I know its a bit bulky but I would just get a pelican case.

The extra protection that a pelican case provides easily makes up for the bulkyness.

what you need to do, ala shawshank redemption mode, is to get the biggest bible you can find, and bore the exact shape of the empeg into it. i just hope this doesnt count as defiling god's works or anything.

I have a Bible big enough, however this would defeat the purpose since it's harder to handle than the empeg. Somehow I'm sure the whole Shawshank thing would have been ok with God. I mean what's worse ripping up a Bible you've memorized parts of or keeping a Bible in one piece but not paying attention to it .....

Really though, it's probably better to use a big ol' calculus textbook or something. The Bible actually has something useful and enjoyable to read inside, to many, anyway.

My sarcasm must not have come completely through in that post...

I mean what's worse ripping up a Bible you've memorized parts of or keeping a Bible in one piece but not paying attention to it .....

Actually in most of the circles I run in, a decrepit bible is like a badge of honor. Heck, throw it on the floorboard of your car for a week and you’re automatically qualified to teach Sunday school. I always feel sheepish because I can't bear to write in mine (nor could I ever bring myself to write in/ highlight textbooks in school. There must be a name for my condition, but I simply cannot mark up books).

The Shawshank thing would evoke an interesting response at bible study if you ever grabbed the wrong bible though.

Interestingly, I just read this essay about writing vs. not writing in books.

My mentor in the ministry goes through easily one a year... Leatherbound, quality paper, the whole nine yards... He just simply uses it that much... I don't know how he could though He's got most of it memorized.

Personally I wouldn't use one because they open on three sides and the opening is usually opposite the handle. It would probably lead to dropping he empeg eventually.

The official "empeg" case opens on three sides and it's GREAT that way. Makes it really easy to get in and out one-handed. Lay the case on the passenger seat, run the zipper around, grab and go.

And the placement of the handle has nothing to do with you dropping it out of an open case. The handle on the empeg case is on the same side as the opening, and if I were to pick it up unzipped, it would drop out nearly as easily if the handle were on any other side.

In fact, I think that having the handle on the opposite side as the zipper would help, because the empeg would probably drop out sooner (i.e., less likely to be from a high place when it drops. ).

I leave footprints so badly that those that borrow my books tend to give them back and go buy a copy of there own. I find it helps me converse with the book, especially as I read more than one book at a time.

Thanks for that link. It's good to know I'm not alone. It is funny to me that the article says that there are more "Footprint Leavers" than "Preservationists", and yet I've never met another preservationist (that I knew of). I used to get really stressed out in school when English teachers would tell me that when reading a book I needed to underline the thematic passages- sometimes they even checked to make sure we did it. I really did try, but after a while I'd always give up and just read the books. Fortunately, I have a good mind for picking up themes and quickly finding examples after having read a book, so I was able to fake it most of the time when a grade was on the line.

I was unaware of the original bag features (I haven't even seen one that I remember), however I'm still rattled from breaking the fill nipple on my empeg, in a closed soft case. I'm probably over zealous (in many things) however I'm going to the aluminum pelican with a welded handcuff.

The site that hosts that article is worth looking at as well... I found this kind of cool.

You are not alone - I am a preservationist as well. No dogears, no underlines, no notes jotted in the margins. A have an old SIMM that I use for a bookmark, but lately I have been using a really cool booklight called the lightwedge. Otherwise, apart from a little wear around the edges and spine (unavoidable), it remains in great shape.

I think it is just a different way of absorbing the information in the book. Some need to absorb it, comment, jot, underline, etc. in and around the text, making their thoughts part of the text, surrounding it. Others draw the words in, doing this processing in the mind.