Bests & Worsts Reviews from Amazon

Long time Timbuk2 owner - this will be an in-depth review of the (Medium Twill) Timbuk2 Command 2015. I will make some comparisons between this bag and Command 2013 and the Classic Messenger 2014 models. The Command 2015 is largely a hybrid of these two models, but it comes with a few unique tricks of its own. UPDATE - after 4 months with the bag, I've added a few extra words here and there to update how my opinion of the bag has held up, as well as how the bag itself has held up (spoiler: both have held up quite well). Also, I added a couple of pictures, one including my true Every Day Carry. ###THE EXTERIOR### Overall look: This one is pretty easy to get the gist of from the pictures already on Amazon. It's very clean. Nothing particularly surprising about the look in person that you wouldn't get from the pictures. The shape: The bottom of the bag is not flat. This seems like an intentional design decision on the part of Timbuk2... and I'm not sure why. The bag does NOT sit up right when you set it down. It falls on its face. Check out the view from the side on Amazon's photos and notice how the bottom slopes up from the back of the bag to the front. This problem doesn't exhibit itself much if you keep the bag full... but I tend to run with a lot of empty space in there. This is the single biggest "detractor" for this bag. The strap: The strap is removable & reversible like the original Command messenger. However, unlike the original command, there is no "buckle" to undo. Instead you have the fairly handy Double-Loop CAM buckle that you'd find on the 2014 Classic. I was weary about this innovation on the 2014 Classic at first, but grew accustomed to it, and actually grew to prefer it after use. The strap distributes weight very well, but is an awkward length. It's generously long... to a fault. I'm extremely tall and I still find the strap too long. You can adjust it quite easily, but I've found I adjust it to be as short as it can possibly go, and it's still a little looser than I'd prefer. After a few months - I'm used to the strap. Not something I think about anymore. The handle: Okay, so if you don't want to use the strap you've got the handle. The handle is much more prominent on the 2015 Command than the other model. The 2013 Command's handle laid on the top of the bag when you weren't using it. The 2015 handle is permanently in that arched position. It's just much longer. Both of those handles are far and away better than the "grab handle" on the 2014 Classic, which was really never that useful (it was too far on the back of the bag, causing the bag to lean forward awkwardly when you used the handle). The handle is a high point on this bag (pun intended). The Hook Closure: Here's where the 2013 Command and the 2015 Command start to differ. The hooks on the 2013 Command are attached to the bottom part of the bag (I.E. not the flap). For the 2015 Command, the hooks are now attached to the top part (on the flap). The difference is more than cosmetic. The attachment point of the hooks on the 2013 Command enabled you to cinch the bag closed at the bottom - a very handy feature which was brought into the 2014 Classic. The 2015 Command has no such attachment point, so instead it offers several loops to use the hooks on at various points. The bottom loop works if the bag is completely empty. The top-most loop if the bag is very full. This system cinches the bag closed from the front, which is not quite as handy as from the bottom. Also, you now have 4 discrete levels of "cinch", whereas before you could use the length of the strap to set your desired level of tightness. It's a trade off for having a cleaner face. I'm not sure how I feel about it yet. CORRECTION: after a few months - I've decided I'm in favor of the new mechanism. The old one left dangly straps that were irritating and loud when set it on a table. Plus - I've never once looked at this bag and thought "agh, I wish I could cinch that shut". The main compartment just isn't big enough to warrant it. The hook closure this bag take some skill to operate. The loops on the face of the bag are quite tight. There's definitely no chance of them accidentally coming undone, and that's nice... but I had a slight learning curve for hooking and unhooking them. Pro tip: unhooking is made easier by "rotating" them off, instead of using lateral force. The velcro closure: Okay, if you don't want to use the hook closure there's another option. The velcro silencing strips are integrated into the bag itself now, which is a cool perk. For the 2013 Command you got velcro silencing strips, but you kind of had to decide if you wanted to use them or not and just leave it that way. The 2015 Command you can switch back and forth easily as you see fit. The velcro closing mechanism only really works if the bag is somewhat full, though. The attachment points on the flap and on the bag itself don't line up if the bag is empty. The flap will reach too far down for the velcro to make contact. The Napoleon Pocket(s): Here's a change I'm all for. All of my Timbuk2's have Napoleon pockets that you can access without undoing the flap and getting into the bag. While they do all have them, they are not all created equal. The 2014 Classic has a small Napoleon. I can barely BARELY fit my hand in there (my hands are large - can palm a men's basketball without trouble). The 2013 Command has a larger pocket. You can just barely fit an iPad Mini in there. The 2015 Command has one or two "Napoleon" pockets, depending upon your definition. The Napoleon that's equivalent to those found in the other two bags is much, much larger. You can just barely fit a full-sized iPad in there. I can get my entire hand in and out with absolutely no trouble. The second pocket you could consider "Napoleoney" exists in the flap itself. It's about the size of the 2014 Classic Napoleon, if not a hair smaller. It's got a nice liner and seems perfect for your phone/whatever. I keep my work ID in there when I'm not at the office. Under the Flap: Going from the 2013 Command to the 2014 Classic, they simplified the "under-the-flap" pocket layout from 3 horizontal zips and a single slip pocket to a single zip and a single slip pocket. I was a fan of this change because the 3 horizontal zips shared the same physical real estate, thus loading up one meant the other two were already full, even with nothing in them. Going from the 2014 Classic to the 2015 Command is another step towards simplification... maybe a step too far. There is now ONLY a single slip pocket. No horizontal zip. While I didn't like having the 3 zips, I DID enjoy having at least one. Having none there seems like a waste of space that could be used. It is "simpler", but a canvas piece of cloth is simpler than a whole bag - doesn't mean I want a piece of canvas instead. As an edit to my original edit I'm adding some additional words on this: I was originally more disappointed with this omission. I've come to use the main interior separator for the cases in which I used to use the front zip. I'll write more on that later. The "power cord" pocket: The 2013 Command had a really nice place for your power cords. It ran along the bottom of the bag and was accessed via a horizontal zipper that ran the length of the bag. It was kind of awkward to open & close given that the cinch straps got in your way, but that was a minor complaint. The new 2015 Command moved this from the bottom side of the bag to the left side of the bag (opposite the water bottle sleeve). This may even out the weight of the bag some (assuming you're carrying a water bottle), but it comes at a price. The pocket is quite small. If your laptop has a tiny power brick with awesome cable management, it shouldn't be a problem. The Macbook power brick with the cable wound shouldn't be a problem - but a more standard-size power brick with cables not tightly wound will NOT fit in there. I use this for my heavier EDC items. A leatherman and a small portable charger fit in there quite nicely. They balance the weight of a waterbottle on the opposite side nicely... and you can get to them without opening the flap (something you had to do on the Command 2013 model). The water bottle sleeve: The 2013 Command and the 2015 Command have almost identical water bottle sleeves. You can fit a standard Camelbak bottle in there, but NOT a standard Nalgene bottle. It's not even close to that size. A 20 ounce soda bottle should be no problem. The water bottle sleeve lays flat to the bag when there's no bottle in there. It looks quite nice. It's worth noting that the "water bottle holder" in the 2014 Classic never really made much sense. It was on the inside of the bag - where condensation from the bottle (heaven forbid a leaky bottle) could and would get anything else in the bag a bit wet. ###THE INTERIOR### The Admin pocket: Vocab lesson: "Admin" pockets are the areas where you keep your pens, pencils, whatever. The 2013 Command had a complex admin pocket, with 3 pen holders, a velcro pouch, and two "deck-of-cards"-sized pockets to store whatever. The 2014 Classic simplified this down to a simple 4-pocket layout. 2 medium pockets separated by two small. The medium ones can perfectly hold an Altoids tin, deck of cards, whatever. The small pockets can hold two pens/pencils, or a flashlight/whatever. I prefer the newer simpler configuration. The 2015 Command FINALLY did something I've been wishing Timbuk2 would do for years - they moved the Admin pocket to the back side of the main compartment. This is so much nicer than having it on the rear of the front-side. First, you can actually SEE the thing. Second, the back is almost assuredly more rigid, so the weight of your stuff isn't going to cause the front of the bag to droop when it's opened & unsupported. It's dumb, but this is DEFINITELY my favorite change Timbuk2 has made with this bag. The Main Interior Separator: Speaking of "droopy" fronts - the 2013 Command front portion was chronically droopy. The admin pocket was on the thin interior separator. This pulled it open and always ALWAYS obscured your vision/got in the way when you were accessing the main compartment. Plus it had this stash/zip pocket that didn't seem right to hold anything. The 2014 Classic had a nice "evenly weighted" interior. The Admin weighed the front, the main interior separator did the back, and there were separators on either side of the interior for a waterbottle & whatever else you wanted. The 2015 Command's interior has the Admin pocket on the back and a small, thin portion on the front with a small bit of velcro at the top middle to ensure it doesn't fall open and annoyingly obscure the main compartment. It houses the velcro silencers if you elect to use the velcro mechanism to hold the bag. After spending a few months with the bag, I've come to like this piece more. It's great for slipping headphones in, or a usb drive. It's replaced the missing small zip pouch on the outside face of the bag. The internal separation is finally handy; which I've never really experienced much with any of my other Timbuk2's. The Laptop Compartment: Apart from the main compartment of the bag - there's a laptop holder and an iPad sleeve. The padding here is fairly minimal (similar to the 2013 Command) - so if you're very protective of your laptop that could be an issue. It's not much of a problem for me. I think heavy, thick padding can get you careless with your stuff in a way that will get you in trouble. Maybe I'm just making excuses... but I don't look at it as a problem. Recently I found out the iPad sleeve can perfectly hold a single-subject, spiral-bound notebook. That's what I've been using it for (I have no tablet devices). The Luggage Pass-Through: Here's a step backwards. The 2013 Command had a luggage pass-through that could double as a very large slip pocket when you weren't using it as a luggage pass through. The 2015 Command has a single strap running along its backside. It works as a luggage pass-through, but not as anything else. My wife uses the luggage pass-through on her 2013 Command constantly to hold notebooks or as a temporary spot for whatever's in her pockets... I'm jealous of that piece. ###Summary### TL;DR - I like the bag, but it's not perfect. I'm giving it 4 stars, but it's a much more solid 4 stars after using it for a few months. Flatten the bottom of the bag so it sits upright, give me a luggage pass-through that's good as a slip pocket, and maybe add a small zip pocket under the flap, then you'd have the "perfect" bag. Highlights: 1) Moving the Admin pocket to the back of the main compartment where it should have been all along. This is my favorite change. 2) The Napoleon pockets are more useful than ever. 3) The handle is perfect. The strap is darn good (if a bit too long). 4) The bag is rugged and looks really nice - like always. 5) The main interior separator I've found uses for in a way I'd never found in other Timbuk2 bags. Low areas: 1) The bag does not sit upright unless it is moderately full - thanks to a curious design decision. This is my least favorite thing and the thing that most prevents this from being a 5 star review. 2) The pass-through is now only useful as a pass-through. 3) The missing zip pocket under the flap. 4) The power brick pocket is too small to hold most power bricks (but can be used for other stuff)