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drfish
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Re: What's a TechSling?

Sat Aug 18, 2012 1:17 pm

Thanks for the additional info. The design was based on a caseless Nexus 7 - since it is taller than the Kindle Fire. Looks like I should add 1/2" in each direction...
 
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Re: What's a TechSling?

Sat Aug 18, 2012 1:38 pm

drfish wrote:
Thanks for the additional info. The design was based on a caseless Nexus 7 - since it is taller than the Kindle Fire. Looks like I should add 1/2" in each direction...


That would probably be perfect.
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Re: What's a TechSling?

Sat Aug 18, 2012 3:48 pm

drfish wrote:
Dp, didn't you get the 7" one I put in the mail? I thought you had brought it to the BBQ (sent t Ben's address). The Note fits in the zipper pocket but we don't have a plan to make a tablet side any smaller than the 7" model at this time. Regarding the clips I'll take a look around at some options and see what could work. I think that suspender style clips would necessitate replacing the webbing the d-rings are on with elastic - is that what you think too?


I think a suspender style clip that can attach to the D-rings, as a option, would be good. I always like to have as many options as possible, so instead of making a permanent change, it would be better to have things that can be added or removed as needed.

Think of a modern video card; not every needs "X" number of each type of output, but adding a few adapters in the box makes the buyer happier, since it gives them options.

Check out this PowerColo 7870 Eyefinity 6 Edition Video Card
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.a ... 6814131474

Not everyone needs or wants 6 mini display ports, but when you toss in the different adapters it makes all the buyers happy.
In the case of the video card, you get 2 x Mini DP to Single Link DVI Cables, and 4 x Mini DP to DP Cables. (they should have had a HDMI adapter as well imo.

Maybe not the perfect comparison, but my point still stands I think ; having suspender style clips or belt loop attachments as options might be a good idea, as well as different size/style pouches, for those that want a zipper'd pocked or open pocket on both sides.

I think of the "Tech Sling" as mainly the harness, with interchangeable options / accessories. That may not be what you are going for, but it is what I am picturing in my mind.
 
drfish
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Re: What's a TechSling?

Mon Aug 20, 2012 10:41 am

Dposcorp wrote:
I think a suspender style clip that can attach to the D-rings, as a option, would be good. I always like to have as many options as possible, so instead of making a permanent change, it would be better to have things that can be added or removed as needed.


I've requested some samples to test out some ideas. Do you recall my double sided Velcro suggestion? Obviously it won't be possible to incorporate every suggestion out there so a little hacking might be required.
 
drfish
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Re: What's a TechSling?

Fri Aug 24, 2012 11:48 am

So this is the best option I've come up with so far. Please ignore the shininess of the clips, if we ever decided to move forward with this concept they would be in a nice matte black. They are just your standard everyday suspender clips attached to the sides with 1" elastic instead of nylon webbing like the current d-rings are. Since I never tuck in my shirt/wear a belt I wouldn't personally use these - the backstrap is better for me - but what do you think? Would you miss the d-rings?

Image

BTW, in case some of you are following this thread but not the TR BBQ thread I wanted to point out how I used the TechSling to help LiveSteam parts of the BBQ this year. Yes that is a webcam zip tied to my hat. 8)
 
drfish
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Re: What's a TechSling?

Wed Aug 29, 2012 8:46 am

TheEmrys wrote:
drfish wrote:
Thanks for the additional info. The design was based on a caseless Nexus 7 - since it is taller than the Kindle Fire. Looks like I should add 1/2" in each direction...


That would probably be perfect.


You should the new one tomorrow. After reviewing the pictures again I'm concerned it still might be a little small but we'll see.
 
Dposcorp
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Re: What's a TechSling?

Wed Aug 29, 2012 8:58 am

drfish wrote:
After reviewing the pictures again I'm concerned it still might be a little small but we'll see.


That's what SHE said!!!!!!!! :lol:
 
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Re: What's a TechSling?

Wed Aug 29, 2012 11:09 am

drfish wrote:
So this is the best option I've come up with so far. Please ignore the shininess of the clips, if we ever decided to move forward with this concept they would be in a nice matte black. They are just your standard everyday suspender clips attached to the sides with 1" elastic instead of nylon webbing like the current d-rings are. Since I never tuck in my shirt/wear a belt I wouldn't personally use these - the backstrap is better for me - but what do you think? Would you miss the d-rings?


D-rings... yeah. Those clips look like scratches and scrapes waiting to happen. I like the D-rings a lot. I would think it would be nice to use nylon clips with a carribeener-type attachment on either side with adjustments for the nylon might be a bit more elegant.
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drfish
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Re: What's a TechSling?

Wed Aug 29, 2012 12:28 pm

This clip could also be an option but since its plastic I'm not sure I could ever trust it to hold up to the leverage involved in a cam action like on a suspender clip. Looks nice though.
Image

The problem with building a separate strap is that the hardware required already more than spans the gap by itself so unless you have a very tall torso you wouldn't be able to use them anyway.
Image

At this point I still think the best option are cable organizer straps. :lol: Again, I don't tuck in my shirts so I would use the backstrap regardless. :-?
 
drfish
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Re: What's a TechSling?

Wed Feb 13, 2013 12:52 pm

Disclaimer: Obviously I started this thread and my company makes TechSlings, that said the following post is what I think I would honestly share with you guys as if I was just some random guy that bought a TechSling and wanted to geek out with his friends out about how he was using it... I post this now because I've recently settled on my standard load-out and I find it pretty impressive and quite useful - I can give a general update in a followup post if people are curious about how the project is going (but there are some details I can't share).

They say a picture is worth a thousand words...
Image
Image
Image

We must make a list!

    1 ) Samsung Focus (standing in for my Lumia 920 since I needed to use it for taking the pictures)
    2 ) AC adapter with USB port
    3 ) Asus Vivotab Smart (running Win8 Pro)
    4 ) Asus Transleeve Keyboard
    5 ) Anker 10k mAh battery pack
    6 ) Capacitive Stylus
    7 ) Microsoft Bluetooth Mouse
    8 ) Flat USB cable
I had all this on me during a meeting yesterday, I was wearing a t-shirt with an unbuttoned shirt over it - the meeting was about rolling out tablets to the sales team and I talked for about 10 minutes before revealing that I had all the hardware I was telling them about tucked under my arms the entire time and no one knew! It was pretty neat and I have to admit I felt a little bit like a magician as I kept pulling "rabbits" out of my "hat." I swear that's not a sales pitch and as proof I'll share that I don't think I quite sold our sales team on wearing TechSlings themselves but I think they "got it" so who knows - we'll see what happens when they get their own tablets... ;)

The only thing that kind of irks me about my load-out is that the battery pack doesn't have a solar charger, I was really going for the completely untethered [zombie apocalypse ready] solution but none of the packs that had panels integrated really did it for me (not that a tiny integrated panel would be much use on a 10,000 mAh monster anyway). I suppose I could fit something like the SolarMio Pro that Geoff put in his Christmas guide in the tablet side but I wouldn't want to take it everywhere like the rest of the stuff, maybe the modular approach is better. :-?

So yeah, otherwise its really nice. I don't wear it all the time but I actually do find myself reaching for it on my way out the door pretty frequently. As some of you know my wife and I have been making daily trips to the hospital to visit our daughter in the NICU for a couple months now, this means I usually end up leaving work fairly early in the day - having a full PC on me (without feeling like I'm lugging one around) has been nice on a number of occasions when the need to remotely solve some random problem comes up after I've left for the day. I'd give more examples of where I've worn it but that's literary the only place I've spent any significant amount of time other than home and work since I got the Vivotab and needed a way to keep it with me. :o

Anyway, I just couldn't help but share (regardless of my connection to the product).
 
Dposcorp
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Re: What's a TechSling?

Wed Feb 13, 2013 1:29 pm

That actually looks like like a nice load out for someone who wont be at a desktop for hours at a time.
You could set up a office anywhere, and you are not carrying a laptop bag.
Its almost like wearing laptop backup, but in stealth mode. Job well done.
 
drfish
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Re: What's a TechSling?

Wed Feb 13, 2013 5:03 pm

Stealth Office, I like it. :) Thanks!
 
jihadjoe
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Re: What's a TechSling?

Thu Feb 14, 2013 4:20 am

This will be awesome when you walk into a meeting looking totally helpless and unprepared, and then boom you whip out your junk and everyone gasps in awe.
"Where was he packing that?" 8)

So when are you gonna put this into production?
I'm throwing money at the screen and nothing's happening. :D
 
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Re: What's a TechSling?

Thu Feb 14, 2013 6:41 am

Interesting. I cobbled together something similar a while back for work. I needed to carry around a control pad, for industrial robots, that was about half again as big as a keyboard kindle. Plus some small tools, various cables, and some replacement sensors. What I came up with used a custom made padded pouch for the control pad and some large sized ammo magazine pouches on the other side. I used some Military load bearing suspenders for the shoulder straps, this gave me a way to run a strap around my back to keep the pouches from swinging forward while I bent over from time to time. Granted I was in a Industrial setting more than a office/IT environment. The get up was handy because about 3/4 of the robots did not have any where you could lay anything down once you got into the safety cages around them.
 
drfish
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Re: What's a TechSling?

Thu Feb 14, 2013 8:07 am

jihadjoe,
Lol, yeah, that's how it works. :) You can actually order them already, right from the TechSlinger website. They just released the official mini version designed for the iPad Mini and Nexus 7 and similar. Of course YMMV with what you can do with your load-out and I want to let newcomers to the thread know that some of the features in my swanky plaid version aren't standard, specifically the back strap and the dividers inside the zipper pocket. Also my tablet side is the as of yet unreleased 11.6" compatible model so what you can order today is strictly for iPad or iPad Mini size or smaller tablets (there's extra room enough for even fairly bulky cases though). Phone wise its built around the iPhone with a case but some larger phones without cases will fit (my Lumia 920 is very snug, but it works).

Khali,
Necessity is the mother of invention. :wink: TechSlinger was born under different circumstances but similar needs.

Edit: BTW, there are a couple legit reviews for the TechSling online now, this one from iLounge and this one from The Gadgeteer. As a bit of a review snob I really like the attention to detail in The Gadgeteer review as well as his commentary on the stigma of wearing one, specifically the need for a "hero" to wear one (I'm thinking Barney Stinson). :lol: The iLounge review isn't flattering but it's more of a reflection on the concept than the product - and that's just fine, its not for everyone.
 
notfred
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Re: What's a TechSling?

Wed Aug 14, 2013 7:39 am

I see the site is staying up through the Slashdotting http://ask.slashdot.org/story/13/08/14/ ... ce-holster
 
drfish
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Re: What's a TechSling?

Wed Aug 14, 2013 7:43 am

Holy crap... :o

:D

Edit: Classic Slashdot, no one actually talking about TFA. :roll:

BTW, since I didn't resurect this thread myself I feel ok about pointing out that our As Seen On TV commercial is here and a video for a new product, The Side Order is here.
 
SuperSpy
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Re: What's a TechSling?

Wed Aug 14, 2013 10:35 am

The site is now giving a 509 Bandwidth Limit Exceeded =(
Desktop: i7-4790K @4.8 GHz | 32 GB | EVGA Gefore 1060 | Windows 10 x64
Laptop: MacBook Pro 2017 2.9GHz | 16 GB | Radeon Pro 560
 
drfish
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Re: What's a TechSling?

Wed Aug 14, 2013 11:18 am

Oh snap! I called our customer to let them know. Thanks for the heads up!
 
SuperSpy
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Re: What's a TechSling?

Wed Aug 14, 2013 12:24 pm

Looks like it's back up now, nice layout. :)
Desktop: i7-4790K @4.8 GHz | 32 GB | EVGA Gefore 1060 | Windows 10 x64
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drfish
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Re: What's a TechSling?

Thu Jan 09, 2014 9:47 am

So TechSlinger is at CES (Venetian Ballroom - 70233) - I've been watching for any writeups via regular Googling but haven't turned up a lot yet. CES is only half over and a lot of the big stuff is out of the way so maybe the little guys will get more press today and tomorrow. Really hoping Engadget or Gizmodo notices them but who knows what the odds of that are...

This is what I've found so far:
http://ces.shellypalmer.com/techslinger/
http://siliconrepublic.com/digital-life ... youre-les/
http://tabletworld.nl/nieuws/techslinge ... je-tablet/ (Dutch)
http://www.showstoppers.com/?p=9053 (press release)

The "TechSling Sport" mentioned in the last link is the newest iteration I've been working on. After CES I'll post some pictures of it here, it's really nice and looks kinda badass. :lol:

Edit: Slightly higher profile post here: http://bits.blogs.nytimes.com/2014/01/0 ... d-devices/ - of course one of the first comments mentions Scottevest :roll:

Edit 2: Made someone's "hot" list, that's something. http://www.examiner.com/article/twleve- ... e-2014-ces

Edit 3: Another little blip on the radar: http://www.yournerdybestfriend.com/2014 ... ou-go-huh/

Edit 4: Video interview: http://www.macvoices.com/wordpress/macv ... -covertly/

Edit 5: Here's another short interview: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6z7AjrfkCeE I've found quite a bit more coverage but most of it is fairly "canned" so I haven't added it here.
 
drfish
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Re: What's a TechSling?

Fri Jan 24, 2014 10:18 am

Here's a closeup of the new TechSling Sport. I don't want to be accused of any nefarious corporate shilling (even though it's a product I developed :P ) so I'll just put this here as a conversation starter and fill in some details if the thread decides to spring back to life.

Image
 
Forge
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Re: What's a TechSling?

Mon Jan 27, 2014 10:15 pm

Oh, I like the Sport, looks like a more flexible and porous material. That's the one thing I would want in my first gen Techslinger, some elasticity. When I went from my iPad to my Nexus 7, it was no go, and rightfully so. When I got my Nexus 10, though, it's close enough that it sorta-kinda fits, so I've been wearing it again. If it had some give and stretch, it would handle the generational changes in devices more ably.

So good job! Optimal progress! Do feel free to post more pics, it's your thread!
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drfish
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Re: What's a TechSling?

Thu Jan 30, 2014 3:40 pm

Thanks Forge! The material is a spacer fabric and it's really cool stuff. You've seen it before in a lot of other applications, mostly shoes and maybe your car seating. I know Logitech and Corsair have used it for mouse pouches and modular cable bags respectively but really it's everywhere. What we're using is a 6.5mm variety and it has quite a bit of body so we can make the whole thing as one layer of material. The inside and outside are woven differently but it is still just one layer of material, it's just tall. It feels nice and padded and very protective. I used an mSATA drive for scale in my pictures.

Image
Image

The other big thing that is different is the elastic closure strap. It took a bit to find just the right material but what we chose has a lot of body and stretches just enough to make the fit a little more universal (especially for chunkier cases). For the Sport we didn't want to make a bunch of different sizes again so we picked two primary form factors, the ~7" and the ~10" - which doesn't sound a lot different but things are generally oversized so the ~7" should be able to handle up to a [caseless] 8.9" Kindle (unconfirmed, it would be tight!) and the ~10" was basically made for the Surface Pro but works just fine for an iPad or smaller 10" device.

Silly animated gif of the elastic (not a lot of stretch but I think just enough):
Image

We also swapped out the old grosgrain ribbon and switched to ribbed nylon webbing for the binding on the front edge. It is the same material that is already on existing TechSlings for making the loops that the galluses and d-ring hang from. It adds more body and a better looking/more durable finish to the front edge. Speaking of the d-ring we decided to get rid of it since it mostly wasn't being used.

I don't have one of the phone/accessory sides handy to take pictures of but we basically made all the same changes to it material wise (including the elastic), we also made the phone pocket bigger (think Galaxy S3/4s, not Galaxy Notes) and added a divider to the zipper pocket similar to but simpler than what I showed in the prototypes in this thread.

We didn't make the backstrap part of the Sport because so far the best one I've come up with is just a bit of parachute cord run though the slots on the galluses and knotted on each end. I think it's better for someone to do that themselves if they want it anyway.

Let me know what you think! :)
 
Forge
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Re: What's a TechSling?

Thu Jan 30, 2014 11:30 pm

Very nice, I like the changes, good stuff, particularly the thicker material. Are these available for order directly by individuals? "Sling" me an URL? (Sorry, groaned even as I typed it, but I was compelled...)

A shame about the d rings, mine always had me thinking of ideas, but I never delivered, so it's a good call.
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drfish
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Re: What's a TechSling?

Fri Jan 31, 2014 7:15 am

Lol, they put the Sport on the store page right after CES.
 
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Re: What's a TechSling?

Fri Jan 31, 2014 11:05 am

drfish wrote:
Lol, they put the Sport on the store page right after CES.

Who's they? Isn't that site yours?
There is a fixed amount of intelligence on the planet, and the population keeps growing :(
 
drfish
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Re: What's a TechSling?

Fri Jan 31, 2014 11:18 am

I work for the manufacturer and am basically responsible for sales/design/and manufacturing process on our end (kind of a pet project, but growing). "They" are the inventor, operators of the site and in charge of all direct/retail sales. They were at CES, not me, I would have gone but I have reasons for needing to stay close to home.

The TS Sport design is one I'm particularly proud of/attached to since I've wanted to base a design around the spacer fabric for a long time but had to wait until another customer needed the material before I had enough in house to start messing with prototypes. I tried to throw all the bells and whistles we talked about in this thread into that design. :)
 
drfish
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Re: What's a TechSling?

Wed Sep 24, 2014 8:26 am

Just wanted to post something I was fiddling with, this is NOT an official or upcoming product it's just something I've wanted to mess with for awhile.

Image

The plan is to make a TechSling with a Qi charging pad in the phone pocket so your phone can charge every time you put it away. Of course there will be a battery pack in the lower pocket to allow this. If anyone cares I'll post more as I work but if not I won't try to "hawk" anything people aren't interested in. :P
 
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Re: What's a TechSling?

Wed Sep 24, 2014 12:08 pm

I was just digging around for my first gen Techsling, to try it out again... I was inventorying my daily carry and I need a new backpack... I wanted to see if I could flip back to the TechSling..

Here's what have:
1 MacBook Air (13")
1 iPhone 6 plus
1 HTC One (M7)
1 Wallet
2 or 3 charging cables..

If it works, I may try and fall back to an 11" MBA.. the Qi charger sounds interesting though..
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