Bellroy Laneway Crescent Bag 2.5L - my thoughts
Image 1: Items in the bag: phone battery, packable shopping bag, phone, pens, wallet, brush, tissues, sunglass case, Advil, lip balm, floss, gum, glasses cleaning cloth, notepad, international drivers license, passport
Image 2: packed bag side view, Ice Breaker mints for scale (not packed)
Image 3: packed bag top view, Ice Breaker mints for scale (not packed)
Image 4: view of body-facing external pocket with passport, notepad, int'l drivers license
Image 5: view of packed items, configuration 1
Image 6: view of packed items, configuration 2 - more to show that I didn't need to be deliberate about how I put the items in the bag - they fit in multiple "orders"
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First, a disclosure - I'm not a one-bagger. I have an Away roller carry-on and I paired it with the Aer City Pack Pro 2 20L for a two week trip to Italy (did full laundry once and socks/underwear sink laundry twice). The intent was not to carry the backpack around town - it was more to hold my laptop, tech pouch, toiletries, and a few other items for the travel portions of the trip. We stayed in hotels and took trains once we got to Italy, so didn't need to worry about bag mobility/weight so much.
But for walking around all the places, I had no need to carry a backpack. So I wanted to find a light, packable sling or cross-body for walking and touring around everywhere, from Rome to Pompeii to Polignano a Mare. And I feel like this is the part that is relevant to one-baggers, who want a small, packable bag for daily usage.
I actually ordered three Bellroy bags to compare:
- Laneway Crescent Bag 2.5L
- Laneway Sacoche 3.5L
- Lite Sacoche 3.5L
I needed it to pack flat and also hold the stuff I knew I wanted/needed to carry walking 4-8 miles per day. I have a couple Lululemon 1L belt bags that I wear as slings around home, but wanted something larger that could better pass as a purse for dinners out and looked less "sporty".
When the bags arrived, I packed each one with the things in the first photo, and tried it on cross-body (both shoulders) and then as a purse with a shorter strap on my right. If you're going for weight, the Crescent is the heaviest, but can hardly be called heavy at just over 1/3 lb (5.8 oz / 164 g). The lightest is the Lite Sacoche at 1/4 lb. (4.1 oz / 116 g). And they all packed flat to go into my roller for the flight to Europe.
I started with the Laneway Sacoche - thinking that was going to be the "just right" bag. But my international drivers license didn't fit well in the outside body-facing pocket (we rented a car in Puglia), so that was annoying. I was able to fit everything in the bag, but it felt kind of tight to get it all in there. And I had to move things around to get it all to fit nicely. It was a no-go for me because of that. It just didn't feel like a 3.5L bag.
Then I went to the Lite Sacoche. Even though the dimensions are slightly smaller on the Bellroy website - this one felt bigger as I packed it - both in the body-facing outside pocket and the main pocket space. But with the light fabric, you could see the odd shapes and outlines on the bag surface. So it looked like it had weird lumps. Also, the shoulder strap is narrow. It felt fine wearing it cross-body or as a purse in the house for 10 mins, but I felt like it would dig in and start to get uncomfortable after 2+ hours of walking around the Colosseum.
I was a little worried about the Crescent bag, as it is advertised as 2.5L, but when you take the volume from the dimensions, it's 3.18L. So I put everything in. Winner, winner, chicken dinner! The thicker fabric on the Laneway series smoothed out the lumps that I was seeing on the Lite Sacoche. It packs way bigger than the specs advertise, and the wider strap was definitely more comfortable. You can see my passport, int'l license, and small notepad fit in the body-facing pocket. My wallet, sunglasses (which need to be in a case, as they are progressive prescription - as my eye doc says, "in a case or on your face"), battery, tissues, etc. all fit easily in multiple "configurations" in the main section, and there's a little internal side pocket, where I stuck my lip balm, Advil, floss, and glasses cloth.
Most importantly, the way it sits on your body - or at least my body - is more natural. The crescent shape better hugs the body vs. a sacoche, where it sits closer and doesn't extend out as much. The sacoche, when filled, is a pretty hard rectangle, where the edges stick out as corners. The crescent shape here softens the look, and also feels more comfortable when it hits your body as you walk.
The bag performed great! Comfortable to carry, easy to access on the go, and simple to flatten and pack. Highly recommend!
Also - a callout. I didn't carry a water bottle all day every day. To start, I accidentally left my water bottle on the first flight. 😢 I blame the 11 hr flight and not getting any sleep. But also, we just didn't see the need. It wasn't super hot, we drank plenty of water during our meals, and if we needed some, we just bought a small bottle that we would use/refill for the day, usually for less than 2 €. Also, I'm Gen X - I lived my 20s, 30s, and half of my 40s not carrying a water bottle everywhere. This is a newer phenomenon over the last 10-ish years. And this was not a hiking or heavy exertion trip.
So there you have it - my thoughts on a few small, daily carry options.
ETA: Also, I probably should have mentioned my height/body type. I’m 5’1” (about 155 cm), and thin/small-framed, so the way the two shapes sat against my body may be different than how they might sit on someone else.
