i’m always looking for more efficient ways to carry my ipod when i ride with a bag (i just stuff it in my pocket when i’m not wearing a bag) and until i saw the ARCHIVE BAGS CELL PHONE HOLSTER, i had a pretty good thing going with the CHROME BAGS ACCESSORY POUCH. but to tell you the truth, that thing is bulky as fuck and the closure crushes my headphone jack. so when i saw the archive one, with it’s crazy slim profile and wraparound design (allowing for the headphone jack to sit outside the closure), i fired a couple quick emails to the designer (victor, who’s a no-nonsense, dependable, and friendly dude) and it was on.

it shipped yesterday and arrived today (we’re both in the city — no surprise there), and straight away, i have to say that i’m incredibly pleased and impressed. the design of it is very simple — it’s a large "T" that wraps around your phone or ipod in each direction, and the horizontal wrap doubles as the mounting wrap…

this aspect not only keeps it easy for victor to produce, but it keeps the profile slim and it makes it very, VERY adjustable. i could keep my clunky old ipod in here if i wanted to, i’ve already put my motorola droid 2 in there, and my ipod (a touch) has one of the slimmest profiles going, and it fits perfectly too. as you can see in the banner pic, it is enclosed just slightly off-center horizontally, which allows the headphone jack to sit outside.

once mounted on the shoulder strap of my bag, it looks like so…

i haven’t ridden with it yet, but i have put my bag on with the wrap installed and just moved around a bit, and initially i couldn’t be happier. i can plug and unplug my headphones quickSnap (allowing me to easily put on, take off, or just spin and access my bag), and i can turn my head without my cheek or chin bumping into the thing — a huge difference from where i was at before. i also really love the understated design of it, and the simple, unobtrusive logo (regular readers know how i feel about having logos all over everything).

one thing i need to figure out for myself, and this has nothing to do with victor’s wonderful product, is how to shorten my headphone cord. because my old pouch was so bulky, it had room inside to stuff the extra bit of cord. but now with the hugging profile of this beautiful thing, i have a lot of cord just hanging there. but that’s my issue and says nothing for the product itself, which is nothing short of perfect. good design is ALWAYS simple.

thank you victor, you make a hell of a product and i’m proud to rep it!

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