Timbuk2 Especial Stash Review

The Timbuk2 Especial Stash is — hands down — one of the best messenger bags on the market. It's impressively water-resistant, laden with pockets and clever storage features, easy to use, great for electronics, and can be worn on either the left or the right shoulder. For the convergence of each of these factors, we highly recommend this bag if you carry multiple electronics.

Performance Comparison

This bag carries well, has incredible features for students and professionals alike, and it's attractive to boot.

Photo: Jared Ross

Comfort

The Stash is well-conceived and comfortable, especially for activities like cycling, walking around the city, and taking public transit.

The Stash is decently lightweight, ergonomic, and the straps are fully ambidextrous. The attachment for the crossbody strap is confined to one small space, but we typically didn't find this to be constricting or annoying. The padding on the main strap can get folded under and bunched up if you're not mindful, so that's another small thing to pay attention to (and something that lowered its score a bit). However, we appreciate the length of the padded shoulder strap, as well as the extra padding in the electronics pockets — both of which contribute to greater comfort while wearing this bag.

The sleek shape and diagonal carry of this bag make it very comfortable while riding a bicycle.

Photo: Jared Ross

Packing & Organization

No bag in our review outperformed the Stash in the packing and organization department. The pockets are plentiful but intuitive, which makes it easy to stash all your daily essentials and keep them well-organized.

On the outside flap, there is a roomy pocket with a waterproof zipper and a long key leash — as long as you remember to affix your keys to the leash, you'll always know where to find them. On the side of the bag, there is an external stretchy pocket for a water bottle or travel mug.

On the side of the bag, there is a stretchy mesh water bottle or travel mug holder, which makes it easy to access your coffee without having to open your pack. Great for all those bleary-eyed, early-morning commutes.

Photo: Jared Ross

Underneath the front flap, there are two adjacent cargo pockets situated underneath another zippered pocket. Our one — minor — complaint is that while the cargo pockets do accommodate a small U-lock, the pockets aren't deep enough for the lock to feel secure in these pockets and it causes the front panel to flop around a bit.

On the inside of the front panel, there are several slots for pens, wallet, passport, headphones, or anything else small and in need of stowing. On the backside of the main compartment, there is a large zippered mesh pocket with four-way-stretch — perfect for your mouse or cords. Then, there is a fully padded sleeve for a tablet or laptop, in addition to another padded and fully zippered and waterproof laptop pocket. Short wonder this bag earned our highest marks for packing and organization.

The Stash has so many storage options for your electronics - you can stash your laptop in a padded compartment in the back of the bag, or in a zippered, waterproof sleeve in the very back.

Photo: Jared Ross

Electronics

As we just alluded to, the Stash provides exceptional protection, storage, and weather-resistance for electronics.

There are not one, but two fully padded sleeves for a laptop and/or tablet in the Stash. One of the laptop sleeves is zippered, padded, and features a burly zipper flap to make the pocket fully waterproof. The sleeves can accommodate up to a 15" laptop and they provide enough protection to store your computer naked. And while the zippered pocket is technically large enough for a 15" Macbook, that size is tight; a 13" is much easier to get in and out quickly. The stretchy pocket on the outside of the laptop/tablet sleeve is great for an external mouse, hard drive, or charger cords. We also love that all the laptop storage is secure and separate from the bag's main compartment, so if you need to bring your lunch, you don't have to worry about spilling food on your electronics.

One of the best features of this pack is the two fully padded laptop or tablet storage areas - one of which features a zippered pouch that is protected by a burly zipper flap, making it fully waterproof.

Photo: Jared Ross

Ease of Use

This is another category where the Stash is among the top performers.

The shoulder strap is fairly straightforward to loosen and tighten, however, we were a bit disappointed by the velcro strap-minder. If you need to cinch the bag down tight, there will be some excess webbing to contend with which you can shove into this feature — but it isn't ideal. To loosen the strap, you pull up on a piece of webbing, and when you cinch the strap tight, you can secure the loosening strap in an upward position with a magnet. There is also an easily accessible bottle opener on the shoulder strap — which definitely makes it easier to transition out of the workday. The shoulder strap is fully ambidextrous and is easy to switch from left to right shoulder carry, as the strap secures to D-rings on either side of the bag with velcro.

To loosen the shoulder strap, pull on the magnetic strap to disengage the double buckles. Once you have the appropriate fit, you can secure the magnetic strap on its magnetic holder.

Photo: Jared Ross

The magnetic front buckles take some getting used to, as you squeeze each piece of the buckle to disengage. On the other hand, securing the buckles is so painless and easy, it makes up for fumbling through our first few attempts to disengage the buckles. Beyond the closure system, there are several webbing loops for affixing a bike light or other accessories, a low-profile briefcase handle for picking your pack off the ground without putting it on, and a bright yellow interior — which makes it incredibly easy to find your gear.

Several large compartments, a fully waterproof zippered laptop sleeve, and a nice assortment of smaller pockets make the Stash an easy and fun bag to organize your life into. The bright interior is also something we rarely see but fully appreciate as it makes finding things inside the bag much easier.

Photo: Penney Garrett

Wear & Tear

The Stash smashes the competition in terms of wear and tear, as it's made out of an impressively durable material that is very weather- and abrasion-resistant.

Throughout the duration of our testing, this bag didn't show so much as a mark upon the fabric. If it gets dirty, simply wipe it down with a wet rag to get it looking like new again. There is a four-way stretch mesh fabric on a zippered pocket inside the bag and on the water bottle sleeve on the outside of the bag — these are the only parts of the bag that could snag or attract holes, on an otherwise ultra burly messenger bag.

Water and dirt have nothing on this bag, it's as adventure-ready as you are.

Photo: Penney Garrett

Volume to Weight Ratio

The Stash has an average ratio between volume and weight.

To determine this ratio, we weigh each bag as soon as we receive it — in a size Medium, the Stash weighs 2.28 pounds. To measure the volume we fill ziplock bags with 1-3 liters of water, then stuff the bag full to determine the volume each bag can actually carry. The Stash holds 15-liters and does not have the highest amount of storage for its weight. That being said, the weatherproof fabric, padded laptop sleeves, extra comfy shoulder strap, and numerous pockets — which certainly add to the weight of the bag — more than make up for its average performance in this metric.

Even though this bag didn't earn the best score in our volume-to-weight ratio, it has more than enough space for your kit, and a ton of features for keeping your gear dry and well organized.

Photo: Jared Ross

Value

The Stash is among the more expensive bags in our review. However, if you're looking for a bombproof messenger bag that is extremely weather-resistant all around — and has a waterproof laptop sleeve — then this bag is likely worth the high price. The quality construction and fabric, coupled with the impressive design, will pay for themselves as you continue to use this bag for years to come.

Conclusion

If you prioritize durability, intuitive design, and premium electronic storage in a daily commuter or messenger bag, you'd be hard-pressed to find a better bag than the Timbuk2 Especial Stash. We find this bag ideal for anyone that has lots of electronics and wants them to stay secure and dry, no matter the weather.

This bag is impressive - it's comfortable, feature-rich, intuitive to pack, and it keeps your electronics well-protected and dry.

Photo: Jared Ross