Although the Air Boss is a total of 8″ wide, the compartments are divided along the long dimension of the bag, so the middle compartment is basically 4″ wide, with the two outside compartments at 2″ each.

Kevin,

Thanks for the pictures. Since I don’t carry a laptop or a netbook on a regular basis so the Metro will probably work.

Here’s picture of the Metro inside the Air Boss: http://is.gd/43viI

And although it’s tight, here’s a shot of the MPB in the Air Boss: http://is.gd/43vtt (The bottom can be compressed: http://is.gd/43vWb )

I probably will hang onto my Metro (sorry, MW!) for this reason, although I usually travel light with just netbook, a few jump drives, and maybe a couple of folders & a lined pad… so I don’t really need to carry a 2nd bag along in most cases.

I have one from Cole Haan that I love. Scotevest makes some very nice ones, too. Blackcoat is rather elegant. In colder climates a Barbour jacket will work well.

The extra sweater can be easily worn around the shoulders or tied around the waist. Very debonair look!

Then just get an in-flight baggie with the necessities for the plane. Mine holds passport, pen, Ipod, headphones, tissues, lip balm, ear plugs, eye mask. That kind of stuff.

There are quite a few thread on this on OBOW and FT. Do you frequent those?

I’ll try sticking my Gator into my new edition MLC when I get home – the MLC has a non-collapsible laptop slot but the front slot is collapsible. The MLC, besides having a non-collapsible laptop slot, is also much smaller than the AirBoss.

I have a similar problem. I would like to be able to just carry one bag onto the plane, then pull out my “seat side” bag. That part is easy to solve with many ultralight “peak” bags such as the Flash18 from REI. But the second part of the equation is having a nice bag for local destination use during the day. Obviously the Gator is good for that, heck it works for me here in the States. A lot of bags that can be stowed in the main carryon luggage don’t make good destination bags.

I am presently resigned to just carrying a dedicated “personal item” bag in addition to my carryon luggage.

For this purpose I’ve selected the Patagonia Lightwire Brief, which is kind of a much larger, poorer organized Gator. While I’m not pleased by its lack of useful organizing features (I got spoiled by the end and side pockets on the Gator), the Lightwire Brief is actually lighter, I think, than the Gator. Since it is much larger, that means I can more successfully stuff the Lightwire Brief with bulky but light items like a watchcap and fleece pullover. The nicely padded computer slot is too big for just my netbook, but since my 3-1-1 bag fits in there too, the extra space does not go to waste.

I have to admit, though, for my January SE Asia trip, I’ve been tempted to stuff the small version of a Timbuk2 messenger bag into the Patagonia MLC. I would then use the Timbuk2 when taking a short urban walk the Foodland a few blocks away from the Soi on which my hotel is located, and reserve the much larger Patagonia Lightwire Brief for an (unlikely) taxi trip to MBK (MahBoonKrang Plaza near the National Stadium) and a movie theater – the movie theaters in BKK are frigid, and that is literal not metaphorical, and I generally need to take a fleece pullover AND a synthetic fill vest AND a watchcap if I am to endure their malevolent airconditioning and enjoy my movie.

Why do I need a messenger bag just to walk a few blocks to a local supermarket with food counter? I’m just an inveterate worry wart. Even though I am in the heart of a truly Blade Runner-ian urban environment with water at 7-11′s and street vendors, I still carry my own water bottle everywhere, and also I worry about things like it might rain (well, the weather does change rapidly) so I carry a nylon rain shirt or collapsible umbrella, plus what if I walk off the hot boulevard into a hotel for a cold drink, I’d better take at least a thin pullover, and what if I get bored and need a book and need to read. Fortunately I don’t worry about what if I need to cook or do laundry, or I’d have to have a Hollywood set trailer following behind me with all the comforts of home on wheels.

No, I’m not naturally a light packer although Kevin does continually point me in the right direction.