Last week, Ben Brooks wrote an article on how he chose the right bag for a short trip. That same day I also shared my own views on the matter, along with a simple set of rules to cover most situations. Now it’s Mike Bates’s turn to share his approach and while I focused more on traveling, he goes at it from an everyday carry perspective:

For a long time I had just one bag that I used for several years, cramming whatever gear the occasion required into, but since then I’ve made a handful of bag purchases (both good and bad) which lead me to where I am today. I’m not completely happy with my current setup, but it certainly works. Albeit with regular bag-changes and lots of moving gear in-between different packs.

What I like most about Mike’s system is that it is solid, functional and it scales very neatly from a super-minimal MacBook sleeve to a versatile 25-liter backpack.

Because he lacks an iPad-optimized bag though, Mike plans to buy the ONA Prince Street in the future. The Prince Street is an amazing bag — I’ve also been considering it for some time — and I’m sure he’s going to love it. However, I have a feeling it will render his current ONA Bowery redundant.

Of course, as far as problems go, that’s definitely a nice one to have.