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Executive BriefingWhich work bag works best?

By Seth StevensonPosted Tuesday, Dec. 5, 2006, at 12:28 PM ET

More and more, the American worker brings work home. In our never-ending quest for greater productivity, we find ourselves getting a head start tonight on tomorrow morning's meeting. Reading up on next week's presentation over the weekend. Toting a company laptop between office and home office.

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All this to and fro necessitates a sturdy, functional, roomy (and, ideally, stylish) work bag. The ideal bag will fulfill three roles: 1) You can wear it to work every day, transporting all those books and papers; 2) It must be designed to hold and protect a laptop computer; 3) It works as an airplane carry-on for business trips, keeping your work easily accessible on the plane and your boarding pass and passport easily accessible in the security line. Which bag best fits the bill? I tried seven different models in search of a winner.

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Given my criteria, I limited my search to briefcases with shoulder straps. A backpack doesn't work with a suit (and makes you look like the summer intern), and while some might prefer the classic simplicity of an attaché, in my view the substantial weight we lug around these days (the laptop, a few thick documents, a bottle of water for the plane) makes a shoulder strap imperative. As for materials: I tried a range, including expensive leather, less expensive leather, fake leather, ballistic nylon, and plain old nylon.

For consistency, I placed the same 10-pound hand weight in each bag before shouldering it to gauge how the bag carried the load. I also swung each bag around violently by its strap, with the weight still inside, to see if the straps might fray or rip free. (None did. Which I'm glad of, as otherwise a 10-pounds-plus missile would have gone airborne in my apartment.) I also used the bags in various situations, bringing them back and forth to Slate's office, experimenting with how much stuff each could plausibly fit, and taking one on an international flight. Finally, I submitted the bags to the judgment of trusted friends and family. My test crew included both men and women, in a mix of professions: an attorney, an academic, a musician, and a social services do-gooder.

Below, my findings, from worst to first:

Kenneth Cole Flapover Computer Briefcase, $250
Dimensions: 11.5" x 15" x 4.25"
Some immediate problems here. First off, this bag has a lockable latch. This sort of Lilliputian lock has no purpose, as it's flimsy enough for a thief to easily overcome. And that's assuming you can lock it in the first place: Despite countless tries, I never managed to get the key to engage the tumblers (which is probably lucky, as, once locked, I'm quite certain the bag would have resisted all attempts to open it again). Even when unlocked, this latch is a bit fussy—not something you want to deal with if you're constantly packing and unpacking items.

Looks-wise, the bag is handsome enough with its expanses of cowhide leather. (Though it's perhaps a bit butch for most women's tastes.) Unfortunately, I was not impressed by the construction quality. The seams and rivets appear likely to give out after a year or two of hard use. And while it features a nice padded interior compartment for a laptop, this bag could use a few more easy-to-get-at exterior pockets—the kind suited for tucking away a magazine you buy at the airport kiosk or for keeping your boarding pass handy at the gate.

Ogio Boss SS, $199
Dimensions: 13" x 18" x 7"
While the Kenneth Cole bag was lacking in storage compartments, the Ogio has way too many. Oodles of flaps and zippers everywhere you look. And not one but two geeky mesh water-bottle holders appended to its sides. Ample storage options would seem like a plus, but there's no elegance to the design here. It feels haphazard. And the bag is far too heavy. The Ogio strives to exude techie functionality (with its countless device-specific pockets for cell phones, PDAs, and so forth), but instead it looks nerdy and silly. It will appeal solely to the lamest of Silicon Valley lame-os.

It should be noted that Ogio's calling card is the "Shling System" (originally designed for its golf bags). This is a neck-circling, horseshoe-shaped harness that spreads weight evenly onto both shoulders, replacing the traditional strap (though Ogio provides a traditional strap, too, if you want to forego the Shling).

The Shling is meant to be ergonomic. And it does distribute weight comfortably. But it also looks like a scoliosis brace. No sexually active person will want to be seen in it. One tester was frightened just to be in the same room with the thing. She refused to try it out on the grounds that it "makes me feel like I'm Deenie."