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the Keybrief TKL

the Keybrief TKL

$180.00

This keyboard carry brief, handmade here in California, was specifically designed to fit the Norbaforce and Norbatouch keyboards, but it is compatible with a wide range of TKL-sized keyboards.

"The Norbauer bag is fucking awesome. There’s leather in all the right places. Padding where there needs to be. Small touches that scream quality. ... One hell of a nerd purse." 
Beaker on Keebtalk

"outrageously high quality"
Captain Shwah on GeekHack

It features a soft calfskin leather handle and piping, a water-resistant Cordura shell, closed-cell-foam padding around all faces, and a custom miniature Norbaforce keyboard as its zipper pull (cast at a high-end jewelry atelier in New England). The bag also has an interior zippered pocket for holding USB cables and/or tools, soft gray tech suede lining, seat-belt style webbing, polished nickel strap slider, and military-style snap hooks. 

This design is offered in a limited edition of 100 per variant and will not be produced again in this same combination of fabrics and finishes.

MOLLE modularity and number-pad bag

The brief features military-style MOLLE loops at the front for the modular and flexible attachment of accessories. The two smaller sets of dual loops are for small clip items like pens and flashlights. The larger matrix of MOLLE loops accomodates a wide range of third-party MOLLE bags and also the optional number-pad bag, which is designed to hold number pad keyboards such as the RealForce 23U, KMAC-Pad, and Filco TenKeyPad. (Those of us who prefer TKLs often view the optimal ergonomic set up to be a TKL keyboard at left, a mouse to the right of that, and a number pad to the right of the mouse.)

Goldwork patch

 The bag includes a swappable patch bearing the Norbauer & Co. portcullis logo. Each patch is sewn individually by hand by a skilled artist who painstakingly threads into place metal wires in patterns to form the graphical design. This style of metal-wire hand-embroidery, sometimes called "Goldwork," is an ancient handicraft of the Orient, which eventually made its way to Europe to become a traditional part of French and British military regalia and liturgical vestments.

As an optional accessory, you may choose show your switch pride by swapping the logo badge with one of these optional Goldwork patches:

Zipper pulls 

The custom zipper pulls were made by the same factory that makes my Norbaforce precious-metal keyrings:

Dimensions

Brief interior space approximately 42cm x 20cm x 6cm

Brief pocket approximately 34cm x 14cm

Numpad module interior space approximately 18cm x 14cm x 5cm