On messenger bags

[Buzzaroo]

I love my waterfield Cargo bag (sfbags.com). I got one with a paragliding buckle on it. I figure if people trust the buckle with their life when paragliding, it's bound to be good. It's also very cool-looking.

http://www.sfbags.com/products/cargo/cargo.htm

http://www.sfbags.com/products/mambocombos/cargosuite.htm

[mizanation]

i have to say that the jack bauer bag has been the best messenger bag i have bought yet.

http://www.newyorkfirst.com/gifts/6112.html

it has a nice big size.

no zippers

easy to open velcro

good nice size pockets

inner pouch with zipper

it's cheap, under $30

nice drab olive color

and best of all the straps don't wrinkle and bunch up--which usually happens on most military messenger bags

[steph]

do we have a baller who owns a bagjack?

Yeah my Acronym 3A-5TS is made by BagJack. Very solidly built.

I dunno if they make the 3A-1 bags for Acr as well (though they certainly supply the strap system) because the standard 3rd Arm bags are nowhere near as durable (and you can't fit a PowerBook/MacBook Pro in them)

[coleslawyum]

Just wanted to give a shout out to the best messenger bag I ever owned, The De Martini. Here's article I found on the web about the maker.

New York Times, August 4, 1985

A street hatch opens onto a steep well of crooked stairs. Below, large spools of colored canvas lean against old tables and sewing machines, while fluorescent lights vie for ceiling space with huge pipes. Scissors and awls lie about and pictures of schooners line the walls.

This is the underground shop of Frank Martini, the 76-year-old owner and sole employee of the Globe Canvas Company at 177 Mott Street. A sail maker by trade, he began making bicycle messenger bags 20 years ago. He has sold them wholesale to the more than 50 bike messenger services in New York ever since. No one else makes messenger bags, although some have tried.

"Everybody gets them from him," said Glen Janus, a spokesman for Streetwise, a messenger service that has used the bags throughout its 10 years of business. "He's a legend

While Mr. Martini labors below ground, .his work hugs the backs of speeding cyclists above who appreciate how the bag conforms to odd-size parcels, adjusts to unevenly weighted loads and endures heavy rains. Wearing his bag over his shoulder, Giovanni Headley, a veteran messenger, said. 'If you take good care of it, it will take good care of you."

Bag making, which began with a request from one of the first bicycle messenger services 20 years ago, has taken the place of sails and boat work as Mr. Martini's regular business. Though he has received orders from Airborne Air Freight, the people who past subway advertisements and Columbia Pictures, the bags are almost the exclusive domain of bicycle messengers.

"These kids need bags." Mr. Martini says. "Without a bag these kids can't go to work."

Many messenger companies either buy the bags in bulk or have their messengers buy them from Mr. Martini. Some companies will hire only messengers who have their own bags.

"If I sell them to stores, they'll charge them $30 or $40." Mr. Martini says. "That's highway robbery." Bags bought from him cost $20, a price that reflects the sympathy he frequently shows his young clientele. "Most of their work goes toward tuition money," he says. "I like that."

Bag making is a study in fluid and frenzied craftsmanship. Mr. Martini, slicing and sewing, can whip through several bags in about 20 minutes, stopping only to curse ancient sewing machines that cannot keep up with him.

The canvas is cut into sides. Then tossing rulers out of his way and shoving a large L-shaped table against one of several sewing machines. Mr. Martini attaches a Velcro strip, the first seal, and, as a second seal, two buckles with straps. In short order, he fastens inner pocket, flap and shoulder strap. Every stitch is reinforced, often as many as nine times.

"There isn't much handwork done anymore," he says, looking at the finished bags. "Everything's done by machines. I don't need them."

With all his success, Mr. Martini's bag making will always be a distant second in his heart to sail making, a skill he acquired as a young apprentice. New York's sail-making industry became increasingly mechanized after World War II. Mr. Martini tried to run his own company, but business was too slow and, after a few years, he was forced to move to his present location "down in the hole," where he misses his windows and the space to lay out sails.

Mr. Martini was born in 1909 in Jersey City, where he now lives. He grew up in an Italian neighborhood in Hoboken. "I lived right across from where Sinatra lived at Fourth and Monroe," he says, adding that they frequented the same pool hall, Turk's Palace, until the singer's career began.

"I used to pal around with a guy who worked over at the Brooklyn Navy Yard," he says. In 1940, Mr. Martini applied for work there.

He was thrown a ring, a rope and five pounds of canvas without being told what to do. "I'm no dummy," he says, recalling how he set to making holes and sewing in the rope to make the sail. "I did it for two days," he said, "and nobody paid attention to me.''

He got a job on the layout floor, where the "City Islanders clique," as he calls them, would sit on their drawings to keep him from learning design. One night he began examining the pipe work on his water bailer. Carefully he measured it, cut out matching triangular shapes on paper and glued them together. The model was exact. "That's when I figured out triangulation," he says, recalling his foolproof system of measurement crucial to sail making.

Mr. Martini has seen many canvas products and their industries come and go like the truck covers he used to make and rope spun sails of Egyptian cotton. Years ago, he made tents for the now defunct Palisades Amusement Park. He is still a member of the National Showmen's Association. Now, In addition to bags, he makes tents for the San Gennaro Festival in Little Italy and sukkahs for synagogues in the fall. But messenger bags, in demand years round, account for the brunt of his business.

Mr. Martini does not discuss the future of his bag business, His wife Margie, died seven years ago and though he has three grown children none want to continue the business. So, how much longer will he make his famous bags?

"I don't know, until I decide to quit I guess," he says. "If I stayed home and watched TV, I'd go nuts."

[mizanation]

EDIT:

link courtesy of coleslawyum.

on the history of messenger bags:

http://www.messengers.org/resources/history/bags.html

[mizanation]

looks like the demartini bag is still available. a former employee bought the company after frank demartini died in 2000. he still uses the original patterns:

http://www.demartinibags.com/

[canice]

one of the employees at klaxon howl in toronto has two original de martini bags from his biking days, he said he might sell one of them. (crosses fingers)

[wild style]

Supreme did a collabo with DeMartini a couple months back. Saw the bags in the store last time I was there.

[captain5640]

i have to say that the jack bauer bag has been the best messenger bag i have bought yet.

http://www.newyorkfirst.com/gifts/6112.html

it has a nice big size.

no zippers

easy to open velcro

good nice size pockets

inner pouch with zipper

it's cheap, under $30

nice drab olive color

and best of all the straps don't wrinkle and bunch up--which usually happens on most military messenger bags

That bag looks good. I might pick one up. I wasn't paying attention at first and saw the $450 price for the watch and though it was that bag price... pretty much just started laughing until I realized it was my mistake.

[canice]

Supreme did a collabo with DeMartini a couple months back. Saw the bags in the store last time I was there.

WHAT!!!!????

someone hook me up.

[Ryan]

I think they still have them and I believe they are on sale..

I've been thinking about getting one especially since theyre on sale*

the patch says supreme, cold world or something to that effect..

ill try to check tmw again, im sure someone will get around to it, didnt seem like they were big sellers,

*crosses fingers and hopes the sufu effect doesnt make them sell out before I get one. gah.*

[outline]

propertyof bags where can you buy them?

[lilodxd]

why no love for Jack Spade bags? I was gonna get one but i dunno anymore....

not to say you guys dictate my tastes, just wonderin'

i absolutely love my jack spade bag. it's simple but not understated. holds a lotta stuff. several pockets inside and outside. and who doesn't love bright orange lining?! (unless you got one with a black/grey lining.... ugh). and nice little details.

a bit on the pricey side though. just a bit.

[SENDkylHISPASSWORD]

I personally hate messenger bags, sure they are functional but so ugly. I carry my books in a backpack and also use a little duffle.

I say leave them for the metrosexuals, college radio kids and messengers.

[prima]

I think they still have them and I believe they are on sale..

I've been thinking about getting one especially since theyre on sale*

the patch says supreme, cold world or something to that effect..

ill try to check tmw again, im sure someone will get around to it, didnt seem like they were big sellers,

*crosses fingers and hopes the sufu effect doesnt make them sell out before I get one. gah.*

i believe they were still there when i went last week

[canice]

i wouldn't expect them to be big sellers - supreme's a skate shop after all.

ps: thanks prima. good lookin out!

[outline]

http://www.freitag.ch/

my fav messenger so far

[mlproject]

if you want a solid bag, don't fuck around and get a baileyworks. i've had a timbuk2 and a reload and both wore out in one way or another after awhile. i've had this baileyworks for about 5 years and its still trucking. they'll fix anything that breaks as well, which reload offers, but timbuk2 quit offering years ago.

talk to any working messenger and they're most likely running a baileyworks, pac (SUPER EXPENSIVE, but amazing) or a reload.

jack spade bags are good for rolling into the office or light use, but i wouldn't trust them for any rugged use. they're about $100-130 for the greene street bags, but for a little more $180-250 you'll end up with a bag that lasts a lifetime from reload or baileyworks.

[Ryan]

went by supreme today and picked up one of those bags. they have em in black and brown, looks like they had plenty left..

[Spike]

Bagjack. Final word

[chronoaug]

This military surplus bag hasn't given me problems yet. And i haul a bunch of books and stuff around for class. It was only $22 too which helped me make my purchase.

[Calden]

i wish messenger bag companies, and particularly chrome, timbuk2, and so on, would get their nasty logos off otherwise good bags.

+1 Reload

I just ordered a custom messenger from Reload. They have no problem leaving the logo off the bag. The wait time is about 5 weeks right now, but it's well worth it. I ordered something like their executive bag (http://reloadbags.com/bags/executive.php), but submitted my own design. You have a million options when you do a custom bag, and can even submit a design to embroider on the front.

[Ryan]

already got a couple PMs about the bag...after tax it comes out to 83.45

[ang_kangkong]

Only the brown ones left. 3 on the shelf.

Anyone not completely enamored with their black supremes bags, PM me.

[triniboy27]

Jack Spade bags are definitely good for the office (Spend the extra money and get something from the Warren St. line) because there's no way in hell I'm walking into my workplace with one of the bike messenger vinyl type bags...

[mlproject]

yeah, if you're going to the office, i say jack spade's got the professional look for you. i bought the stock out from this store in bloomington that was closing last year and kept some of the wallets and a laptop sleeve. the construction on that stuff is amazing - just not as rugged as some of the other bags.

whatever you do,don't get a chrome. buckles break all the time. also, the seatbelt buckle in the front will be your friend's new favorite thing to push when you have your bag on.

[Buzzaroo]

I personally hate messenger bags, sure they are functional but so ugly. I carry my books in a backpack and also use a little duffle.

I say leave them for the metrosexuals, college radio kids and messengers.

I've got to say that I disagree. I find messenger bags to be much better looking than backpacks. And the Waterfield Designs Cargo (part messenger/part briefcase) is not only cool looking, but very comfortable.

http://www.sfbags.com/products/cargo/cargo.htm

[tsukasa]

http://shop.nordstrom.com/S/2906153/0~2376777~2374609~6005674?mediumthumbnail=Y&origin=category&searchtype=&pbo=6005674&P=1

what do you guys think of this lacoste one in black? I am not a fan of lacoste or whatever, but it looks pretty clean, and it isn't huge.

[Arethusa]

I find that bag decidedly untasty.

[Vitamian]

I find that bag decidedly untasty.

Did you cook it properly?