Man Bag (not a handbag)
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I seem to be carrying more stuff with me than ever, so rather than stuffing my pockets full of stuff. Do any of you use a smallish bag, not a laptop bag, as I don't carry one other than for work.

Cheers
No.

Hope that helps.
Trooper wrote:
No.

Hope that helps.


Maybe
Yep, I have one. For years before I got it I'd always struggled with carrying wallet, phone, keys, and perhaps a paperback/Kindle in the summer when I wasn't wearing a jacket.
Never had a problem with a small backpack, to be fair.
I like that it's visible and accessible in a way a backpack isn't.
I use a small Tom Bihn Ristretto when I’m not carrying my laptop bag (which is also a Ristretto, but a bigger model.) They’re messenger style, which I prefer in this size of bag. They do a few bags that might meet your criteria. Look at Waterfield Designs too, they have nice stuff.

If you want something more masculine in style I’d suggest you avoid leather and get a material with some texture to it — canvas or nylon. I think they look less handbag-ish.
I have a smallish Dunlop one like this that has almost worn out now, but I've had it a long time.

Image

I also had a Bench one like this which was slightly larger and I preferred, but the zip on the small pocket broke.

Image

I'm actually on the lookout for a new one myself.
Best size for an iPad Pro, magic keyboard and Switch case? Small I'm guessing would do it.
Fuck those are expensive!
Lonewolves wrote:
Fuck those are expensive!

I don’t mess around when it comes to bags :)

To be fair, they have meaningful lifetime warranties and are built to last. My small Ristretto I’ve had for seven or eight years and belonged to someone else before that. When a shoulder strap buckle snapped, they immediately shipped me a replacement free of charge.
Men's Canvas Shoulder Messenger... https://www.amazon.co.uk/dp/B01FVL2VAE? ... pop_ma_swf

I bought that. Seems fine.
Doctor Glyndwr wrote:
Lonewolves wrote:
Fuck those are expensive!

I don’t mess around when it comes to bags :)

To be fair, they have meaningful lifetime warranties and are built to last. My small Ristretto I’ve had for seven or eight years and belonged to someone else before that. When a shoulder strap buckle snapped, they immediately shipped me a replacement free of charge.

I appreciate buying cheaper goods is often a false economy, but when you don't have the cash to drop on them up front then you don't have much choice.

Mali: that's out of stock and no mention of price, so you might as well have posted the sink picture.
It was about £20. Are you in a bad mood or something?
This is the one I have:
https://www.amazon.co.uk/gp/product/B00Q80VX0M

Lasted 18 months so far.
MaliA wrote:
It was about £20. Are you in a bad mood or something?

Not at all!

I probably wouldn't spend £20 on an unbranded bag from eBay as the quality is unknown and probably highly variable.
Good job kov was asking. And it was amazon. Carry on.
MaliA wrote:
Good job kov was asking. And it was amazon. Carry on.

So how's he going to buy it when it's out of stock? :D

Are you in a bad mood? ;)
This actually looks pretty decent and Debenhams seem to have a sale on at the moment. Obviously not as trendy as the Doc's recommendations but seem to be well made.

https://www.debenhams.com/webapp/wcs/st ... 31BRNV1_-1
Looks nice if you like leather. I don’t, but that’s just a personal taste thing.
Lonewolves wrote:
Fuck those are expensive!

Also, I’d best not start posting links to camera bags...
Doctor Glyndwr wrote:
Looks nice if you like leather. I don’t, but that’s just a personal taste thing.

There's lots of canvas bags too. Reduced from £150ish down to about £60ish which is about what I can stretch to.

I think Kov has a decent range of stuff to choose from now. :D
Lonewolves wrote:
MaliA wrote:
Good job kov was asking. And it was amazon. Carry on.

So how's he going to buy it when it's out of stock? :D

Are you in a bad mood? ;)


Handbags in the manbag thread?! Whatever next.
I near-constantly carry a backpack, and it's crammed full of things I might need.

I feel all weird when I don't have it with me.
I've never carried a bag and the very idea seems odd to me.
You get to pretend to ‘be’ Indiana Jones too.
Kern wrote:
You get to pretend to ‘be’ Indiana Jones too.


Well you do if you get the right colour scheme :

Attachment:
tb.jpg


My other half is pretty obsessed with Tom Bihn stuff - i've had this maybe 4 years or so - nice size to dump stuff in when going out and can easily sling it over a shoulder

Cras wrote:
I've never carried a bag and the very idea seems odd to me.


This was me for a very long time - I just had full pockets of stuff - but if its warm and I don't want to wear a jacket then this is something simple to carry all my crap around in
So what do you people carry with you? I only carry my phone and keys around with me... Oh, and my wallet but that's tiny. If I need to carry anything else, I use my utterly brilliant Dreamcast bag.
I sometimes go and work in a coffee shop or pub and take my stuff with me for that.
I've got loads of stuff.
Here it is: (in order from top of bag to bottom)
Two pairs of wired headphones
Enough audio cables to plug anything into anything else
A usb sound card
Various usb cables
A pen
An adjustable spanner
A screwdriver with lots of heads
A breathalyser
Wet wipes
A poncho
Paracetamol (and diazapam at the moment)
A laptop
A deck of cards
A tablet
A phone case
A lighter
A Kindle
A notepad
Wireless headphones (large)
A couple of USB plugs
A portable speaker
A portable charger
A first aid kit
A tiny bottle of sriracha
Some salt
Some money (£40 or so)
Pants, socks and a spare T-shirt
Keys
Chewing gum
A usb stick with handy portable apps on

And whatever trash I've ordered from Amazon that day.
That does seem like a lot to be lugging about, and 3 pairs of headphones seems like more than enough

I do quite like these little insights into the lives of other people.

I mostly carry a laptop and an ipad for work, so I use one of these ''Toffee' brand satchels as it has enough space for my other bits, yet isn't so big that I can cram it full of loads of junk. Even without a laptop inside it's still quite a nice bag, although one of the girls at work did tease me that it looked a bit like a handbag (it doesn't).

I paid a lot less than that list price though, I think it was around 20 -30 bucks on clearance from a local store, I think they bought too many in and found that few people really wanted to pay that much so the stroe just wanted to get rid of them. It's well made and looks quite smart.
Thanks guys.

A lot of helpful stuff there.
In case no-one mentioned them, Crumpler are really good as well. Expensive, but their bags are pretty much indestructible
TheVision wrote:
So what do you people carry with you? I only carry my phone and keys around with me... Oh, and my wallet but that's tiny. If I need to carry anything else, I use my utterly brilliant Dreamcast bag.


Aside from a phone and keys, I always have a brolly with me. And as I usually leave the house to make post office trips, I use these bags to cart my parcels around in. Sturdy and plain black, so suits me just fine.
Grim..., yesterday:
Image
I tend to use small backpacks for work (doubles as day bags when up in the lakes etc)

Decathlon have great Quechua ones in various sizes/colours:

These ones are good for a tablet and butties - https://www.decathlon.co.uk/arpenaz-10l ... gLGQfD_BwE

Next size up would get you a fair bit more in (my current work bag) - https://www.decathlon.co.uk/arpenaz-20l ... 30473.html

Oh, there's the 30l version on sale now too - https://www.decathlon.co.uk/arpenaz-30l ... 32411.html
TheVision wrote:
So what do you people carry with you?

Lunch, sketchbooks & pens, reading book(s) and Kindle Fire HD.
I have one of these for work:

https://www.decathlon.co.uk/900-cycling ... 85336.html

It's really sturdy and it works as a pannier too.
Sir Taxalot wrote:
That does seem like a lot to be lugging about, and 3 pairs of headphones seems like more than enough

The pair I use don't actually go into my bag, so I have four on me at any given time. There's a reason, but it's not a good one.

I missed out my bag of toiletries.
I use a 40 litre Level 3 backpack which I carry enough 5.56 & 7.62 ammo, med kits, flashbangs, bandages and spare tactical sights for me and a small team of vaguely incompetents.

https://www.amazon.co.uk/dp/B00CE8ZILM/ ... ZBbKFF0P5X
Grim... wrote:
There's a reason, but it's not a good one.

Welcome to Beex.
I've got the large version of this, by the way: https://www.thenorthface.co.uk/innovati ... -pack.html

I'd like it to be a little bigger, but as long as I'm disciplined with "what goes where" then it's okay. I seriously considered a small hiking backpack for a while.
Satsuma wrote:
I use a 40 litre Level 3 backpack which I carry enough 5.56 & 7.62 ammo, med kits, flashbangs, bandages and spare tactical sights for me and a small team of vaguely incompetents.

https://www.amazon.co.uk/dp/B00CE8ZILM/ ... ZBbKFF0P5X

Oh, that reminds me. Markg and I have similar for RC plane/Quadcopter outings: https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/30L-Military ... 2129225831 Excellent for the money.
Satsuma wrote:
I use a 40 litre Level 3 backpack which I carry enough 5.56 & 7.62 ammo, med kits, flashbangs, bandages and spare tactical sights for me and a small team of vaguely incompetents.

https://www.amazon.co.uk/dp/B00CE8ZILM/ ... ZBbKFF0P5X

In stock and has a price. You win!
Kov, buy a Brompton bike then get one of these:

Brompton Ortlieb

Solid bag, lots of colour options. Can fit in a tablet, waterproofs, kindle, soup, bike clips, fags, water bottle, gloves, notebook, VPN dongle, PS Vita, crisps.

Not only that, you get a bike to push it around on.
I'm impressed we've been able to get this far in the thread without any reference to Lady Bracknell.
Work days:
Pockets - Wallet, train pass, change, keys, phone
Backpack - laptop, charger, headphones, pens n shit, lightweight raincoat, baseball cap, water bottle
In this https://www.amazon.co.uk/gp/product/B07 ... UTF8&psc=1 which is the perfect size for me, it's about half the size of my last backpack. It looks bigger in the pictures than it actually is in real life.

Non work days:
Pockets - wallet, change, keys, phone.
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