Polygon Picks
The Polygon Picks badge is awarded to each of these special products, as we believe they can better our readers’ lives. Through a mix of research and testing of the market’s wide array of offerings, we’ve singled out these Picks as being exemplary and worthy of your consideration. These are the things we like and we hope you will, too.
The original convention-ready bag, the Bag of Holding, has been resurrected by Rollacrit. This durable canvas shoulder bag is full of zippered compartments and features a built-in rain cover to keep your tabletop loot safe. The initial batch of bags coming in early 2024 are going to Kickstarter backers. However, it will be widely available to purchase in May.
The Pack-It Gear pouch is a simple, handy, and waterproof pouch equipped with a carabiner for adding extra storage to your favorite bag. This miniature compartment is perfect for items like chargers, jewelry, or anything else that might otherwise get lost in the recesses of your bag.
Herschel Settlement Pencil Case, $22
An awesome accessory for any artist or journaling fan, the Settlement pencil case from Herschel, comes in many styles and offers ample storage space for a number of writing gadgets. As an added bonus, the pencil case is made from 100% recycled water bottles, and its interior is easy to clean in case one of your pens has a happy accident.
With its streamlined bike messenger aesthetic and signature seatbelt buckle clasp, Chrome bags are a durable, versatile way to carry your belongings. While the Kadet Max is far from Chrome’s largest bag, it’s big enough to fit a small laptop with plenty of extra space for the rest of your everyday essentials. And, just like every Chrome bag, it carries a lifetime warranty.
Waterfield Air Porter Backpack, $419
Until Delta allows me to travel in the cabin with my 80-pound dog, I consider the Waterfield Air Porter backpack to be the ideal air travel companion. Designed specifically to make optimal use of your carry-on space, the Air Porter fits snugly underneath any standard airline seat, while keeping its contents accessible thanks to its top zip compartment. It includes other quality-of-life features for jetsetters, like a side pocket for water bottles and the ability to slide over the handle of your rolling bag.
Loop earplugs are the perfect way to achieve moments of zen without subjecting your eardrums to unwanted noise. While they won’t replace your favorite pair of noise-canceling earbuds or foam earplugs, these trendy, open-ear earplugs don’t run on a battery, yet they can hush your surroundings without reducing your overall awareness. Each pair of Loops are available in a variety of sharp colors.
Timbuk2 Spire Laptop Backpack, $109
There isn’t much that the Timbuk2 Spire Laptop backpack can’t stow. This spacious, flip-top backpack is equipped with ample storage space for laptops, notebooks, and anything else you can’t leave home without. The Spire’s exterior is water-resistant, and the bag features a stretch pocket for water bottles, along with plenty of nylon webbing for attaching flair or accessories.
Hoto Precision Screwdriver, $19.99
If a screwdriver is an essential part of your everyday carry, it should be the Hoto precision screwdriver. Its aluminum body is chunky for a reason: It hides a storage compartment with a total of 12 double-sided bits. This gadget can help you to perform quick repairs at home or on various electronics.
Even if you aren’t camping, a good Leatherman tool is an addition to your everyday kit you won’t regret. The Signal isn’t the most robust Leatherman out there, but its lighweight build, vibrant colors, and impressive collection of 19 durable, built-in tools will ensure you’re prepared for whatever the day has in store.
Grip6 offers an extensive collection of durable aluminum wallets designed for our dystopian, card-based economy. The main compartment firmly locks your cards in place, while the optional leather sleeve is perfect for bills. Each wallet is available in a variety of colors, and can even be personalized with your own custom designs.
You may already own a solid pair of noise-canceling earbuds, but if you’re in the market for a replacement or upgrade, the WF-1000XM5 earbuds from Sony are still one of the best models you can buy. The XM5s offer excellent sound quality while tuning out unwanted noise.
Suchi Hand Sanitizer Holder, $8.99
Put those tiny bottles of hand sanitizer to work instead of letting them live rent-free in the bottom of your bag. This tiny holster fits around any travel-size bottle of hand sanitizer, while the carabiner lets you keep it easily accessible on the outside of your bag.
Zebra F-701 Ballpoint Pen, $9.99
Pens deserve better than being relegated to the role of disposable ink stick. If you’d like to buy a pen you can refill, we recommend the Zebra F-701. This inexpensive, no-nonsense, stainless steel pen has a grippy barrel and a satisfying click, and it can be refilled instead of contributing to the piles of writing implements you’ve disposed of over the years.
Keys are just tiny knives designed to get you into your house. You wouldn’t let a loose blade just float around in your bag, so secure them with the MagBak key organizer. It lets you safely tuck away up to six keys, and if you’re someone that’s contanty misplacing their keys, it even features a hidden compartment designed specifically to fit an Apple AirTag tracking device.
The Hydro Flask is a water bottle made for modern times. The 21-ounce, dishwasher-safe bottle can be fitted with different lids, and its double-walled design keeps your hot drinks hot and your cold drinks from sweating all over the inside of your bag. The Hydro Flask comes in different colors and even be engraved with text or graphics for a personal touch.
Taking fish oil supplements never looked so cool. This slim, spring-loaded, aluminum pill organizer lets you keep up to seven days’ worth of vitamins, supplements, or perscriptions on hand. It’s a lot more organized than toting around a bunch of pill bottles in a plastic bag.
The Orbitkey Nest is a slick, modular catch-all for the small items you want to keep organized in your bag. The lid features a built-in 10W wireless charger, and each Nest comes with a pair of cable organizers and six magnetic dividers to prevent everything from glasses to phones from shifting while in transit.
Keeping your phone’s battery topped off during the day can be difficult. If you need an emergency power bank that won’t weigh you down, this 10,000 mAh power bank is slim enough for the smallest of bags, and can come in handy if you need a quick charge. This card-sized power bank features an LED display to keep track of its charge level, and its 22.5 W output can quickly charge most phones.
Sometimes, all that keeps a good bag from being a great bag is a lack of proper organization. The Bag in Bag from Lihit Lab features a single zippered compartment for notebooks, covered with seven pockets to keep your writing tools and other supplies from mingling in your favorite laptop bag or backpack.
The ubiquitous Fjallraven Kanken is a versatile yet simple water-resistant backpack. The Fjallraven Kanken laptop bag features a big, padded sleeve for laptops up to 17 inches in size, but is otherwise unburdened by an excess of internal compartments, allowing it to conform to a variety of needs. It’s available in a dozen vibrant colors and is insured against regular wear and tear with a lifetime repair policy, honored at any Fjallraven store.
When your pockets can’t fit any more but you want to leave the backpack at home, we’d reccomend the Baggu Crossbody Bag. This recycled nylon pouch is big enough to tote around your bare necessities without ever feeling like it’s getting in the way. Each machine-washable bag features a 50-inch adjustable strap and two zippered compartments, and it’s available in 10 different colors.
Madewell Sling Crossbody Bag, $118
Day to day, I don’t usually need to carry much — just the essentials, like keys, wallet, chapstick, phone, a planner, and a pen. This crossbody bag is just big enough to hold all of that stuff, and there’s a secret pocket that you can easily slip your phone into. It’s a little pricey for a small bag, but as someone who owns one, the leather holds up nicely despite being worn every day since I got it. You can wear it on your shoulder, but I love the crossbody look because it means I’m totally hands- and arms-free. –Nicole Carpenter
The planner I keep on me whether I’m on the go or sitting at my desk is the Hobonichi Techo Weeks. (They come in different hardcovers, but the one I’m using in 2024 has an illustration by botanist Dr. Tomitaro Makino on the cover.) This planner is perfect for me because it’s got both monthly and weekly calendar spreads, plus some extra space each week for notes or doodles. There’s a bunch of extra blank pages in the back, too, which I use to keep track of all the games I’ve played and books I’ve read throughout the year. –Nicole Carpenter
Uni Jetstream 3 Color Ballpoint Multi Pen, $5.29
It’s always good to have a versatile pen on you. The Uni Jetstream ballpoint pen has three different colors built in — red, blue, and black. Black will likely see the most use, but the red and blue come in handy for taking different kinds of detailed notes. If you need to mark up documents or you want to switch up the color sometimes, this could be the pen for you.
The Novelbook Store has taken covers from an expansive collection of popular fiction and fashioned them into miniature card wallets. Selections from their store include classic works like The Hobbit and Alice in Wonderland. There are other pop culture classics, such as Death Note and The Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy. Each vegan leather wallet features enough space for up to six cards or bills, and is clothbound to emulate an actual tome.
The Gerber Shard is a simple yet effective tool that ensures an Amazon delivery box will never get the best of you. This $7 piece of titanium-coated steel is airline-safe, and is fitted with a bottle opener, screwdriver, and wire stripper, allowing you to tackle a variety of tasks when the appropriate tool isn’t close at hand.
Folding Server ISO Clipboard, $16.95
This flip-top clipboard is the tool of choice for our own Susana Polo when she needs to keep track of whatever is going on during her next three-hour movie screening. Perfect for when you need a small, flat, stable writing surface, each clipboard features several customization options including different colors, a clip-on book light, and pen clip.
Back in 2021, as part of our anniversary coverage of Peter Jackson’s The Fellowship of the Ring, I edited a piece about how LotR fans discovered that Liv Tyler’s Arwen owed her perfectly tinted yet seemingly natural elven lips a specific shade of half-century-old lip gloss. I had to have a tube for myself, and I can confirm that Clinique’s Almost Lipstick in Black Honey is quite versatile — and that tube now lives in my bag forever. –Susana Polo
