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What’s inside our Gadget/Blogging Gear?

In our work as a tech blogger, we always travel abroad to cover the biggest product launches, exhibitions and conferences so it’s important that we have a good and complete set of gears to carry along.

And we’re also often asked what’s inside our gear bag? So here’s one of those rare times we’re giving you a peek inside.

I use different kinds of bags depending on the event, location and the duration. When going to international trips, I tend to carry a bigger one. The last one I used was a Wenger backpack but I found it didn’t have enough room to store the additional devices I have.

Last December, I got a new one which is more conservative but has the features that I need. Found it after attending the opening of the InCase Concept Store at SM Aura so I bought one (around Php7k if I remember correctly).

The InCase City Backback looks plain and simple from the outside but it has a total of 7 pockets in the exterior alone — 2 large pockets from the top, one for a 13-15 inch laptop and charger compartment and another big pocket for tablets and accessories lined with 5 inner mesh pockets; the 3rd pocket is a shallow one and lined with suede, used to store a couple of phones and delicate items.

The 4th front pocket is deep and has smaller compartments and inside pockets as well — great for storing cables, powerbanks, documents and pens. The 5th one is found on the lower front corner and as shallow as the 3rd one.

There are 2 more side pockets at the bottom corner that are very small so I have not found any use for them yet.

For our trip to the US on a back-to-back coverage of CES 2014 in Las Vegas and the North American Auto Show (NAIAS) in Detroit, here are the stuff I brought with me:

* Acer Aspire S7 13″
* iPad Mini Retina Display
* Nexus 7 2013
* Lenovo Miix 2 8
* Canon EOS M
* Go Pro Hero3+
* Sony HDR CX380
* 2TB Western Digital My Passport Ultra
* Logitech Gaming Mouse
* Logitech Pocket Wireless Mouse
* Logitech Wireless Keyboard
* LTE Pocket WiFi
* Sony NFC Speakers
* NVidia Shield
* Power Banks
* Canon EX580 flash

You can never have enough power banks with you so I have a total of around 35,000mAh of stored power. I didn’t count the phones that I always carry all the time (Lumia 1520, HTC One, LG G2).

The wireless keyboard and mouse is for the Windows 8.1 tablet. With around 8 hours of battery life, it can be a good backup laptop. The two other tablets might seem overkill but if you are on a 16 hour flight (plus 3 hours waiting time), you’d really drain the batteries out of them quickly, trust me.

I have a few other smaller stuff inside the pockets like an EyeFi card, half a dozen Sandisk SD cards, card reader, HMDI cable, portable WiFi router, 5-meter extension cord, rechargeable batteries, and lots of cables.

In the many years that we travel, we learned that redundancy can be a curse and a blessing. A curse because it adds up weight to the bag we carry and a blessing because you know you have backup. That means we can be ready with whatever scenario we’re faced — a 13 hour flight, 4-hour drive, 3-hour live blog and sometimes 8-10 hours of coverage with no decent access to internet or no power outlet. This is especially useful when we do some live blogging where we have 3 or 4 different devices connected (or trying to connect) to 4 different WiFi or mobile internet.

Of course, we shave them off once we arrive at our hotel room. Some stuff stay at the hotel while others take turns on shifts depending on the schedule.

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Avatar for Abe Olandres

Abe is the founder and Editor-in-Chief of YugaTech with over 20 years of experience in the technology industry. He is one of the pioneers of blogging in the country and considered by many as the Father of Tech Blogging in the Philippines. He is also a technology consultant, a tech columnist with several national publications, resource speaker and mentor/advisor to several start-up companies.

50 Responses

  1. Avatar for ErwinMeister ErwinMeister says:

    HI Abe,

    is the bluetooth keyboard worth it esp using it across the Ipad and your Android tablets on rotation?

    • Avatar for Abe Olandres Abe Olandres says:

      Recently got that Logitech wireless keyboard made for Mac but works flawlessly on Windows and Android. Well worth it since we can type much faster and more comfortably with it.

  2. Avatar for Michael Michael says:

    Wala kayo sa akin… I blog and travel using my Nokia E71 at yun lang talaga ang gamit ko. Pero syempre tulad ng Yugatech kumikita din ako.

    • Avatar for Abe Olandres Abe Olandres says:

      Oh, I used to do that as well back when I was just starting out. I think I still have blog post with that E71 back in 2006.

  3. Avatar for epol epol says:

    Consumed by faceless man-eating machines, by the corporate cannibal. It is like porn, “Ï just couldn’t get enough.”

  4. Avatar for lito lito says:

    any one of that bag is precious can i have one? hehehe.

  5. Avatar for Acie Acie says:

    This is awesome, like a way nerdier version of “what’s in my purse?” for fashion bloggers :P

  6. Avatar for Digest Digest says:

    Walang condom?

  7. Avatar for burgz burgz says:

    WOW! so may gadgets with you. I think your really very rich.

  8. Avatar for theo theo says:

    as others have said… i see to much redundancy here :-)

    You guys dont travel light

    • Avatar for Abe Olandres Abe Olandres says:

      We tried doing that before. Most of the time, we end up not being as productive as we are right now.

  9. Avatar for theo theo says:

    as others have said… i see to much redundancy here :-)

    You guy dont travel light

    • Avatar for abuzalzal abuzalzal says:

      I Firmly agree lol

      I see no reason to carry this pile of stuff unless you’re climbing up the top of the Himalayas or Mt Everest

      A 15-hour battery life under heavy usage should suffice (that’s like 2 or 3 devices) then back to your hotel room again to recharge

  10. Avatar for yobo yobo says:

    sir abe how heavy is the bag after everything is in?

    and how much would you lose (hope not) in case you lose the bag?

    • Avatar for Abe Olandres Abe Olandres says:

      Around 4 or 5 kilos all in all. Once I’m at the hotel, I leave half of them behind, mostly for charging and rotation with other devices.

  11. Avatar for yobo yobo says:

    sir abe how heave is the bag after everything is in?

    and how much would you lose (hope not) in case you lose the bag?

  12. Avatar for John Daniel Castillo John Daniel Castillo says:

    InCase City Backback?

  13. Avatar for phonebuddy phonebuddy says:

    sana nag surface kayo sir. malaking weight ang mawawala sa bag nyo..

    • Avatar for phonebuddy phonebuddy says:

      and the extension cord is really a must have para iisang adaptor lng ang bibilhin mo esp sa mga countries n iba ang plug. i make my own extension cord to make sure n malaking wire ang gamit.

    • Avatar for Abe Olandres Abe Olandres says:

      Tried the Surface RT and the Pro before but they didn’t cut it. Short battery life.

    • Avatar for phonebuddy phonebuddy says:

      i mean the second gen sir. battery life has been improved for both devices.

    • Avatar for Abe Olandres Abe Olandres says:

      @phonebuddy – have not trie the 2nd-gen yet but based on the Haswell ultrabooks I used, battery life has indeed improved.

  14. Avatar for Rowe Lee Rowe Lee says:

    Why so many? Others seem redundant too. What’s the method behind the madness?

  15. Avatar for Flitz Flitz says:

    Ano kaya gear ng photographer nyo sir?

  16. Avatar for Mr. Curious Mr. Curious says:

    5 android devices? really? LOL

  17. Avatar for Wax Wax says:

    Powerful blogging Gear! Astig!

  18. Avatar for John Mark Dela Cruz John Mark Dela Cruz says:

    THAT BAAAAG! I’m dying to have one of that bag. HAHAHA
    It’s always a struggle to bring gadgets along when you are travelling. You seem to be organized, sir!

  19. Avatar for Cholo Cholo says:

    Just curious what power bank brand do you use/recommend?

  20. Avatar for ChitoMiranda ChitoMiranda says:

    I’m just curious how do you use all of these stuff? I mean for what specific uses each one has?

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