Product Review: Harper Insulated Travel Bag from Sugar Medical

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I just arrived home yesterday after a month-long summer vacation that brought my family to 8 metropolitan areas in five countries. We had two rental cars, 7 flights, and numerous time zones crossed over the past month. 

We love to travel and do a lot of it, but to be honest, my diabetes travel gear hasn't been upgraded in several years.

An eBags small packing cube and Frio Cooling Case have been my go-to packing system for what seems like forever (literally 15 years for the Frio case) and a while back, I showed how I've been packing for travel here for Diabetes Daily.  

This Packing-Cube-Plus-Frio-Case has worked decently well for me during travel. The combo of bags would be stuffed into my carry-on for airline travel and I would transfer anything I needed for the day into my small daily case that I'd carry in my purse or day pack. 

As you may remember, I purchased the Trellis Universal Deluxe case in January and posted the review and video here. This is the case that I carry daily and I love it just as much now, 6 month later, as I did initially. 

I was thrilled to have found the Harper Insulated Travel Bag from Sugar Medical to take the place of my packing cube travel system.  This Harper bag is a welcome addition to my collection diabetes travel gear and accessories. 

The Great Features: 

• Insulated bag!
• Space for an icepack
• Additional spots for pump supplies, more pens and/or insulin vials
• Flexible storage space for snacks or small personal items
• Two outside insulated pockets
• Carry in hand, as a shoulder bag or crossbody with the removable shoulder strap
• Fun colors and pattern (black also available)
• Removable supply pouch in the back (*see note below)

What it doesn't include but I'd love to see: 

(Please note, I'm very critical and looking at this bag with a designer's eye) 

• There's no velcro option to secure the meter into this bag like there is with the Universal Supply case. The meter goes into an elastic mesh pocket in this bag and I really don't like pulling the meter from a pouch to use it. 
• The removable supply pouch that comes in this bag (referenced above) contains the hook portion of the velcro that secures it to the case. This is not great for me because I've ruined several shirts after getting them stuck on various velcro closures from other bags. In my opinion, the hook-side of the velcro should be the part that remains in the travel bag, with the soft loop portion of the velcro on the removable pouch.
• If it's meant to be worn and used, not just for extra supply storage, I'd love a double zipper. This way, you could keep it on your body but open just the top portion by the handle to remove an insulin pen or other item without opening the whole bag. 
• I also miss the trash compartment for used test strips. This is particularly important if you're using it as an every-day supply bag,

All that being said,  this is STILL a great new way to travel and it has a ton of potential uses.

I can see this bag being PERFECT for a day at Disney, camp, at an amusement park or other activity where you'll be away from home all day. I think it's particularly good for kids -- or parents traveling with T1D kids. 

 

Will I use the Harper travel bag as my way to pack all the extra diabetes supplies that I need for travel?

Absolutely!

The travel bag is perfect to hold: 

• Medical ID, Driver's license or emergency instructions
• A few extra Dexcom CGM sensors
• 2+ insulin pens
• 2+ insulin bottles  
• 2+ bottles of test strips
• Glucose tablets
• Several infusion sets and reservoirs (if using an insulin pump)
• Alcohol swabs, Skin-tack wipes, lancets, lancing device, pen needles, syringes
• Snacks (I used it for a few packs of nuts)
• Sunglasses, small wallet, lipstick, etc. 

Yes, there's room for all of this!

The size of this travel bag lends itself well for 2-3 weeks worth of supplies for me. I'm thrilled that it's durable, insulated, and keeps all of my supplies fastened securely, unlike my previous throw-everything-into-a-bag method. 

BUT, I HAVE TO BE PERFECTLY HONEST: 

Will I carry this bag with me on a daily basis when traveling?

Most likely not. 

After a few days of using this as my everyday diabetes bag, I find it to be larger than I personally need to carry every day.

I LOVE the Universal Supply Bag in my purse or daypack for my daily diabetic supplies. This is what I use every day whether I'm home or traveling.

But -- as a bag to carry my extra supplies for travel, it's brilliant. 

I WOULD carry this in an instant if planning a trip to Disney (last time I carried a small soft-sided cooler) or when I knew I'd be in the hot sun all day. 

Maybe next time I'll bring  Harper to the beach with me. Stay tuned for some of our upcoming adventures together!

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Sugar Medical has many great diabetes supply cases in solids, prints, and even leather. There are purses, sling backpacks and the smaller, Universal Supply Case that I love so much. 

If you're interested in the Harper travel bag, Universal Supply Case or just want to check out Sugar Medical's products, follow this link to their website. 

And if you'd like to save on your next purchase, please use the discount code 

diaverge15

to receive a 15% discount on your next purchase from Sugar Medical.

I look forward to bringing Harper (the bag!) on all my upcoming summer travel and then sharing with you over the next few weeks.

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A huge thanks to Sugar Medical for supplying this travel bag to review. All opinions are my own based on my experience.