Material Wants

[verin_the_brown]

I was reading a stranger blog yesterday and it rekindled my desire for a new bag, and that is bag as opposed to backpack. But first, I have some ethical qualms with getting a new bag. I certainly need to replace the tattered old backpack I’ve been taking to work of late. But getting a spiffy new backpack would be the cheaper and more practical

Comments

[verin_the_brown]

We don't have to stand too often during the ride, but there is plenty of standing and jostling while waiting, and in a crowd of 2000 people getting on and off the train. So there is a lot of practicailty of something one can have on one shoulder and clasp against ones side.

So, I splurged (~$140) on a leather satchel from LL Bean, and I love it. They don't appear to offer that bag any more, but this one is close.

That's pretty nice looking, a reasonable price, and does not require shopping which is a big bonus. I will certainly consider LL Bean. Thanks for the tip.

[echoweaver]

Woo, this reminds me that I am having a low-grade bag crisis myself. I have discovered that I like my purses compact. I found a fabulous compact leather wallet in Spain with a coin pocket even. My dream. (And funny b/c it was clearly scaled for US currency. The paper euros you'd expect to carry in your wallet are larger than dollars, and pounds are enormous. So I always had paper money crinkling out the top of the wallet while I was overseas. Now it's perfect.) It's about 1/3 the size of any wallet I've ever had, and I can carry it in a jeans pocket instead of a purse if I choose; that's what I picked it for to begin with, since I was abandoning a purse while in Spain due to the pickpocket problem. But I digress

[verin_the_brown]

It's about 1/3 the size of any wallet I've ever had, and I can carry it in a jeans pocket instead of a purse if I choose; that's what I picked it for to begin with, since I was abandoning a purse while in Spain due to the pickpocket problem.

I mean to ask, was purse snatching a worse problem than literal pocket picking? A wallet in the back pocket was safer than a purse?

[echoweaver]

I never saw any purse snatching, actually. Pocket-picking was the big danger. My concern in carrying a purse was more that it was hard to secure them, and the pickpockets were good enough and the subways were crowded enough that I didn't feel that I could properly guard my purse from being physically opened when I wasn't looking. I felt most comfortable keeping my wallet in my front pocket, where my body is sensitive and my hands fell naturally.

[verin_the_brown]

I have almost that backpack. Let me know if you want it and I will send it to you. 8 years ago I wanted such a thing. Now I don't. (I found it more annoying to bother to put a purse sized thing on my back.) But it only has one small inside compartment apart from the main one.

[echoweaver]

The Derek Alexander one? You found it to be more annoying to deal with than a shoulder or tote? It doesn't seem like the ideal solution, but I'm really finding myself annoyed by the shoulder bag swinging around and sliding off my shoulder and such.

[kickindancer]

Bag envy. I have it.

I want a nice new bag also, but I always get a purse that has a long enough strap so I can wear it across my body. The cute, fashionable bags that are available now do not have this feature. It may be ugly and awkward, but I need hands-free. So, I stick with my brown cordouroy purse that is the perfect size and can be carried handsfree, but is ugly and looks like something a 20yr old should have.

[enochs_fable]

I too have bag envy and have gone through a number of different bags. This is exacerbated by the fact that apparently my skin is really sensitive and tends to react badly to prolonged periods of strap or backpack contact. Also, most man bags are huge for me.

So now I have a leather satchel a bit like the one des posted, and don't use the shoulder strap.

My ideal bag would be something just big enough to carry 8.5"x11" notebook and a few other things.