ECBC may not be a household name yet when it comes to professional gear bags, but they should be. Everything I’ve seen from them has been top notch with build quality and materials that rival more well known brands. Not only that, they have a lineup now that will cater to almost any user, everything from backpacks, messenger bags, and even rolling bags. They don’t sit still either. Each year, they improve their designs somehow with each of their lines. With that said, for this review I’ll be looking at their new K7202 Poseidon Messenger bag that can accommodate 11-13″ laptops. What makes the K7 line special however is that it uses Kodra Nylon, which is a highly durable and lightweight fabric that is extremely resistant to abrasion.
The K7202 Poseidon other notable features include durable YKK RC zippers, waterproof exterior coating, multiple interior pockets for storing gear and personal items, and a Luggage Trolley Pass-through featured on the back panel. All this and the K7202 Poseidon still remains very light weight.
Design and Build
The ECBC Poseidon Messenger Bag is built with the same quality and high standards as their other bags. That means that I was expecting something exceptional when I got the bag and that’s exactly what I got.
When first seeing the Poseidon Messenger Bag, it is pretty underwhelming. It just looks like a very clean, professional looking bag that doesn’t seem to have a lot of pockets at all. That is until you give it a closer inspection. It has a lot of little details that you don’t notice upon first glance. For instance, the front pocket on the flap has a zipper that doesn’t look like your average zipper. They are YKK water resistant zippers that are some of the best you can buy. If you look at the way they did it on the Poseidon, you can’t even see the zipper teeth. It’s hidden away for a very nice, clean look. Same goes for the bottle holder on the side of the bag. It’s tucked away behind a zipper and you wouldn’t even notice it if they didn’t point out that there was one. The rest of the exterior consists of a luggage handle pass through that allows you to attach the Poseidon to the handle of a rolling luggage. Handy if you want to take the load off your shoulders.
Did I also mention that the bag has a seriously comfortable padded handle as well as an equally comfortable shoulder strap.
Now, the flap on the Poseidon can be secured two ways. There are 2 very strong Velcro strips that keep the flap shut. You can also use the two buckles if you want to keep he flap even more securely fastened. When you do open up the flap, you’ll be greeted with a good selection of pockets and storage options. Right on the front there are 4 slots to hold your pens or stylus as well as a larger pocket for whatever you want to put in there. Behind that you’ll find 2 much larger pockets that are kept closed with Velcro. Again, you can fit anything in these as long as they are pretty flat like a notepad or folder. Next up is a giant zippered pocket that has a lot of space in it. You can fit stuff like your charging cables, headphones, a small point and shoot camera, or whatever else you can think of that isn’t too thick.
Let’s take a look now at the main compartment of the Poseidon. It is quite large and has a separate padded laptop/tablet compartment with Velcro closure strap. It’s large enough to pit up to a 13-inch laptop which means it will fit any size tablet comfortably. It includes a removable foam spacer which allows you to size this compartment for different sized devices. What I really like though is that the interior is fleece lined to keep it from scratching up your devices.
That’s not all, the main compartment has even more pockets with another large pocket that is kept shut with Velcro and 2 smaller elastic pockets that also use Velcro for closure. When it comes to available pockets, the Poseidon surely isn’t lacking.
External Features
- Zippered Ticket Pocket
- Zip-Away Side Bottle Pocket
- Nylon Tube Webbing + Foam Top Carry Handle
- Adjustable Shoulder Straps
- Air mesh Padded Back Panel
- Luggage Trolley Pass-through featured on the back panel
Internal Features
- Organizer Panel with Key Fob
- Fleece lined iPad Pocket
- Mesh Pockets for Chargers, hard drive and cables
- Removable modular Foam Blocks to Accommodate 13? and 11? Laptop Sizes
Usage
Here’s what I like about the ECBD Poseidon Messenger Bag, it’s very slim. I don’t like bulky messenger bags or bags that look like small duffel bags. The Poseidon is slim and light and has a ton of pockets to keep all my stuff organized. I usually only carry a, iPad with me and the necessary accessories that come with it and this bag holds all that. However, it’s not without its limitations.
For starters, because it’s so slim, there are a few items I can’t carry around with me in this bag that I could normally carry in a backpack. I can’t carry larger cameras like my NEX-5N and can only fit smaller point-and-shoot cameras. I also can’t really fit a jacket into it as it gets a bit tight if I do. This bag does force me to carry around only the essentials which ends up being a good thing as there are many times with a backpack where I end up carrying a bunch of stuff that I don’t really need.
This thing is great for carrying around my iPad and accessories and ends up being something small and light that I carry with me to the office now that looks a bit more professional than a backpack. The one thing I do wish it had however was a way to somehow silence the Velcro strips on the front flap because having to open this often, the loud noise it makes can be quite annoying and disturbing to others.
Final Thoughts
Overall, I’m very happy with the ECBC Poseidon Messenger Bag. It’s slim and light and carries most of what I need for work. It can get a bit cramped however if I have to hold more then my daily essentials, but that’s not very often. I love how comfortable it is to carry thanks to the padded shoulder strap and I usually hate carrying messenger bags because they make my shoulder hurt. This one doesn’t.
With that said, the ECBC Poseidon Messenger Bag is now part of my regular rotation of bags along with the ECBC Javelin Backpack I had been using. Both have been excellent during my trials and the quality of both have really blown me away. If you’re looking for a backpack or messenger bag, I suggest checking out some of the other bags ECBC has as the ones I’ve looked at are just a small sampling of what they have.
The ECBC Poseidon Messenger Bag can be purchased in 3 different colors – black, blue, and green and retails for $99.99.
