had close to me. It could fit a few more small things in it, but thats about it. I also used the sleeve I have for my laptop in the pictures. If you don't use a sleeve, you would be able to fit more. I also had an extra battery in the bag, I just forgot to include it in the pics.

Overall
Pretty decent bag. Good quality, decent size, nice aesthetics. I'd give it 8/10. Little things such as no pen holders, liner on the inside isn't bright, and the velcro on the inside of the outer flap drops the score. I carried it around for a while when it was packed full, and I probably wouldn't want to carry it for too long. It was comfortable, but it can hold a lot of weight, so any kind of strap won't help it. If you don't pack too much, it should be fine for longer walks/wears.

Things that may drop it's appeal to you (personal preferences):

No clasp, the flap is closed by velcro.
The inner flap covers both big pockets on the inside.
Zippered outside pocket.
Plastic strap clips.

That's all I can think of right now. Questions, let me know. I apologize for the long winded post, but I wanted to be thorough, although I'm sure I missed something.

centralharbor Newbie

centralharbor Newbie