What’s In Your Bag? Hackathon 2022 Edition

As the team prepares for our annual hackathon retreat, Hugo caught up with Henry, Gravitywell’s Technical Manager for a walkthrough of his essential work-away-from-work setup.

 

Let’s start with the bag - what can you tell us about it?

It’s a Tom Bihn Synapse 19 that I picked up from their factory in Seattle five years ago, around the time that I started at Gravitywell. They’ve been in business since the ‘70s and make each item by hand. The materials are great and I love the design - every pocket is made to be accessible from the outside and it’s easily the toughest and most well-organised bag that I own. It holds a surprising amount for its size as well - which you’re about to see!

That is quite a lot of kit you’ve got there. Why don't we start with the tech.

My laptop makes me an outlier at Gravitywell. All of the team save for Simon and I use Macs, though I’m thinking of moving over soon. For now my Huawei Matebook 14 suits me just fine. I’m especially a fan of its 3:2 aspect ratio, which makes it great for keeping more text on the screen at once.

The one downside is the terrible webcam and audio. For that I tend to use my iPad and AirPods, which has the added benefit of letting me take notes on my computer during calls without worrying about making a ton of noise.

I also need to give a quick shoutout to Anker, who is responsible for almost all of my cables, chargers, and adapters (hidden neatly away inside the Bellroy pouch). I love a good cable!

I spotted a couple of cameras in there and I'm intrigued...

I love digital and analogue photography so I do my best to balance the two. On the digital front I have a Fujifilm X-T30. It’s relatively small, has some fantastic lenses, and does a great job with images straight out of the camera thanks to their awesome film simulation settings. My current film camera of choice is the Olympus Trip 35 I mentioned in my Gravitywho? earlier this year. It’s quick and simple to use so I can enjoy taking pictures instead of worrying too much about metering my shots.

So I have to ask, what’s with the lengths of fabric? Serious DVT defence vibes.

They’re arm sleeves! I’m super paranoid about UV damage causing sunburn or fading tattoos so these are a great option when the weather gets hot and I don’t want to put on a sweater. I love the outdoors but I’m also pretty allergic to it - hence the hay fever meds as well.

Looks like there are quite a few games in there as well!

Yep! Hackathons are a great time for the team to get together and have some fun when we down tools for the day. Finding games that work for a larger group can be a challenge but I can always rely on Werewolf to go down well. The other two are from a Japanese company called Oink Games, who specialise in making quick games for 5-10 people. I just love their artwork too!

I also have my Backbone controller that, when combined with cloud services from Xbox and Playstation, turns my phone into a fully-fledged games console.

And finally, is that a bit of poolside reading you’re planning?

Absolutely! Like George, I’m a big sci-fi fan and have been looking forward to starting This Is How You Lose the Time War for ages. To make things a bit more work-related, I’m also currently reading through Julie Zhuo’s The Making of a Manager, which is full of great advice for supporting technical and creative teams to help them run smoothly.

 

When he’s not playing games, hiding from the sun, or stumbling off a cliff to get the perfect photo, Henry can be found supporting Gravitywell’s staff and clients to deliver solutions that get to the root of the problems they need to solve and the people they aim to serve.

To get in touch about your project, chat about bags, or get book and game recommendations, reach out to us at hello@gravitywell.co.uk.

Written by Hugo Walker (Head of Marketing & Digital Content). Read more in Latest by Hugo or check our their socials , Instagram