Crippy Duck, Sheep Scarer, Wack-O-Phone

Well... the crippy duck (I have the wee bee which is a smidge smaller but the same) is fine. It has an adjustable shoulder strap. There's no reason for it to be knocking your knees unless your're 2 1/2 feet tall or something. It's got plenty of room for holding extra stuff. Should work fine.

Lowe-Pro Bag

I saw in the Digital Photography issue of American Photo (on the newstand last month) that Lowe Pro (or some similar camera bag manufacturer) makes a backpack style digital SLR case that will hold 1 dSLR body, a couple of lenses, a 15 inch PB. It didn't look like it had room for much else, but if you didn't take along extra lenses, you might be able to reconfigure it to take some books. I thought it looked pretty sweet (since I am often carrying around a couple of lenses, a couple of cameras and a laptop), but I've not seen one in person.

Like I said in your other thread, I have a crippy duck, and it's great, although it's a lot more bulky than it looks like it will be. Also, it doens't hold THAT much more stuff. If your camera is small, it will probably hold it, although I don't now how many books you'll be able to stuff in there. I mostly carry my PB, all the req'd cables, my wireless mouse, and some odds and ends. I'm pretty short, 5'3", and it seems pretty big, but it doesn't hit my knees or anything. One thing I love about it is that the velcro patch is huge, so if anyone tried to open it with you anywhere near, you'll hear it.

I have a timbuk2 commute messenger bag as well, and that definitely holds more books, although I always get paranoid leaving my laptop lumped in with a bunch of books. I'll probably be less paranoid once I get the white spots on my machine fixed.

Alia