Sunday, January 13, 2013

Crumpler Western Lawn Review



Ahh... Crumpler bags. How much do I love thee? Let me count the ways. This Australian-based brand has been one of my personal favorites since I bought my first one. They’re tough, tear-proof, secure, weather-resistant, and look cool as heck.


What started as a messenger bag company evolved into a well-renowned go-to brand for professional photographers to weekend campers, and for good reason – they deliver high quality bags that really break the mold without breaking your stuff.


The Outside
We see a good example of this in The Western Lawn, one of the mid-sized messenger bags by Crumpler. At first glance the all-black bag really looks like every other black bag out there, with the exception of a gray outer flap lining covered in multi-colored logos just peeking through to get noticed.


The thick webbed straps look sturdy enough to carry around an elephant without breaking and wide enough to get a secure fit around your body. The dual Velcro straps holding it in place provide a firm grip and let you know your things are secure inside. Even being all black, you can’t help but admire the casual beauty of its simplistic yet out of the box design.


The Inside
If the all black exterior sends the message that your bag is serious and will fall in line with you to the library, the colorful interior says that the library you are going to is a flash-mob party waiting to happen, turning the volume up beyond the limit. Seriously, the black exterior is highly deceiving in making other people think this bag is plain and boring. The interior is littered with reds, greens and blues against a funky glitter-ball style gray pattern.

Apart from the shocking style you’ll find inside, you’ll also see that this bag is very spacious. Measuring at 39.5 cm x 25 cm x 15.5 cm (width, height, depth respectively) with a volume of 11 liters, this bag can hold a good majority of your daily cargo. I was able to fit in the following: 1 15.4” laptop, charger / adaptor, two notebooks, three pens, one ID with lanyard, an external hard drive, a water drinking bottle and a pair of headphones with case – that’s more than what people normally bring to work or school, and in such a small space.


The downside here though is that you have to get creative with how you pack your things. Being that it is an open messenger bag without any dividers, there will be a strong tendency that your stuff will be moving around inside, and you’ll need to have good special reasoning ability to manage packing all your stuff without having them bounce around.


The Final Verdict
This Crumpler Western Lawn bag is the perfect merger between form and function. Not only does it look good enough to get compliments from strangers, it also has enough space to carry all your daily needs around without having to worry about getting your stuff wet or having other people steal them.

With it's price, you definitely get more than what you pay for in a bag that’s designed to outlive its service guarantee. My bags have lasted longer than 5 years without needing more than a spot clean here and there – I don’t see why this won’t last even longer when you get your own.

Suggested Retail Price of Crumpler Western Lawn: Php3,250.00

Available at the following stores:
  • Crumpler Bonifacio Highstreet
  • Crumpler Trinoma
  • Crumpler Megamall
  • Crumpler Robinsons Ermita


Editor's Note: This article was written by Arbi Bautista, a special writer and contributor of Glich's Life. Arbi is an IT Consultant in one of the biggest global IT companies. He is a music and photography enthusiast, and a great public speaker too. Revisions to this article were done by yours truly prior to posting. You can follow Arbi on Twitter (@sowhatifimmaria). - Glenn / Glich

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