The Elephant in the Room - Man Purse

[skyvue]

The tough-guy posturing in this thread is amusing. Feels a bit like junior high.

Everyone in New York carries a bag occasionally, if not daily. Live car-free for a while and you'll see the need for a bag in no time, macho attitude or not.

What does mine have in it? The book I'm currently reading and/or a couple of magazines, a fold-up umbrella, an iPod, a Palm Pilot, two or three ink pens, a couple of nylon grocery bags that fold into small pouches (yeah, I try to go "green" when I can; is that unmanly, too?), a container for Advil, Sudafed, and vitamins.

Many's the time that I leave home in the morning and don't return until midnight, so yeah, I need something to carry the stuff I'll need over the course of the day.

As for dubbing a guy's bag something derisive like "man purse," most of the women I know in NYC hate the term "purse." So you'd be better off nixing the "purse" jabs if you ever visit the city. You'll piss the women off, too.

 

[RockBottom]

When I'm not using my leather briefcase, I'm partial to a LL Bean canvas messenger bag. I lugged one around Iraq and it's good for not showing dust.

 

[nobodyspecial]

Work I use one of these.
http://www.duluthpack.com/product_detail.aspx?product=Portfolios

Weekends I rarely carry any sort of bag, most stuff is left in my car unless needed. If I happen to need to carry more than will fit into my pockets comfortably, I just use a small rucksack. One good thing about cold weather is most items fit into coat pockets. I can't stand having much in my pants pockets.

 

[tonypaj]

If I need to take stuff to the office, here's my choice:

http://www.chapmanbags.com/ChapmanBagsSite/product/Briefcases+and+Folio+Bags_Briefcases/NKB17.htm

I've got it in olive green, it fits my macbook, and the best part of it is that I can use it also for more informal stuff, just around town. Friends of mine had other models of these when I used to work in Africa, great for shorter trips...

tonypaj

 

[carebear]

The tough-guy posturing in this thread is amusing. Feels a bit like junior high.

Project much? Or do you just assume you know the true motivation and rational behind other's comments?

Perhaps such mental powers come from the rarified air of the big city?

 

[poetman]

Okay, so I guess my thread got merged...

The nomenclature of the "bag" I want is irrelevant. so let's try and refrain from what we call it and how that makes us feel: it's a bag, and I'm still a man when I carry one, and by changing the name from "bag" to "briefcase" to "messenger bag" or "man purse," we still don't change the item or that fact that I have something transporting my things for me instead of carrying them in my arms. Despite many male social anxieities, your gender and sexuality is neither defined by nor altered by a bag!

I'm looking for a brown, soft leather over the shoulder bag that has a vintage feel. It can be old or new, I just want it to be vintage inspired (40'sish). I'm not looking for something canvas or a bag with any other color.

Thanks All.

 

[Trotsky]

http://www.customhide.com/default.htm

I have their 1945 Army repro model, thing is built like a tank. That will be too big for most of you guys, it's huge.

If I need something smaller I have my Mk VII Gasmask bag with leather strap (yes, think Indiana Jones). That is generally all I need when I'm not at school.

 

[Mojave Jack]

Why are there so many comments against carrying a bag of some sort in this thread? Surely there are other threads where those folks that don't want to carry a bag could contribute something positive.

For those that are here in search of constructive information, Territory Ahead has introduced Guy Stuff Day Bag:

They also have shoulder bags of other sizes, like a messenger bag size, etc. I'm thinking this might be a handy sized bag for some of my needs when I'm doing research on the road:

That is, of course, when I need a bag to carry my gear and can manage to overcome my massive insecurity and compulsive need to conform...

 

[tonypaj]

Well, here's another attempt, got one of his travel (hunting) bags, but the smaller bags are cool, as well, leather or mixed materials:

http://www.alexandremareuil.com/index.php?sescode=HMUBQZKVJEZUAGLZJBRFFKPJRQOMZYMO&lang=en

These are from France, where even the hunters don't mind man purses...

tonypaj

 

[nobodyspecial]

I took a second look at the original post and a second look at the Duluth Pack site and came up with this. http://www.duluthpack.com/product_detail.aspx?product=Safari Portfolio

I like the idea of grab handles at the top in addition to the shoulder strap. A leather bottom like my Duluth Pack briefcase would be nice. As I mentioned before, if I need such a bag I typically carry a small rucksack, however these sorts of bags would be a bit classier.

 

[carebear]

Why are there so many comments against carrying a bag of some sort in this thread? Surely there are other threads where those folks that don't want to carry a bag could contribute something positive.

That is, of course, when I need a bag to carry my gear and can manage to overcome my massive insecurity and compulsive need to conform...

The comments against carrying a bag haven't been, for the most part, sex-based. The comments are:

Practicality - Are we really always needing to carry all that stuff? It's a philosophical question similar to the modern perceived need to always have a cell phone on your person and ready for immediate answering.

Obviously when you have to have a laptop for business, or you are car-free for the day, or you are out in the field then yes, you might need more gear and have to carry it on your person. But it is sophistry to conflate those particular situations with the modern practice of always having a bag of crap with you in every situation. Especially when the form of the bag doesn't fit it's function...

Fashion - Wearing a shoulder bag on a strap or a backpack looks horrible with a suit and in fact is unecessary, since men already have bags for business use. Briefcases and attaches with handles, designed to carry your work stuff without making you look like a suit-wearing Sherpa.

Style - The canvas musette bag is great for days off or hikes, but if you are dressed professionally, carry an attache or brief case. Heck, have a shoulder strap on it if you end up having to go more than a few blocks and it really has some weight, but let the form of the bag fit the function and situation.

Style - There's no reason for a man's bag to look feminine, thus the Duluth and such recommendations. One of the first page posts talked about a designer showing what was in essence a man's clutch bag. The average clutch is designed to only carry, for a woman, what a man would carry in his pockets for an evening out. Key, money, ID, maybe a comb or phone (and a compact and lippy for Edward ). That kind of stuff is pocket litter, even if you do have an attache along for the binos and flare gun.

Humor - The serious comments about not carrying a bag were almost all philosophical or fashion related. The comments making jokes about "murses" were almost all obviously intended solely as humorous, reflecting fun, not any sort of "insecurity".

I, for one, am sick of people who disagree with me or others deciding to snarkily diagnose some kind of mental hang-up. As if they know my mind better than I do.

In return, I wonder why (without assuming they are crazy and/or just stupid) they feel the need to do such projecting rather than just, like a grown-up, posing a rational counter argument or seeking to determine, by asking, the actual motivation and rational of the folks they disagree with.

 

[nobodyspecial]

As a practical matter I rarely have a need to carry much on weekends. I'm generally near my car or possibly on my bicycle in which case I have various bike bags to carry what I may need. I can easily see one needing some form of bag if access to a car is not convenient or one does not have a car. In college, the pre car era, I would use some form of bag or rucksack when out and about on weekend errands.

The original post referred to weekend routines, one would assume a more casual apperance than during the work week rather than professional dress. Therefore a shoulder bag would not look out of place as it might with a suit.

I had not heard the term murse before this post and on a good day I simply find it annoying.

 

[Mojave Jack]

The comments against carrying a bag haven't been, for the most part, sex-based. The comments are:

Practicality - Are we really always needing to carry all that stuff? It's a philosophical question similar to the modern perceived need to always have a cell phone on your person and ready for immediate answering.

Obviously when you have to have a laptop for business, or you are car-free for the day, or you are out in the field then yes, you might need more gear and have to carry it on your person. But it is sophistry to conflate those particular situations with the modern practice of always having a bag of crap with you in every situation. Especially when the form of the bag doesn't fit it's function...

Fashion - Wearing a shoulder bag on a strap or a backpack looks horrible with a suit and in fact is unecessary, since men already have bags for business use. Briefcases and attaches with handles, designed to carry your work stuff without making you look like a suit-wearing Sherpa.

Style - The canvas musette bag is great for days off or hikes, but if you are dressed professionally, carry an attache or brief case. Heck, have a shoulder strap on it if you end up having to go more than a few blocks and it really has some weight, but let the form of the bag fit the function and situation.

Style - There's no reason for a man's bag to look feminine, thus the Duluth and such recommendations. One of the first page posts talked about a designer showing what was in essence a man's clutch bag. The average clutch is designed to only carry, for a woman, what a man would carry in his pockets for an evening out. Key, money, ID, maybe a comb or phone (and a compact and lippy for Edward ). That kind of stuff is pocket litter, even if you do have an attache along for the binos and flare gun.

Humor - The serious comments about not carrying a bag were almost all philosophical or fashion related. The comments making jokes about "murses" were almost all obviously intended solely as humorous, reflecting fun, not any sort of "insecurity".

I, for one, am sick of people who disagree with me or others deciding to snarkily diagnose some kind of mental hang-up. As if they know my mind better than I do.

In return, I wonder why (without assuming they are crazy and/or just stupid) they feel the need to do such projecting rather than just, like a grown-up, posing a rational counter argument or seeking to determine, by asking, the actual motivation and rational of the folks they disagree with.

Your points are well made, Matthew, and I would agree with each. And if the thread was in, say, the OB, and started off as a "why men should never carry a shoulder bag" thread, then fine, criticism is encouraged and, potentially, at least, appreciated as feedback. Post away on why people should not carry a water bottle wherever they go, or why they should not encumber themselves with unecessary paraphenalia. But what I want here is info on bags, not info on why a man should simplify or carry everything in pockets.

And I do see (and appreciate) the humor in many posts; my last comment was intended as exactly that. I certainly hope you didn't think my (attempt at) humor was directed at you! No one wants to see two former Marines going at it; that'd just be messy and wouldn't get us anywhere.

For me personally, I want to carry as little as possible, and have begun lately to resent even my cell phone. I don't want to carry a lot of crap around, but when I travel, though, say to a conference, it's unavoidable and I'd like to see what others are carrying in a similar setting. Same thing for the field, so what I need is a bag to carry the stuff in, not a debate on why I should or should not need (or want) to carry it.

 

[Hemingway Jones]

Let's keep it polite, gentlemen.

All dissent is appreciated. Let's keep it on the facts and away from the personal.

As for me, I carry a shoulder bag in the style of nearly every man in Italy and France. If a man's LVT bag were to suddenly materialize in my room, I would carry that too, proudly.

 

[CharlestonBows]

As for me, I carry a shoulder bag in the style of nearly every man in Italy and France. If a man's LVT bag were to suddenly materialize in my room, I would carry that too, proudly.

Like Hemingway, I carry a shoulder/messenger bag every day. As a student and a professional, I've simply got too much to stuff into the pockets. However with the bag, as with all things I carry, I try to keep it as slim and no-nonsense as possible.

 

[Hemingway Jones]

Like Hemingway, I carry a shoulder/messenger bag every day. As a student and a professional, I've simply got too much to stuff into the pockets. However with the bag, as with all things I carry, I try to keep it as slim and no-nonsense as possible.

Here, here.
Where I am frustrated is that I cannot find a decent bag for my camera. I carry my Barbour bag, but I wish I had something a bit sleeker and more modern for when I am dressed more formally. An SLR and a couple of lenses can be a bit bulky for some of the bags out there.

Also, I don't like to have anything crossing over my chest and wrinkling my tie, so I tend to wear it on one shoulder. I was in Venice when a local friend of mine said, "Tim, why are you choking yourself?" lol

 

[citRon]

Here is what I'm saving up for. I'm hoping I can talk my wife into this as my "Christmas+Birthday+Father's Day+Anniversary" Gift!

http://www.saddlebackleather.net/store/scripts/prodView.asp?idproduct=18


what will I carry in it? My ArchaeologyTextbook(s), laptop (maybe), calendar, pen, Bible, and a Colt Lightweight Commander .45

 

[carebear]

I got ranty there. I would like to apologize for that.

 

[Mojave Jack]

I got ranty there. I would like to apologize for that.

No worries here! And I apologize if I got a bit trigger happy, too.

Here is what I'm saving up for. I'm hoping I can talk my wife into this as my "Christmas+Birthday+Father's Day+Anniversary" Gift!

http://www.saddlebackleather.net/sto...p?idproduct=18


what will I carry in it? My ArchaeologyTextbook(s), laptop (maybe), calendar, pen, Bible, and a Colt Lightweight Commander .45

Those are sharp bags. I think my Colt Commander would fit nicely in one, too, as well as my archeology texts. What are your studying, citRon? I'm in the middle of my dissertation, though to be honest, I haven't been spending as much time on it as I should. Spending too much time here at the Lounge! lol

 

[citRon]

I'm still working on my undergrad. I'm going to focus on North American/New World; more than likely get into compliancy work. I live in Louisville, in the Ohio Valley, very rich prehistoric and Native American material to find around here. The Falls of the Ohio are a study in themselves. Seems my current proffessor has had quite a career around here. Check out :
http://www.falls-society.org/

-She formed the society, work for the Army Corps of Eng., started her oown consulting firm. I Think I'll learn a bunch this semester.