August 8th, 2005
A Gadget Bag is the New Man Purse
I hate cut and paste blogging, but this one was so funny, from the title to the text, that I am reproducing a chunk of it here for your enjoyment.
“Ah yes, the fanny pack — a small bag with a zipper that fastens around one’s waist with an elastic band. It’s small enough not to restrict motion, yet large enough to stow one’s essential valuables. Men at one time had their own socially acceptable purse, a man purse, if you will.
Well, the fanny pack turned out to be a fad. And for a decade now, men have been left to search for the ultimate purse to carry cell phones, money, keys, PDA’s and portable music devices. Is there a sequel out there? In today’s fast pace, fast-food world, there is a greater need to lug around essentials and gadgets than back in the early 90s. But today’s men are paving a new road for a briefcase-less world. The solution to mens’ bulging pockets may lie with gadget bags, totes and iPod hoisters.
“Men like Mark Barnes, pictured here, are not afraid to carry around what people ignorantly refer to as “man purses.” “For a while I just called it a gadget bag, but I couldn’t deny the fact it was really a man purse,” said Barnes, 23. “Carrying one is strategic for work and shopping with my girlfriend, he said. “If I get bored while she is trying on clothes, I can play the GameBoy or PDA.”
But does society allow for the use of such bags? Fashionable-chap Nick Starr thinks so. “Once in a while, you get the occasional mockery from a friend about carrying a purse, but most people are accepting and wish they had the courage to carry more items,” he said.” Source: Tampabay.com via Fark
Now the real question: Do you Carry a Gadget Bag?
Lockergnome's Tech News Watch says:
A Gadget Bag is the New Man Purse
Found this on the Tapabay.com site. Ah yes, the fanny pack - a small bag with a zipper that fastens around one’s waist with an elastic band. It’s small enough not to restrict motion, yet large enough to stow one’s essential valuables. Men at one tim…
August 8th, 2005 at 5:42 pm
SomeDumbGuy says:
Add this to the Utilikilt, and you’ll have the perfect ensemble for the modern metrosexual…
August 8th, 2005 at 8:10 pm
Nick Starr says:
I have thought about getting a Utilikilt. I was the one mentioned in the article. Taking the step into a kilt is just one that is a bit too hard to cross.
August 8th, 2005 at 10:17 pm
Alice says:
realtechnews
August 8th, 2005 at 11:20 pm
David Grant says:
Does any one know where I can get the “man’s purse” pictured? If so please email directly dgrant@iastate.edu
Thanks,
David
August 9th, 2005 at 6:40 am
Russ says:
No I don’t carry a Gadget Bag, I carry a purse; might as well call it what it is. I’ve been carrying one for about 15 years and have long ago gotten over the worry about what others may think. It’s incredibly useful to always have everything with me and not to have to worry about tranferring stuff from the pockets of one pair of pants to another.
I do find the suitable selection of purses very low, most are sold as fashion accessories for women and I avoid them. When shopping it is quite common for a sales person to come up to me and say “May I help you madam?” and then start stuttering like crazy when they realize they called me the wrong gender. I just ignore it.
My bag is called a Ketch and was sold by Lands’ End.
August 9th, 2005 at 8:00 am
Pyrial says:
I dont think so. I prefer to keep it simple. My wallet, badge to get into work, watch, and keys. Same stuff to go minus the badge for work. Add a banded MP3 player for exercise.
I dont need no stinkin purse.
August 9th, 2005 at 9:48 am
TAU says:
I just have my wife carry all my crap in her purse.
August 9th, 2005 at 12:33 pm
Benjamin says:
Right. I own both the Utilikilt http://utilikilt.com/index.htm and a “man purse” http://www.roadwired.com/store/Product.cfm?categoryid=5&Productid=75
I went through the ‘what the hell is all of this stuff and how am I supposed to carry it’ phase this past spring, when I started back to school. I currently carry:
Palm Tungsten T
ultra thin keyboard for above
Checkbook
wallet
post it notes(extremely useful for um, notes)
coffee sleeves (recycling)
assorted pencils
3 fountain pens
small kite (useful for spare time with wind)
I used to carry my mobile phone in there as well, but my wife and I gave them up. I will be aquiring a new mobile in spring 06, and it’s nice to know that I’ll not have to worry too much about not having a place to put it. Everything is in one place. Love that.
The kilt, by and by, can hold a six pack of frosty beverage in its’ voluminous pockets.
August 9th, 2005 at 2:12 pm
Michael says:
The title could just as easily have been “Men, the new women”
I think in general men are dressing and acting more like women. The purse is only aspect of that change.
August 10th, 2005 at 10:12 am
dave in Oz says:
Been carrying stash bag for 20 years paid $5 in camping store for last one get about 5years fits Ibook if needed just bought first car after 25 years on motorbikes but still have bag on shoulder don’t give rats arse what any one thinks
August 10th, 2005 at 11:34 am
Mikey says:
It’s called a POKE for cryin out loud. I’ve been slinging around a poke for a long while. I used to use a zippered bankbag (complete with the deposit box instructions silkscreened on the front) at the start, and it wasn’t big enough to carry the phone, the eyeglass case, the notepads and pens. Right now, I carry a UVEX headset bag I got with my workspace’s telephone headset. I understand the importance of having your stuff with you, but I am concerned with those women who carry around a piece of fully packed luggage that they think qualifies as a purse. Nope, if it weighs more than a pound or two, you got luggage. And there is no reason to carry around a photo scrapbook, or your vital medications or your savings book from the bank. Dont carry the kids birth certificates, the vehicle insurance renewal notices. Or the summation in the judgement case that you won in 1975. And theres no reason to carry all the keys you have ever owned, all on one keyring that weighs just over three pounds, despite the fact that you only use three keys on that ring right now. (one each: car, house, desk at work)
Leave that crap at the house. A purse is NOT a mobile safe deposit box. If you think you can’t live without all that stuff, just remember how much of a crisis you created for yourself when it -does- turn up missing. I minimized my loss expectations, I now carry just three keys, dupes of the keys at the house. I dont carry any pictures (I use my memory of what the people look like)and I never carry more than ONE credit/debit card, and I do not carry any BOOKS OR MAGAZINES.
I can think of only one other wisdom to impart to you: If you pack around a purse filled with so much stuff that you have to carry a second bag, your purse has a purse. And you are its prisoner, doomed to forever carry around stuff you -might- need someday.
August 10th, 2005 at 1:19 pm
Alice says:
That last posting (above) made me laugh. My sister carries two purses, which I guess makes one a suitcase and the other an actual purse. She calls it an “outer purse”
I am actually a fan of the backpack. (I drive a scooter so one is essential) I have one with dual small, side pockets that hold my digital camera and blackberry left and right, and the left shoulder strap has a small front pouch for a cell phone so I can hear it ring (it sits right by my left ear.
I love it! I think the maker is Targus.
August 10th, 2005 at 2:18 pm
Bill says:
you just need pants with bigger pockets. This gigantic link is to cargo pants with the pockets inside the legs.
http://cabelas.com/cabelas/en/templates/links/link.jsp?id=0027095903113a&type=product&cmCat=search&returnString=_dyncharset=ISO-8859-1&hasJS=true&_D%3AhasJS=+&%2Fcabelas%2Fcommerce%2FCabelasCatalogNumberFinder.giftCertificateURL=%2Fcabelas%2Fen%2Ftemplates%2Fgiftcertificate%2Fgiftcertificate.jsp%3Fid%3D0005586990011a%26podId%3D0005586%26catalogCode%3DIB%26navAction%3Djump%26indexId%3D&_D%3A%2Fcabelas%2Fcommerce%2FCabelasCatalogNumberFinder.giftCertificateURL=+&QueryText=cargo+pants&_DARGS=%2Fcabelas%2Fen%2Fcommon%2Fsearch%2Fsearch-box.jsp.form9&N=4887&Ntk=Products&Ntx=mode+matchall&Nty=1&Ntt=cargo+pants&noImage=0&returnPage=search-results1.jsp
August 10th, 2005 at 4:27 pm
Joel says:
The last time I carried anything close to a purse was a HUGE one, called a paperbag.
August 10th, 2005 at 4:51 pm
Yve says:
This has been the most interesting thing I have read all day. I must say, I don’t know any men whom carry a purse. As a woman, I really don’t care what you carry or don’t carry. But, if you are carrying a purse and wearing high heals, and you are of the male gender, there might be a problem.
August 11th, 2005 at 12:20 pm
Alice says:
I think I own a MAN BAG!! I got a Canon camera bag for my camcorder, and it has all these pockets and flaps and I ended up using it to hold cables and chargers and all kinds of stuff. One time I pulled the bag out of my backpack and carried it around using the shoulder strap, which means I guess I was carrrying an actual man bag. Yikes!
August 11th, 2005 at 3:48 pm
Nizam Rahman says:
Me and a mate actually shopped around and muttering ‘man bags’ while checking stuff out to freak people out. But really it’s a usefil thing to have. I used to carry wallet (those long, keep your bills straight kinds), my Nokia 6230 and my contacts case and solution and it’s a pain to remind myself I’m carrying all four (I’m a bit forgetful). Now I have a sideways bag like pictured above where I can stow all those, and all the business cards I’ve collected, a Sony Cybershot, my Altec Lansing foldable headphones, various toiletries, and all the bills I’ve garnered for the month.
That’s a lot of stuff. All of that in one handy, easy to remember package.
August 11th, 2005 at 10:59 pm
alpaye says:
i carry two cellulars from two providers, a digital camera, an ipod mini, its earphones and usb cable, my wallet, my keys.
carry those in a pocket!
long live man purse…
August 12th, 2005 at 6:43 am
Mikey says:
I started using the poke cause it was hard to keep my pants pulled up. (not going there, nope)
August 13th, 2005 at 3:31 pm
james simons says:
i’ve been carrying around a purse of some sort for about 13 years.. it started when i bought an Atari Portfolio PDA and had nowhere to carry everything.. i bought a SunDog day pack thing.. it looked more like a nylon lunchbag than anything else.. from there i bought a Newton, and all the Calise cases that the Newtons i’ve owned fit into.. i tried to buy a “Handstand” from PDA Concepts, but could never find one.. and the Satellite was too expensive.. (really nice bag though..)
i bought a DayRunner Leather Organizer Purse at BigLots for 7.00.. http://www.dayrunner.com/product.asp?WPROD=311
i pulled out all the dayrunner crap in it, and velcro’d a PDA Concepts “Newton Harness” in it and have had my Newton 2100 in it for the last couple of years.. true, it’s not a full on bag for all my crap.. for that i’ve used my backpack.. i’m looking for a stylish bag that isn’t too big, but not too small.. i still haven’t found exactly what i want..
August 13th, 2005 at 9:42 pm
James says:
I bought a messenger bag from Walgreens in Harvey, Louisiana for 9 bucks. It holds my laptop, cellphone, pager, pens and pencils, keyring, i.d. badges for work, pda, and my wallet with room to spare for my dayplanner book. All in all, 9 bucks isn’t bad for a man purse. I get the occasionqal torment from my friends, but they soon get jealous of the fact that i can hold all of that crap in there.
August 15th, 2005 at 8:16 am
Andy Nance says:
Im a college student, and nothing short of a full backpack will work for me. I carry a HP Ipaq 4700, TI-89 scientific calculator, iRiver IHP120 mp3 player, cell phone, keys, wallet, pens/pencils, textbooks, notebooks, and anything else that i might need to carry that day(laptop, jacket, etc). I might switch to a messenger bag but that would be harder to carry on my bicycle that i ride around campus.
August 16th, 2005 at 11:41 am
Brenda H says:
A “purse” (a bag for holding your coins) dates back several centuries (the word is Old English, I believe). In point of fact, it was the men who carried them (women didn’t typically carry money around with them). I think it is simply amazing that we cripple ourselves for fashion… why on earth *shouldn’t* a guy have a bag for carrying things??? On a side note, I’m following links on “man bags” because I’m heartily sick of the selection out there for women. I’m looking for a slim, hip-hugging bag to just hold pda, cell, pen, credit cards, and id with a strap to cross over to the other shoulder (so that it stays with me no matter what).
August 19th, 2005 at 9:28 am
Travis says:
I picked up a cordura binder case with detachable shoulder strap from Franklin Covey. Use it to hold PDA, current book I’m reading, pen and paper. Suppose I just need to add towel.
August 19th, 2005 at 12:51 pm
7b says:
I’ve carried a messenger bag with me for the past 10 years, through highschool, college, to work with me every day, and pretty much whenever I go out. I use it as a bookbag, a laptop case, a briefcase, a camera bag, a shopping bag, or even an overnight bag. At the same time though, it always holds my digi-cam, gameboy, multi-tool, pda, small flashlight, mini firstaid kit, snacks or whatever the hell else I happen to drop in there. I occasionally get crap about it being a “man purse” from friends, but they still never hesitate to give me stuff to carry they don’t have the pockets for. Check out the link for Courier Ware (http://www.courierwareusa.com/). A little pricy, but they make some damn fine bags.
January 26th, 2006 at 9:06 am
Erasure25 says:
I was pretty sure I have seen the bag pictured above (the one the guy is wearing). I think that’s the perfect bag for me. But, I can’t tell if this is the bag or not…
http://www.tumi.com/index.cfm?ssid=15&fuseaction=FrameTumi&sourceid=TUMEBGURBN
What do you think?
February 10th, 2006 at 11:51 am
Erasure25 says:
Ahhhhh, wait… I think this is it…
http://www.tumi.com/index.cfm?ssid=15&fuseaction=FrameTumi&sourceid=TUMEBGURBN
Although the colors are reversed…
February 10th, 2006 at 11:55 am
Erasure25 says:
Sorry, the link is:
http://www.tumi.com/backpacks_messengers/t_tech_flow/category_search/zip_pouch/product_detail/index.cfm?modelid=41712
February 10th, 2006 at 12:01 pm
Dennis says:
Man purses rule. I carry a camera, MP#, Phone, wallet, keys, small notebook, journal, medicine, business cards, and a leatherman. Fit all that in your pockets.
I used to carry the Swiss army purse, now I cary the “eagle creek fling” which is similar but organized better. Red envelope.com has a “chlids messenger bag too that looks perfect. I am considering it. One more thing, don’t call it a man bag or man purse. It’s just a purse. Say it loud, say it proud.
May 18th, 2006 at 12:59 pm
MichaelS74 says:
“Man purse” is an oxymoron. I was looking forever for the right bag until I found MAN-n-BAG from www.manbag.com and I love it! And I say that loud and proudly - embrace your bags gentlemen.
July 14th, 2006 at 4:42 pm
gas motor scooter says:
gas motor scooter gas motor scooter
July 28th, 2006 at 11:24 am
gzsuwwefgo says:
Hello! Good Site! Thanks you! duuhlethols
June 21st, 2007 at 5:26 am
James says:
This manbag phenomena has been going on in Europe for a few years now.
There are high-end clothing designers bringing them to the states now, like Prada, Diesel, Armani and Dolce and Gabanna.
July 23rd, 2007 at 12:06 pm
Bobby says:
Ive been carrying a “man-bag” for quite a while actually.. I carry my pocket pc, toiletries, a book my dayrunner, and whatever other crap i throw into it that day. I dont think theres anything bad about carrying a bag.. although mine is a messenger. you should google crumpler they have some pretty good looking messengers some small some big. Check it out
September 10th, 2007 at 1:08 pm
Mario says:
As a parent with two kids and lots of gadgets to carry around (Digital Cam, Cell Phone, Ipod, mem cards), one of this cool bags can also be used to store car keys, a wallet, a mag, and register book. Definitely a great idea to keep track of all these items!!
October 27th, 2007 at 9:48 pm
Mark says:
I carry the Victorinox Horizontal Tote (I reviewed it for www.the-gadgeteer.com), and it carries everything I need for the day. My OQO 02, Treo 700p, Canon digicam, Kestrel weather meter, pocket monocular, pill case, harmonica, pens and pencils, iPod nano and assorted papers. The bag itself is quite small, but has all the room I need to carry everything.
December 16th, 2007 at 3:36 pm
Caleb Eggensperger says:
I was interested in which bag was pictured, and the original link is broken, so I found the original article (the entire site was moved) and thought I’d save anyone else looking the work:
http://www.tbt.com/incoming/article12077.ece
The pictured bag, btw, is the Tumi T-Tech Flow Zip Pouch.
January 25th, 2008 at 5:02 pm
Mark says:
HAHAHAHAH…
That’s me in the picture! They totally misquote me in this article, but who cares. I still get a laugh out of it every time I read it
I’ve since had to move up to a larger messenger bag (laptops don’t carry themselves, you know?), but the Tumi bag I had here worked pretty well when I needed it. Oh, and I didn’t spend $75 on mine, either… got it on sale, bitches…
February 25th, 2008 at 7:02 pm