I’m looking around for a “man-bag”, something I can toss all of my stuff in when I’m out of the house. I usually carry around a bit more equipment than can comfortably fit on a belt or in my pockets, generally:
My Newton (8.3x4.7x1.1, 43 cubic inches)
My iPod (4.02 x 2.43 x 0.7, 7 cubic inches)
A set of headphones (not earbuds)
My camera (3.78 x 2.95 x 1.34, 15 cubic inches)
My cellphone (size varies)
A small selection of cables (phone cord, cell phone data cable, etc.) They usually take up about 24 to 36 cubic inches.
Right now, I use an American Tourister shoulder bag that’s large enough for a laptop (one of the reasons I like it is it doesn’t scream “I’m a laptop, steal me”), but I don’t always carry my laptop, so most of the space is unused, and the bag tends to get in the way. I’m thinking something that’s about half as large will do nicely.
I ran into the same problem a couple of years ago. To much stuff, not enough pockets. So I stole Mrsrobgruver’s purse… so to speak. See, she had picked up a smallish backpack style purse from some place or another, and it held all my stuff.
Now I carry a purse, but it doesn’t look like a purse. It looks like a backpack. I am a man. I am not weird… well, not that weird.
I often find the best selection of bags are at the markdown stores such as: Burlington Coat Factory, Ross, TJMaxx, Marshalls, etc. I’ve had really good luck there finding all manner of bags to be adapeted for specific weird purposes (portable DVD player, minidisk player and car attachments, sample case/bag/briefcase for my soap business) and the styles range from downright girly (dripping with pink glitter, sequins and feathers) to a nice, severe, businesslike (manly) black matte fabric or even some nice leather-look bags. I think if you go someplace with a big enough selection you might stumble on exactly what you’re looking for (and if you go to one of the clearance places you’ll probably find it for less than $20 or so.) Good luck! Be sure to show us what you end up with!
I thought of the same thing as “Sock Munkey,” and said in Beavis’ voice also.
I had the same problem as yourself, and got a messenger bag from Banana Republic that had a sling strap, instead of two straps like backpacks. Alas, BR no longer makes messenger bags, just high-end (and priced likewise) attachés and leather shoulder bags.
I did find some similar items on Buy.com, which I’m going to have to use later because my messenger bag is wearing out. Depending on your age, and what you wear, and your hipness quotient, you could carry off the messenger bag very well, and not only look, uh, butch but very up-to-date.
Use a gym bag. Better yet… a scuffed, beat-up, ripped-and-patched-with-duct-tape gym bag.
Very manly… it’s sports-related, indicates a fine indifference to appearances, and suggests you’ve dragged it through some harsh circumstances and survived.
Added bonus… nobody wants to steal your smelly gym socks and jockstrap.
