lawnmower16
Lazy College Student Loadout MK II
I am a college student studying Japanese. I commute via bus and train approximately 90 minutes both ways every school day. I spend all my free time watching anime, playing video games, and translating stuff. ...And apparently disassembling my bag and taking pictures of it.
I use a custom-made small Laptop Messenger by Timbuk2. It provides a nice compact and stylish solution for carrying everything I need, and has plenty of pockets and organizers to keep things tidy and easy to find. I have used a medium Timbuk2 bag in the past and it was huge. I don't recommend anything bigger than a small, if your laptop fits.
I used to carry around a Grid-It, which, don't get me wrong, Grid-It is a great organization tool, but it adds a lot of weight and bulk. Short cords and cutting out unnecessary items allowed me to ditch it entirely. Now I use it for organizing cords in my house.
Here's what I carry around:
1. A very rudimentary first aid / comfort kit with bandages, Q-tips, ibuprofen, and cough drops.
2. A bag with larger bags for extra protection from rain if needed, smashed flat and airtight for size.
3. Some extra cash for if I forget my wallet and need bus fare etc.
4. Snacks and gum for long days at school, hours away from home.
5. I always keep a Japanese book around, for when the reading mood strikes.
6. Macbook Pro w/Retina. Very compact, durable and powerful. Runs on battery for hours on end, no problem. This is where I keep almost all of my schoolwork, as well as some translation projects during downtime.
7. Nalgene water bottle, 20oz OTF cap. It's a little taller than I would like for my semi-new bag, but it's perfect in every way besides that.
8. Physical folder with yucky tree-paper. You know, for behind-the-times instructors. I keep a few sheets of lined paper in the three-hole brads just in case.
9. Microfiber cloth for cleaning screens and occasionally the blade of my knife.
10. Dry-erase marker (an easy way to score points with a teacher who forgot theirs) a couple pens (for those awful times I must use paper) and a pencil (nearly exclusively for marking problem words in Japanese book)
11. Eraser... In case I need to erase something? I guess I could probably leave this behind, but it's small, so whatever.
12. Leatherman Micra. Mostly used for its scissors. I'm sure nobody will disupte the usefulness of having a multitool around.
13. USB wall charger. I'm working on finding a smaller one, or one of equivalent size with 2 ports. Right now it feels like it uses more space than it's worth. To the left of it are my tiny cords. No tangles, no added bulk. Just what I need. I had to make the 3DS one myself with heat shrink tube.
14. Small backup charger. I rarely need to recharge something over the course of the day. I keep my phone optimized and don't use it very much. This charger has saved me a couple times though.
15. Micro SD adapter, which I haven't needed once since I switched from Android to iPhone, but it takes up so little space, I don't mind keeping it around.
16. Backup earphones, because God forbid I socialize.
17. 3DS, and a Japanese one at that! I can practice while I play.
All of this stuff fits into my bag, with plenty of room to spare for textbooks, gym clothes, or whatever else I need. The bag has compression straps, which keep it small when I need it small, and can even be used to carry a rolled up jacket underneath when the weather suddenly gets warm.
My pockets:
a. Earphones. I go for 40-50 dollar headphones, to balance desposability with sound quality.
b. Keys. My house is a couple miles from the train station, so I drive there. Keychain has a bottle opener and my main flash drive.
c. Spyderco Endura4 pocket knife. I used to think carrying around a knife is a stupid, macho thing to do, and I could definitely live without it, but it's an amazing tool, and I relish every chance I get to use it.
d. A pen, because sometimes you've gotta write stuff, and, much like the knife, it's really nice to just have one on you at all times.
e. iPhone. I used to be an Android advocate, but all my past Android phones just seem like garbage after carrying around an iPhone for a while.
f. Mighty Wallet, a very compact wallet, with no more or less compartments than I need.
Lazy College Student Loadout MK II
I am a college student studying Japanese. I commute via bus and train approximately 90 minutes both ways every school day. I spend all my free time watching anime, playing video games, and translating stuff. ...And apparently disassembling my bag and taking pictures of it.
I use a custom-made small Laptop Messenger by Timbuk2. It provides a nice compact and stylish solution for carrying everything I need, and has plenty of pockets and organizers to keep things tidy and easy to find. I have used a medium Timbuk2 bag in the past and it was huge. I don't recommend anything bigger than a small, if your laptop fits.
I used to carry around a Grid-It, which, don't get me wrong, Grid-It is a great organization tool, but it adds a lot of weight and bulk. Short cords and cutting out unnecessary items allowed me to ditch it entirely. Now I use it for organizing cords in my house.
Here's what I carry around:
1. A very rudimentary first aid / comfort kit with bandages, Q-tips, ibuprofen, and cough drops.
2. A bag with larger bags for extra protection from rain if needed, smashed flat and airtight for size.
3. Some extra cash for if I forget my wallet and need bus fare etc.
4. Snacks and gum for long days at school, hours away from home.
5. I always keep a Japanese book around, for when the reading mood strikes.
6. Macbook Pro w/Retina. Very compact, durable and powerful. Runs on battery for hours on end, no problem. This is where I keep almost all of my schoolwork, as well as some translation projects during downtime.
7. Nalgene water bottle, 20oz OTF cap. It's a little taller than I would like for my semi-new bag, but it's perfect in every way besides that.
8. Physical folder with yucky tree-paper. You know, for behind-the-times instructors. I keep a few sheets of lined paper in the three-hole brads just in case.
9. Microfiber cloth for cleaning screens and occasionally the blade of my knife.
10. Dry-erase marker (an easy way to score points with a teacher who forgot theirs) a couple pens (for those awful times I must use paper) and a pencil (nearly exclusively for marking problem words in Japanese book)
11. Eraser... In case I need to erase something? I guess I could probably leave this behind, but it's small, so whatever.
12. Leatherman Micra. Mostly used for its scissors. I'm sure nobody will disupte the usefulness of having a multitool around.
13. USB wall charger. I'm working on finding a smaller one, or one of equivalent size with 2 ports. Right now it feels like it uses more space than it's worth. To the left of it are my tiny cords. No tangles, no added bulk. Just what I need. I had to make the 3DS one myself with heat shrink tube.
14. Small backup charger. I rarely need to recharge something over the course of the day. I keep my phone optimized and don't use it very much. This charger has saved me a couple times though.
15. Micro SD adapter, which I haven't needed once since I switched from Android to iPhone, but it takes up so little space, I don't mind keeping it around.
16. Backup earphones, because God forbid I socialize.
17. 3DS, and a Japanese one at that! I can practice while I play.
All of this stuff fits into my bag, with plenty of room to spare for textbooks, gym clothes, or whatever else I need. The bag has compression straps, which keep it small when I need it small, and can even be used to carry a rolled up jacket underneath when the weather suddenly gets warm.
My pockets:
a. Earphones. I go for 40-50 dollar headphones, to balance desposability with sound quality.
b. Keys. My house is a couple miles from the train station, so I drive there. Keychain has a bottle opener and my main flash drive.
c. Spyderco Endura4 pocket knife. I used to think carrying around a knife is a stupid, macho thing to do, and I could definitely live without it, but it's an amazing tool, and I relish every chance I get to use it.
d. A pen, because sometimes you've gotta write stuff, and, much like the knife, it's really nice to just have one on you at all times.
e. iPhone. I used to be an Android advocate, but all my past Android phones just seem like garbage after carrying around an iPhone for a while.
f. Mighty Wallet, a very compact wallet, with no more or less compartments than I need.