Messenger / Courier Bags List

Gosh, now there's a reply. Cheers James. I love those kata bags.

I'm really more after a day bag as it's going to have all my day to day shi.. in, as well as a few cameras, so more of a casual messenger than an actual camera bag. I reckon the way forward is a sturdy, waterproof padded messenger with some domke inserts or similar.

Ideally I'd like both but recession and all that.

How much stuff do you need to carry casually lol?!

I've got to the point in my life where I don't really carry proper cameras for fun unless its a special occasion, like a holiday or something, but thats just me...jaded by the job haha, I might invest in one of those nice new Canon compacts soon though, they look lovely, and possibly a compact 35mm camera, but I have too many other things I "need" first.
The problem with a messenger bag is, I haven't seen a single one that offers the same level of protection as a decent KATA bag, Domke inserts or no Domke inserts, you might be better off buying individual cases for things, so you can just throw the whole lot into a messenger bag and then take out whatever you need in its case when you need it.
I would recommend thinktanks modular system for this, because you then have cases that can mount to their belt system if needed which is very handy depending on the type of shooting you are doing.
More expensive but you get what you pay for and you throw whatever you need into any bag, knowing that it has adequate protection, I do that with my stuff when I don't need much kit for a job, and just throw it all into my Archies Theo bag, its like a black hole and just swallows up whatever I chuck in, this approach works well for me.
My personal favourites are their digital holsters, and the speedchanger (love love love this thing!).

To swing away from camera bags...

I'm currently using DHLs lovely tracking service to keep tabs on the bag I ordered yesterday - a large Bagaboo pro workhorse from Urbanhunter in Brighton. To say I'm excited about it turning up tomorrow would be an understatement! :)

Good choice, you won't regret it, very well made bags :)

vag post:

Has anyone bought from this blog? Or does anyone know the guy? - his username on here is aaspden
http://vot-zdyes.blogspot.com/
I want to buy a rolltop and I say it all looks really reliable and nothing fishy about it, but I dont want to be an idiot who didnt double check it and ended up wiring some paypall money to a guy in nigeria :)

srsly no offence meant to aaspden who created it..! Just want some verification..

I went round a week ago to check them out at Andy's flat. They are really well made and should last for a long, long time. Only reason that I didn't buy one was that they were just too big for me. You could fit in a toddler in that bag. Same material as the Freitag bags (being Swiss, that's the standard for me). Just drop him an email and see if you can meet him, he lives East.

Just had a Zugster small Errand turn up today. Don't know what the interest is in them on here, let me know if you guys want pics or info. I've got about 14 months to wait for my custom order to come round!

http://www.zugsterbags.com/products/errand

I went round a week ago to check them out at Andy's flat. They are really well made and should last for a long, long time. Only reason that I didn't buy one was that they were just too big for me. You could fit in a toddler in that bag. Same material as the Freitag bags (being Swiss, that's the standard for me). Just drop him an email and see if you can meet him, he lives East.

got mine today, shipped to germany. bag is really nice, sure it is quite big, but therefore it will handle a lot of stuff. will report more the coming days.

got mine today, shipped to germany. bag is really nice, sure it is quite big, but therefore it will handle a lot of stuff. will report more the coming days.

Last note on the VAGX topic;

bought a bl&w roll top from aaspden and
-the bag is really nice (really big indd, but what do you expect from a rolltop rite?)
-the fellow selling them is even nicer, great communication, package well wrapped, fast delivery, ...

go check his blog out yo!
http://vot-zdyes.blogspot.com/

Oh yeah - 14 got SAGs in last week

Another new one for the list maybe?

Vandal Cargo Backpack by Mission Workshops. The video is great

[/url][url="http://vimeo.com/7671081"]Day in the life of the Vandal Cargo Pack on Vimeo

http://www.missionworkshop.com/vandal-cargo-pack.php

Anybody seen a Chrome Berlin yet?

http://www.chromebagsstore.com/bags/pro-series/berlin.html

I fail to see why that is the best messenger bag on the market....look to be a few major design flaws to me, mingled with stuff that people have already done better...

I fail to see why that is the best messenger bag on the market....look to be a few major design flaws to me, mingled with stuff that people have already done better...

which bag are you referring to? if you're referring to the berlin I agree Chrome's claim seems to be very bombastic and not at all proven. I'd still like to see one in the flesh though.

Yeah the Chrome Berlin.

It looks like it could hold quite a load - the pockets are a useful feature - but surely that parcel would slip out as soon as the bag's on your back, no? I wouldn't be confident riding with it strapped up like that anyway. I had chance to check one out the other week, not quite as packed out, the guy who owned it said the outer layer just soaked up water and held it for ages. The inside was dry but putting it back on a couple of hours later meant instant wet back.

i doubt the parcel would fall out unless it was quite heavy, the combined friction of the straps and top of bag would probably stop it, i've carried things like that no problem*

*not a courier, just a guy with a messenger bag.

seagull bags do one called the Black bag (stock item) had mine shiped from states early last year, cot about £70 with postage and tax. although might cost you more coin now the pond is screwed against the dollar.
good bag and v comfy

Any of you lot got experience of the Seagull standard? I'm thinking about a Pro size cos it's about the same size (if not a little bigger than my Royal Mail bag).

I've also been thinking about the XL Bagaboo workhorse but my bird swears it's way too big for me (belated birthday present that I'm now having to shop for myself). I want something all-purpose, but waterproof and durable. Some days I'll only be carrying a lock and some tools, other times I'll be carrying a basketball, boots and tracksuit, a week's worth of clobber, or any other awkwardly-shaped $hit I can find.

I really want an Archie, but I just can't wait the 8 months as my bag's coming apart and I swear I'm gonna start losing stuff soon.

Before you say "try one on", no where within reasonable distance seems to have any of the bags I want in the sizes I want. BLB only have the workhorse in L and I don't even know where to start looking for a Seagull stockist in London. 14 was useless when I was in there yesterday and I just got impatient when the guy tried to tell me their ONLY messenger bag was the same size as postie.

I'm guessing you can hear my frustration....PLEASE HELP!!

beanpie, what size bag (exactly) do you want, and what is your budget?

True, I've heard of no better made bag, than the Archie's Grobags....but if you can't wait, then there will be something that take its place, and you might well be satisfied with it.

The list, on page 1 of this thread, has bags with asterisks attached to their entries, as these are deemed to be of authentic "courier quality".

I'm a little bit calmer after a night's sleep....erm

I measured my postie @ 20(l) x 17(h) x 7(d) inches. Ideally, I'd like something the same size and shape.

When I checked out the large workhorse it looked way to small. If I manage to get a basketball in there I doubt it'll hold much else.

In general, the messenger bags seem to wide enough at the top, but are too narrow in the bottom and aren't high enough. I'm worried that once I get a ball in there, they won't close properly at the top.

The Bagjack looks like it could work out. The linked shop is out of stock, and I didn't understand enough German to navigate the official site last night. I haven't been able to find a UK stockist that's still got them.

The Banjo Bros bag doesn't seem to have the height and (according to the list) isn't in available in UK now.

Tbh, I'd probably paid too much attention to the talk of Chrome being "trendy" and ruled out what could be a very suitable bag. Hipsterish behaviour in itself, I suppose...doh.
Popped into Condor, but they said they couldn't get hold of any Kremlins...Chrome don't seem to be doing them anymore.

The other starred bags are all just generally too small.

Which I guess leads me to ask:

Anyone know where I can pick a Seagull Standard Pro/ Chrome Kremlin/ XL Workhorse in the UK, or to be able to try one on in London would be ideal.

I'm hoping to have my bag before I head back to Bristol for xmas.

And your budget?

I did leave out that important detail...about £160.

Thanks for your patience.

There are plenty of bags that I feel would suit you, but for cheapness and size, there is the Linnel's black messenger bag. This is a larger version of the normal red postie bag. Its huge.

Also, consider the VAGX rolltop from here. The seller is on this forum, and made an appearance in another thread, when mooting his idea to sell those bags. Read from post 25 onwards.

Cavendish Cycles sell the Bagaboo range of bags, and in one photo, they even fit a young woman in one. There is still a bigger size.

There are other huge bags, but I'm sure you'll find them.

I'm a little bit calmer after a night's sleep....erm

I measured my postie @ 20(l) x 17(h) x 7(d) inches. Ideally, I'd like something the same size and shape.

When I checked out the large workhorse it looked way to small. If I manage to get a basketball in there I doubt it'll hold much else.

In general, the messenger bags seem to wide enough at the top, but are too narrow in the bottom and aren't high enough. I'm worried that once I get a ball in there, they won't close properly at the top.

The Bagjack looks like it could work out. The linked shop is out of stock, and I didn't understand enough German to navigate the official site last night. I haven't been able to find a UK stockist that's still got them.

The Banjo Bros bag doesn't seem to have the height and (according to the list) isn't in available in UK now.

Tbh, I'd probably paid too much attention to the talk of Chrome being "trendy" and ruled out what could be a very suitable bag. Hipsterish behaviour in itself, I suppose...doh.
Popped into Condor, but they said they couldn't get hold of any Kremlins...Chrome don't seem to be doing them anymore.

The other starred bags are all just generally too small.

Which I guess leads me to ask:

Anyone know where I can pick a Seagull Standard Pro/ Chrome Kremlin/ XL Workhorse in the UK, or to be able to try one on in London would be ideal.

I'm hoping to have my bag before I head back to Bristol for xmas.

http://www.londonfgss.com/post970219-691.html

changes shape and size quite intelligently. also not half bad looking. I wrote that post, in case you don't catch on to that. It's a nice bag. Not sure what it will cost you over there. i'm in the states.

I had checked out the blog on VAGX bags and decided that neither roll tops nor the messengers were big enough. I'm a hoarder and prone to filling my bag with all sorts of shite that I may never even need. Now the physio's cleared me to play a little, a basketball plus boots will be a regular fixture in my bag so everything else has to fit around them.

A seagull standard pro won't get here before I go back to Bristol for xmas so that's no good, and I can't seem to find the Chrome Kremlin anywhere, not even on Chrome's site.

I'm gonna go and check an XL Workhorse out for size. Apparently it's in a dodgy orange colour so I'm not gonna buy it (after black/ other dark colours so it looks less grubby when I get it all dirty and fail to clean it).

Will keep you posted on my progress. Cheers GA2G

And Jersey...I fancy a look at that bag but I don't know where I can pick one up in UK and don't really wanna wait till after xmas.

beanpie:

Have you actually had a look at the Vagx bags in person? I personally haven't seen anything bigger. You can fit a keg of beer plus a toddler in it. Worth checking out in my opinion, they do look smaller than they are on pictures. I'm 178cm tall and fairly skinny/normal but you wouldn't see me from behind when wearing the rolltop. The guy who sells them is on here and lives East, very nice chap.

In all fairness, C:V, I haven't. I've PMed aaspden to see if he's about this eve when I go and check out the workhorse. If it's as roomy as you say then I'll be happy about paying considerably less, for sure.

the plain black seagul is supposed to be good. and a bargain too.

http://www.seagullbags.com/black/