Enter to WIN: Hercules Laptop Backpack from EC-BC
*****THANK YOU WE HAVE OUR WINNER, THIS CONTEST IS NOW CLOSED! CONGRATS TO FAITHFUL MACENSTEIN READER BOB!******
For months I have been the subject of ridicule by my co-workers, family and, yes, even strangers, who have all deemed my current laptop backpack “girly”. Sure, it has a nice plaid pattern to the front and a couple pink bows and a small unicorn on the pocket, but I like it. However their constant torment HAS gotten me to think perhaps something a little cooler in order for the good Doctor, so when our good friends over at EC-BC asked if I’d like to take a look at their new line of TSA-compliant laptop backpacks called The Hercules, I said “Not so fast ECBC! You got to sweeten the deal by giving away one of them $139 bad-boys to one of my faithful readers too!” (actually, I said “yes please!” and they were nice enough to offer to throw one in for one of you poor saps as well.)
So while I will be reviewing my sample over the next couple weeks, I figured I might as well get the ball rolling on handing out YOURS. My first impression is quite favorable. The Hercules is fairly manly – heck, it even SOUNDS manly! – although it does come in 5 colors so if you aren’t afraid of style, you ave options. It has a nice padded section that can handle up to a 17-inch laptop (remember when Apple made those?) and a bunch of pockets and such for all your cables, chargers, and My Little Pony figures. And best of all you don’t need to take your laptop out of your bag when going through the airport, so they’ll never see the My Little Pony stickers you have slapped all over it! (Am I projecting here?)
ECBC: Hercules Laptop Backpack
Large interior storage space features the TSA-compliant FastPass laptop compartment, pockets for all your personal and work items, as well as dual ‘hide away’ zippered beverage pockets• High quality Kodra exterior with water repellent coating and YKK zippers
• Front zipper pocket for ticket/passport and ECBC FastPass system for quick security checks
• High Density protective foam compartment fits most 17” laptops
• Air mesh back panel with adjustable sternum strap and dual ‘hide away’ zippered utility pockets
• Padded iPad/tablet pocket and a fleece-lined pocket for mp3 player or sunglasses
• Available in Black, Blue, Green, Red and White. Size: 18.4” x 12.13” x 7.1”
To Enter:
Traveling these days can be a hassle, so having a TSA-compliant laptop bag is a must. Of course, even breezing through Airport Security isn’t enough to save SOME trips, so to enter, just leave us a comment telling us: What is your WORST travel experience?
Winner will be picked randomly. Contest open to all readers world-wide, and ends Tuesday, April 16th at 11:59PM EST. Good luck!
I was supposed to fly to Germany for a 3 day meeting as an invited speaker. I planned to fly to Philadelphia and then to Munich, where I was to catch a bus to a village and then a ferry to the island where the meeting was being held. The flight to Philly was cancelled and they put me on a later plane to Totonto, where I hoped to catch a plane to Germany. I eventually did, but to Berlin, after which I caught a flight to Munich, then somehow was able to catch a bus and plane and get to the meeting only about 8 hours late and after traveling for way too long.
Once, the zipper of my backpack’s pocket got stuck! It was a critical moment cause my ticket was in that pocket and the girl at the airport checking point couldn’t wait too long. Other passengers were standing on the line behind me…
Good luck to all… 🙂
Trip to visit Disney World…..whole family got a ride to the airport…..I made sure everybody in the group of six got all their items…..ride left the airport….then I realized my wallet with my ID AND most of my money had taken the ride back home….thankfully I was allowed to proceed on with my family BUT had to be “patted down” at each terminal….two layovers which meant three “pat downs” and wanded with the metal detectors…..thought I was not going to be allowed to continue from Washington DC because of being told to go a certain way to the next terminal(this way went “outside” the terminal) and threw confusion into the mix…..they finally found out I was not a terrorist and was already kicking my own behind for forgetting my own wallet and let me proceed to my next destination…..when we arrived in Florida and got in contact with our ride(for him to send me my wallet which was a nightmare in it’s self)then and only then did I start to relax and enjoy our trip to the magical world of Disney…..believe me I made sure I HAD my wallet in my pocket(several checks and everyone in the family made sure of course too…..I would not wish this to happen to anyone!!!!!!!!!!!
Arrived to find my connecting flight was delayed according to the gate agent and was told it would not leave for at least another 2 hours. After an hour, I asked the same agent who said that it already left even though I was sitting right across from the agent waiting. Appears that they did this to several passengers and got us in a van for a 4 hour drive to our destination. At least it was straight to the door of where I was headed and not to the airport at 4 AM.
Two words: “crash” landing. No hydrolics and a terrible landing to firetrucks and police.
Travelling to NYC in the mid 90’s and getting lost getting out of the airport.
London Airport – had a small bag, camera around the neck (in a holder) and laptop bag; all as carry on. It was really not much which made me quite happy travelling so “light”.
However the security refused to let me in claiming I had “3 pieces” (camera + laptop + bag). I actually couldn’t get a proper bag or anything at the airport – simply would have needed a normal plastic bag from Walmart or so to put it all in there.
Ended up in having to check the laptop case & camera separately.
Flight from Birmingham/UK to Toulouse/France, through Paris…
Due to a strike at the airport in Paris, I had to wait for 12 hours in order to fly… and I had already passed through security control…!!!
This one is easy… Amtrak train ride from CA to WA. Train was two hours late, the only seats left were in the train car that had no A/C. We were going to eat on the train, but because it was two hours late, the dinning car was closed. The train conductor made sure to do his job by yelling “Tickets, tickets please” every single stop. This included stops at 2:00 and 4:00 am when people were trying to sleep. Trip was further delayed when Amtrak had to replace one of the train engines that was not running at full power. Great trip… NOT.
At 75k+ flight miles per year for nearly a decade, so many bad ones to pick from … Let’s go with vacation to Aspen. Missed approach into airport due to blizzard. Made it within 10′ of the runway, but pilot pulled up as he could not see runway. Pilot announced he had 45 minutes of fuel before safe return to Denver. 1 hour 15 minutes later Pilot announces return to Denver. Dad, a pilot, listening to Pilot/Tower conversations on in-flight entertainment system, turned chalk white – turns out Pilot declared emergency and had straight-in approach. Subsequent van ride up to Aspen with highly obnoxious, loud-mouthed, LA Valley Girls “talking” non-stop saying “dude” at the end of every sentence at least a total of fifty-two thousand time put me in the mood to do nothing other than vomit upon arrival at about 5am. And the skiing wasn’t even that great.
My worst travel experience was actually with the (high-speed) train. The trip was supposed to take 4 hours, it took more than 5, and I arrived so late at my destination that I’d have had to wait 55 minutes for the night bus to take me home. Needless to say that I took a cab instead, but it added that cost to my already annoyed and sleep-deprived self of that time.
Threw up on the plane when i was 10, so much turbulence!
Worst travel experience, well besides a ride on a bus once it would have to be taking my wife and daughter on their first plane trip. Got started okay, hit weather got stranded in Atlanta airport. Trying to catch a bus to a hotel was a nightmare, the ladies were tired and hungry, we gave up trying to get to hotel, found food in airport (one fast food joint open), daughter is wired and hyper can’t sleep, so I spend the entire night up with her trying to keep my mood and energy up. No baggage was reachable to us as well. Just what we carried on and what they handed out. Next morning, tried to get on flights, finally got added to a flight, but we were split apart. So we got on, I took my seat and the ladies headed to the back. Found out their seats were split and nobody would let the mom sit with the daughter. Airline people no help. Finally a couple gave up their seats and allowed them to sit together. Finally arrived in Orlando. I was lucky to get them on the flight home after that. No desire ever for another flight for them. Marked down as failure of all time by me.
I remember a Delta Airbus A330 (?) landing at the Dallas airport one night, in crosswinds I’ve never experienced before. The plane came in at a very noticeable sideways angle, rocking crazily. Everyone onboard was dead silent. Funny noises were coming up from the floor of the plane, like something adjusting over and over. But the pilot pulled it off! People shook his hand on the way out.
Or the flight I once took from NYC to Miami, that seemed to sit inside a raging, turbulent storm cloud the entire way. That was not awesome.
My two year began throwing up in the airport in Aruba at 6am on our way back to the states, after we had checked our bags. It was all over himself, the stroller, floor, etc. Luckily my wife had a change of clothes in her carry on for him. He threw up every 45 minutes to Miami, then Chicago where we were told our final leg into Kansas City had been canceled and that we were going to have to spend the night, without our luggage, and my son still getting sick. Luckily we were able to get the last standby seats on a later flight which put us home around 11 pm. We got him changed and into his crib, exhausted. As we were walking out of his room, he stood up and threw up on the floor for a final time. Every trip since then has felt easy in comparison to that!
driving through this two-lane road in the middle of some mexican desert. I was with the mexican half of my family, but I just remember thinking how far we were from civilization, in a questionable part of the world, with help no where in sight or even within a phone call. It was a really lonely feeling.
When I used to leave in London, every time i visited my home country i used to bring food back in my hand luggage. Once I carried two full lamb legs, plus some other things. I will never forget the faces of the security people when the x-rayed my bag, priceless.
Going skiing in Norway. The skies arrive – the boots & everything else don’t. I mean – you can easily borrow skies, but try finding boots that fit as perfect as your own.
I had to go to Montreal from Maryland, and figured the train would be more scenic than flying. Well, the A/C on the train was set to 40 degrees, so I was freezing and sneezing. Then, halfway there, somebody decided to change their baby’s dirty diaper right in the passenger car. It smelled so terrible, and the smell wouldn’t go away! Everybody left for other cars and the cafe car for about an hour. Plus, the border crossing into Canada took about 3 hours waiting for agents to show up and they took forever to check everything.
Oh, and my trip back was on Greyhound, which was probably worse, but I banged my head so hard after falling asleep and the bus hitting a huge pothole, that I think I was just passed out the whole trip home…
As a teen in a Las Vegas 7-11, getting hit by a person who was on something because I walked past them….
When I was 17 I travelled by bus to Granda, Spain from Vernon, Paris. On the bus I had my traveller’s cheques stolen. Blerg.
I’ve got everyone beat. My plane hit a lighting tower at the end of the runway with the left side landing gear while taking off. The entire landing gear and tire was sheared off the plane. We had to circle for 2 hours burning fuel, then make a full emergency landing with the pilot putting all of the weight of the plane on the right side. We skidded down the entire length of the runway before gravity pulled the plane off to the left. By that time, flames were coming from the bottom of the plane. I have video of the entire landing.
My worst traveling experience was traveling between the East Africa and the US (West coast) I was traveling rather light since I was just taking a month trip: 1 carry on and 1 personal item (backpack w/ laptop).
So, having a skin complexion and facial hair comparable to an Arab, security “randomly” security checked me and my bags multiple times.
In London, when I transferred on a flight to the US, the British TSA equivalent pulled me aside and checked both of my bags and inquired about every single trinket and art. I had purchased a rattle made from a turtle and they had to run that through the X-Ray by itself as they feared I was stashing drugs in there. That was the first time. At the Newark airport, same thing plus a pat down. Random security check… Yeah right!!!. Once more leaving the airport when i got to my destination as I was about to walk out to meet my ride, TSA comes up to me and once again asks me a series of questions and goes through my bags yet again.
Thankfully no body cavity search, though I really thought they were going to.
Just stuck in an airport for like 10 hours. not too bad, compared to others.
I travel to National level dog shows, toting important paperwork, and equipment
Needed to compete. When I first began my travels, I’d tote my laptop bag, and
Stuff the pockets with snacks , change and my camera. I carried it on with me.
The rest of my Luggage I checked In.
One incident changed that!
I flew to DFW with a layover in PA.
Upon arriving at DFW, I arrived at baggage
claim and waited for over hour… Still no bag.
List and stated they would find my bags and deliver to my hotel.
My stay was scheduled for a week, as I f day 3 , no bags, in the mean while
I borrowed clothes for my dog classes, form events , well you get the picture.
Filly on day 4, my clothes had arrived!
A lovely backpack such as this would prevent all that. Thank you so much Mac!
Lyn
I travel to National level dog shows, toting important paperwork, and equipment
Needed to compete. When I first began my travels, I’d tote my laptop bag, and
Stuff the pockets with snacks , change and my camera. I carried it on with me.
The rest of my Luggage I checked In.
One incident changed that!
I flew to DFW with a layover in PA.
Upon arriving at DFW, I arrived at baggage
claim and waited for over hour… Still no bag.
List and stated they would find my bags and deliver to my hotel.
My stay was scheduled for a week, as I f day 3 , no bags, in the mean while
I borrowed clothes for my dog classes, form events , well you get the picture.
Finally on day 4, my clothes had arrived!
A lovely backpack such as this would prevent all that. Thank you so much Mac!
Lyn
in washington dc, and i was touring the capitol. went in and went through metal scanner not realizing i had steel toe shoes on. they searched me and made me take off my shoes, this ended up happening a total of 4 time in different places