I have had a reckoning regarding Messenger Bags
Posted by Unknown on Friday, February 27, 2015 with No comments
There is a big difference between this:
Maybe you don't see it at first glance, but upon closer inspection there are some key differences that have me moving more towards the latter design.
I will sum it up simply by describing the former (The Half Mass) as a messenger bag (MB) and the latter (The Transport) as a "soft-sided briefcase" (SSB). Clearly, the MB is a more casual and more hip look that one would find associated with, well, bike messengers, bike messenger wannabes, and college-aged kids. At the age of 46, I no longer fit into any of these groups. Nor do I want to. While I have heavy plastic-framed eyeglasses, that has a lot more to do with me being an actual nerdy science guy where the design offers better eye protection when doing chemistry experiments. (Just to reinforce how un-hip I am despite sometimes looking like I am trying to be hip, I often wear bowties but that's because they don't dip into my beakers of hydrochloric acid or silver nitrate solution.)
Most importantly, the SSB is a cleaner, boxier design that goes better with the tie and sweater vest set while the MB goes better with the the t-shirt and jeans set. While the SSB does look more conservative than the MB, it is a lot more casual (plus more functional and versatile) than this:
both of which are true hard sided briefcases designed for Wall Street executives or lawyers and not college professors or New England boarding school teachers (me). I am thankful that my job does not require me to dress the part that includes these ungainly briefcases as an accessory.
So, back to comparing the messenger bag (MB) to the soft-sided briefcase (SSB). These are the 6 things that make an SSB better for me than an MB:
- SSBs are all about (quiet) zippers. Typically, MBs have flaps that are held with Velcro. Opening a bag that uses Velcro closures is fine when you are pulling out your Dres at the student center, but eyebrows are raised when you have to tear open your bag at the board of trustees meeting to which you arrived late because of the massive sodium hydroxide spill.
- SSBs don't have a weather proofing flap that covers the opening to the bag. You usually have to deal with this flap when accessing stuff in your bag if it is a MB. In an SSB, you can more readily access everything and anything through one of at least two zippers. Also, most SSB users will be using an umbrella when it is raining, so weather proofing is less of an issue. MB users wouldn't be caught dead using an umbrella and "C'mon bro, my fleece top will dry in the couple of minutes it takes to pick up my grande mocha latte!"
- SSBs hold their shape well. MBs typically become bulgy and pregnant looking in the front when filled with lots of stuff. An SSB typically has at least two main compartments and foam inserts on the front and back of the bag that help to keep the bag's more straight-sided look. An MB looks fine if you are only carrying your moleskine, a Cliff bar, and your tattered copy of The Catcher in the Rye. But if you are packing a section's-worth of term papers, your bag lunch, and a ten pound organic chemistry textbook, you need something that holds a load a bit more cleanly.
- SSBs always have centrally located (back to front), padded handles that allow you to comfortably hold the bag like a, well... briefcase, for a full trek from the library to the lab. Too often a MB has a skimpy piece of webbing that is often mounted on the back panel of the bag. It is fine for dragging your bag off the chair so that the blonde can sit next to you in the dining hall. However, if you use these handles to actually carry your bag, the webbing digs into your hand and the bottom of the bag kicks in towards your knee. Sometimes MBs even lack a handle altogether.
- SSBs, like hard sided briefcases, keep your paper work in better order. Overall, they are a stiffer design so that your papers and files will not wrinkle, fold, or warp. An SSB also has sections that allow you to separate folders from other, less flat items. The flip side is that SSBs are not great for cyclists when compared to MBs. They don't conform as well your body, typically lack stabilizing waist belts, and often have no reflective surfaces or accommodations for blinky lights. If you are like me, however, and you do most of your commuting in a car, subway, or walking, this is not a big loss.
- SSBs stand upright when put down. Now, to be fair, I have reviewed quite a few MBs that do stand on their own. Oddly enough, however, this is more the exception than the rule. I am still trying to figure out why any bag company would NOT design their bags to stand upright on their own. Maybe they figure that the hipsters who buy their bags never take their bags off their shoulders in much the same way they never take off their fedoras in my classroom in an attempt to look ironic while studying polyatomic ions.
So there you have it. My quest to find the perfect messenger bag led me to realize that I am not looking for a messenger bag! Now that is truly ironic.
Addendum: I have now refined my thinking even further to narrow my definition to something called the Crossover Commuter Bag (CCB). It can have a flap, but it still must have a more professional look to it than the typical messenger bag and I am looking for something more compact (it need not accommodate a 15 inch laptop. Read about the concept .
 |
| Patagonia Half Mass a typical MB (Messenger Bag) |
and this:
 |
| Patagonia Transport 26L a typical SSB (Soft-Sided Breifcase) |
Maybe you don't see it at first glance, but upon closer inspection there are some key differences that have me moving more towards the latter design.
I will sum it up simply by describing the former (The Half Mass) as a messenger bag (MB) and the latter (The Transport) as a "soft-sided briefcase" (SSB). Clearly, the MB is a more casual and more hip look that one would find associated with, well, bike messengers, bike messenger wannabes, and college-aged kids. At the age of 46, I no longer fit into any of these groups. Nor do I want to. While I have heavy plastic-framed eyeglasses, that has a lot more to do with me being an actual nerdy science guy where the design offers better eye protection when doing chemistry experiments. (Just to reinforce how un-hip I am despite sometimes looking like I am trying to be hip, I often wear bowties but that's because they don't dip into my beakers of hydrochloric acid or silver nitrate solution.)
Most importantly, the SSB is a cleaner, boxier design that goes better with the tie and sweater vest set while the MB goes better with the the t-shirt and jeans set. While the SSB does look more conservative than the MB, it is a lot more casual (plus more functional and versatile) than this:
or this:
both of which are true hard sided briefcases designed for Wall Street executives or lawyers and not college professors or New England boarding school teachers (me). I am thankful that my job does not require me to dress the part that includes these ungainly briefcases as an accessory.
So, back to comparing the messenger bag (MB) to the soft-sided briefcase (SSB). These are the 6 things that make an SSB better for me than an MB:
- SSBs are all about (quiet) zippers. Typically, MBs have flaps that are held with Velcro. Opening a bag that uses Velcro closures is fine when you are pulling out your Dres at the student center, but eyebrows are raised when you have to tear open your bag at the board of trustees meeting to which you arrived late because of the massive sodium hydroxide spill.
- SSBs don't have a weather proofing flap that covers the opening to the bag. You usually have to deal with this flap when accessing stuff in your bag if it is a MB. In an SSB, you can more readily access everything and anything through one of at least two zippers. Also, most SSB users will be using an umbrella when it is raining, so weather proofing is less of an issue. MB users wouldn't be caught dead using an umbrella and "C'mon bro, my fleece top will dry in the couple of minutes it takes to pick up my grande mocha latte!"
- SSBs hold their shape well. MBs typically become bulgy and pregnant looking in the front when filled with lots of stuff. An SSB typically has at least two main compartments and foam inserts on the front and back of the bag that help to keep the bag's more straight-sided look. An MB looks fine if you are only carrying your moleskine, a Cliff bar, and your tattered copy of The Catcher in the Rye. But if you are packing a section's-worth of term papers, your bag lunch, and a ten pound organic chemistry textbook, you need something that holds a load a bit more cleanly.
- SSBs always have centrally located (back to front), padded handles that allow you to comfortably hold the bag like a, well... briefcase, for a full trek from the library to the lab. Too often a MB has a skimpy piece of webbing that is often mounted on the back panel of the bag. It is fine for dragging your bag off the chair so that the blonde can sit next to you in the dining hall. However, if you use these handles to actually carry your bag, the webbing digs into your hand and the bottom of the bag kicks in towards your knee. Sometimes MBs even lack a handle altogether.
- SSBs, like hard sided briefcases, keep your paper work in better order. Overall, they are a stiffer design so that your papers and files will not wrinkle, fold, or warp. An SSB also has sections that allow you to separate folders from other, less flat items. The flip side is that SSBs are not great for cyclists when compared to MBs. They don't conform as well your body, typically lack stabilizing waist belts, and often have no reflective surfaces or accommodations for blinky lights. If you are like me, however, and you do most of your commuting in a car, subway, or walking, this is not a big loss.
- SSBs stand upright when put down. Now, to be fair, I have reviewed quite a few MBs that do stand on their own. Oddly enough, however, this is more the exception than the rule. I am still trying to figure out why any bag company would NOT design their bags to stand upright on their own. Maybe they figure that the hipsters who buy their bags never take their bags off their shoulders in much the same way they never take off their fedoras in my classroom in an attempt to look ironic while studying polyatomic ions.
So there you have it. My quest to find the perfect messenger bag led me to realize that I am not looking for a messenger bag! Now that is truly ironic.
Addendum: I have now refined my thinking even further to narrow my definition to something called the Crossover Commuter Bag (CCB). It can have a flap, but it still must have a more professional look to it than the typical messenger bag and I am looking for something more compact (it need not accommodate a 15 inch laptop. Read about the concept .
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