The Mamba Sling by Booq Bags (Guest Review)

This is my first guest review on FunChiCo Laptop Bag News!  I'm very excited - hopefully it will bring readers a fresh perspective!  It's from my good friend, Daniel, who really puts his laptop bag to the test.  I hope you enjoy it.  If you'd like to write a guest review, get in touch with me!

Several months ago I gave up my BumPakPak. The stitching had given away in several places and I found that, while it was a good idea in theory, in practice I rarely used the backpack straps. When I saw an ad for the Booq Bag in an issue of MacWorld, I was instantly smitten. (Smitten by a print ad in this day and age!)

After negotiating my way past the fact the URL provided in the ad, booq.com, did not take me to the Booq site (Yo! Booq! Get it together!), and discovering booqbags.com did, I was on my way. After much deliberation, I settled on the Mamba Sling). I paid the $125 US, plus shipping (and grievous duty courtesy Canada Customs & Excise) and had my shiny new bag in a week.  I got it in basic black, but there is a choice of black, red, tan and navy.

Several design elements on the outside of the bag make it a delight to look at and carry. The streamlined shape of the outer surfaces mean there are few flaps, clasps, or other gee-gacks to catch on things when you’re moving about. The strap is well padded and sports an effective anti-slip fabric on the inside. Thus far, the material on the bag’s exterior has proven to be quite durable and adequately water resistant. (While I miss the obvious presence of extreme water proofing in my old BumBakPak, I know the chance that my bag and I are going to end up in a waist-deep flood plane is remote.)

On the down side, the cover of the main pouch can be difficult to zip-up because of the way it curves over the top of the bag. It’s a procedure you definitely don’t want to try with one hand or when wearing the bag.

Meant to be a laptop bag first and supplementary material carrier second, the Mamba Sling has very good padding around the laptop pocket and adequate room left over for everything else. If you’re planning to use the bag as a mobile office, however, you’ll find yourself a bit squeezed for space. There’s certainly enough room for folders, laptop accessories, and even a couple of books, but there’s a limit. (Besides, weighing any bag down and then carrying it with a single strap is a recipe for a back ache.) I haven’t run into a problem yet, but I have had to plan ahead a couple of times and think about what I really need to take with me. (That’s probably a good thing anyway.)

Dividers inside the main compartment effectively compartmentalise the bag. The several pouches and mesh nets attached to those dividers, however, were often positioned so low they caught things I was putting in the bag because I couldn’t see them.

The pouches on the side of the bag are excellent places to keep pens, clips, PDAs, and whatever else you carry so the main compartment remains clutter free. Easy to access and consisting of useful sub-sections, the side pouches act like the bag’s utility knife.

Mamba Sling also comes with Booq’s Terralinq service  that enables you to register your bag’s unique bar code (etched onto a metal plate riveted to the inside of the bag) so, if you loose the bag, anyone can contact Booq and Booq will reconnect you with your bag. It’s a lovely gesture that makes me feel all warm and fuzzy, but the metal plate with the return information is not someplace people can easily find. Given that fact alone, I don’t believe Terralinq would be particularly effective if I lost my bag.

In the end, this is a solid bag I highly recommend, with some caveats. It’s robust, efficient, and stylish, though a bit bulky at times. For what you pay, though, Booq’s Mamba Sling is an excellent value.