Onebag: Thule Subterra PowerShuttle
Note: This post contains Amazon affiliate links. As an Amazon Associate, I earn from qualifying purchases.
Even though I'm not really traveling at the moment, I still tend to live that way while I'm hunkering down. Arranging your gear is really just the physical equivalent of nested folders on your computer - toiletries go in the toiletry folder, tech goes in the tech folder. You drop these subfolders into the master folder — your backpack.
Pouches, stuff sacks, and toiletry bags are excellent solutions for keeping things tidy in there. There's a limit to this, of course. Just as you don't want to spend 10 minutes looking for that one file in a jumble of nested folders, you don't want to be living out bag-ception at the front of the airport security line.
One category of gear that definitely needs a more organized home than just floating loosely around in your pack is tech and tech accessories. You're just not going to quickly find a USB drive or that specific cable you need without amalgamating that stuff in a central location. Digital nomads that work with data especially need durable storage for their gear that can stand up to the rigors of travel and keep client data safe. Now, there's that issue of sorting through the trash and finding a tech pouch worth spending your money on...not! I've got you covered.
Why is travel gear so prohibitively expensive?
I probably spend way more time than is healthy researching a new piece of gear before buying it. Now that the minimalist/everyday carry/one-bagging scene has become more mainstream, the amount of choice has grown exponentially. Even looking for something as simple as a tech pouch yields an overwhelming amount of options. After sifting through a lot of popular brands for this sort of thing, I decided on the Thule Subterra PowerShuttle - the first product I have ever purchased from Thule. Why? My fetish for Swedish products aside, the price is what ultimately convinced me.
Note: This is an Amazon affiliate link.
I want to use this review to address the solid gold, diamond-studded elephant in the tent: a lot of decent travel gear is far more expensive than it has any right to be. Most of the big brands cite quality, sustainability, ethical practices, and Made in the USA - all good things - to justify big numbers for even the smallest travel accessories. I love Tom Bihn products. They tick all of those boxes, and their equivalent product is a whopping $65. You can get a decent sling bag for that price. Minaal is another big player that produces very high quality and their tech pouch will cost you $49.
Not only does Thule participate in several initiatives to lower its carbon footprint, but they also manufacture 75% of its products in the USA. But wait, there's more! Tom Bihn's $65 Handy Little Thing pouch is manufactured with 630-denier nylon, Minaal's $49 Toolcase uses 150-denier bean chaff, and Thule's $25 PowerShuttle is made with 800-denier nylon. What this means is that you're essentially getting a more durable product from Thule for a fraction of the inflated prices of other manufacturers. This is the Gucci-fication of travel gear, my friends.
The Swedish theme continues.
Anyone who's a regular reader knows that I love Fjällräven products and generally all things Sweden, but I promise I didn't even know Thule was Swedish until the pouch was in my hands. The "lagom" less-is-more approach is certainly present in the design, which features very clean lines and dark colors. It feels bombproof in your hands. You will not tear the nylon on the outside of the case unless you're trying to with a knife. Underneath the tightly woven layer of nylon is thin yet stiff padding that I definitely trust to protect my external hard drive if I were to drop the case. Considering I used to use a stuff sack for some of my fragile electronics, it's a massive upgrade. The YKK zipper glides like butter with a convenient pull tab and the handle on the side makes it a great carry-on solution for shorter flights.
“The lagom less-is-more approach is certainly present in the design, which features very clean lines and dark colors.”
Let's take a look at how well it charms that tangled mess of cables in your pack. Before we even open up, there's a mesh pocket on the back that's great for a small notebook or passport. This is actually designed to hold your phone as it charges via an external battery, which you can keep in another pocket inside the case. There is a little hole for you to pass your cable through, allowing you to use your phone while everything is neatly tucked away inside the case. I can fit my phone in this pocket, but it's quite a squeeze with the heavy-duty case I have it in. I prefer to use this for a quickly accessible notebook.
Left to right, the first thing you'll see inside is a zippered pocket. I store my external hard drive, its cable, and a couple of flash drives in there. There are four cable loops and a loop for a pen on the outside of this pocket. On the right half of the clamshell design, there is a wide insert that nicely fits an external battery, as well as a couple more pens or a set of keys. I keep my SIM card case and a couple of adapters in the zippered pocket outside of the insert. Even with all of these loops and pockets occupied, I could fit quite a bit more in here before it becomes hard to close.
Thule provides a better standard of gear at a better price.
The Subterra PowerShuttle from Thule does exactly what I want it to do, it looks great, and I didn't have to pay an "Instagram lifestyle" tax to get it. I'm planning to travel to London in a couple of months, and given the situation, I want to keep trips to dig inside my pack with radioactive dirty airport hands at a minimum. This little guy will be great for holding all the usual plane stuff as well as an extra mask and some alcohol wipes. Don't worry, I will definitely be writing about that experience.
If the PowerShuttle looks like a good solution for your travel needs, purchasing it through this Amazon link will give me a little bump without any extra cost to you. ◉
Written by Seth Barham
