If you have a roll-around PC case with an extendable handle, I got myself one of these. It attaches to the handle as part of the table, then has a 3rd leg out in front. [...]
http://www.deskspaceanyplace.com/
Unfortunately I don't use a roll-case, but maybe I should consider getting one. I use a backpack.
Alright, so you implanted this idea of a rolling case in my head and I ran with it, in a totally different direction.
I have been looking for an ultra-durable, ultra-spacious backpack for quite some time. I wanted a backpack that can hold my laptop (in a protected, dedicated pouch), PLUS all my hand tools. This would eliminate me carrying my Targus laptop backpack plus CLC tool bag everywhere. There are plenty of products out there on the market that sound like they fit the bill, but I nixed each and every one of them for one reason or another. The most promising was the
Veto Pro Tech Pac, which didn't have a dedicated laptop pouch. I contacted the folks at Veto to give them some feedback and tell them what I wanted to see in a backpack. They were excited at the great coincidence of my call; they said that they were actually having a design meeting the next day to design just such a "laptop + tools" backpack, and the president of the company (Roger Brouard) wanted to talk to me ASAP and bring my ideas to the meeting. I had good long conversation with him and sent him some pics of my current hand bag and back pack, all my tools laid out, etc. I spoke with them later that week and the direction they decided to take the new design is to make a laptop + tool bag that's actually
smaller than the current tools-only backpack which was borderline too small for my tools already. That's what the majority of their customer base requested. But they said that they would send me one as soon as they have one, for product testing.
I've been waiting for that backpack for a couple of months now and I wonder how long it takes to go from design meeting to bag-in-my-hand. I'm getting impatient; carrying around this heavy tool bag is hard on my elbow. So the idea of a rolling tool + laptop case seems actually better than the backpack! No weight on my elbow OR my back.
I am a rather scatter-brained person. As I work I get my tools spread out all over and then when it's time to leave, I look around and gather up everything that I see, but sometimes that isn't everything. Also I think sometimes my tools walk off when my back is turned. I leave tools behind on job sites more frequently than I am comfortable with. In some plants I've been to that are 5S-heavy, I see tool shadowboxes that have a
bicolor foam "tool management system," and I've thought for a long time that I'd like to implement something like that, where every tool has its place and missing tools are
obvious, but that's hard to pull off with a backpack.
So I bought a
Pelican Storm iM2950 rolling hard case and some of that tool foam. My plan is to consolidate my backpack (computer, clipboard, cables), my tool bag (hand tools, DMM, clamp meter), and all the stuff that I frequently have to run back to my car for (cordless tools, handheld tach, handheld 'scope, ferrules/zip ties/screws/misc consumables, and some assorted wire) into this pelican case. I will make some plywood plates just the size of the inside of the case and attach the foam to them, so I will have a multi-tiered system of tool foam panels that fit snugly inside, with room for the
folding stool that I bought, and a tripod with laptop attachment that I plan to make.
About the tripod attachment: I didn't see anything for sale that I felt like paying for. The rolling case attachment didn't really do it for me, sorry; thanks for the suggestion though - I really appreciate it. I think what I'll do is make a coupling for my tripod that has 4 swiveling rods that come out from the center. I'll apply industrial velcro to the rods and to the under side of my laptop. So the rods will collapse down the length of a single rod when not in use, and expand out into a 4-legged spider the size of my laptop when needed, and the laptop will cling to the rods.
