Fanny pack alternatives

I have a problem I'm sure many of you are familiar with -- too much crap to carry, no truly dignified way to carry it. Typically, I might want to carry:

- email pager
- Handspring Visor PDA
- Cellphone
- Cable connecting cellphone to PDA for wireless access
- sometimes wallet (no problem putting this in a pocket, though).
- keys
- etc.

That's a lot of stuff.

In the summer, in shorts, I'll wear a fannypack sized just big enough to accomodate it all. I clip teh pager onto the belt of the fannypack.

Other than that, what do you use? I have a Liberty pouch (brigadequartermasters.com, search on "liberty"), not sure it looks good enough, especially in work dockers. My wife definitely makes insulting comments about me when I wear it. Can't have that!

I don't want to use anything that comes too close to looking like a man-purse, obviously. On the other hand, sometimes I wish I were European, because that often seems like the best solution.

I'm close to buying a day-timer leather binder, pulling out the rings, and just sticking all my junk to the sides using velcro. They are not-too-big, and reasonably classy looking, though I have to hold it instead of just clipping it on me. I typically don't expect to get insulted for carrying around a daytimer book, so I'm thinking this passes the wife test.
 
H

HJK

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I usually wear a vest to carry my stuff, if I can't wear a jacket of some sort. Some pants have enough pockets to suit what you need and that's better if you want to show off your massive pecs and biceps.
There'ss no great solution. I sometimes use a plain leather zip bag which looks alot better than a purse which can also be attached to my belt. I forgot the name of the make but I can find out, if you want. They make a variety and they are pretty classy.
 
Well Joe Im gonna have to suggest man purse things. I prefer shoulder bags to fanny packs. I had the filson and used it for years and loved it. Im a sucker for heavy canvass and the filson shot bag and rucksack are wonderful. My wife liked it so much I lost it. Thinkin about getting a new one but in green this time. Holds all my junk (Cell,handspring, wallet, book keys and so on) and has a great back pocket for a nice sized fixed blade or I guess a map or something more practical. The timbuk 2 is something else I am considering.

http://www.timbuk2.com/products/porkchop.html

http://smtp2.thewwwstore.com/filson/230.HTM

PS
So it is more palatable, more comfortable and less ... ahem .. Feminine I wear it across the chest like a bandoleer
wink.gif
. There you go all better now!
biggrin.gif


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Alex

My Knife Page

[This message has been edited by Boriqua (edited 06-09-2001).]
 
Man purse all the way. Here in Korea, a lot of guys carry little handbags. About the size of a shaving kit, holds whatever you want to hold in it. But then again, I imagine you aren't living in Korea, so it may look a little funny in your locale. But who the hell cares?

ZF

ps - I haven't gotten around to getting one myself, either.
 
Backpack. Knives, snacks, med kit, water, lights.

Too much to carry all the time, so the pockets do tend to bulge at all other times.
 
You could always hire a "bearer" to pack the stuff for you! I like a fanny pack (DeSantis) or my leather binder ,(holds my PDA, light, etc.) in more dressy times.
 
I would think the medium sized Liberty Pouch would be perfect for your requirements. Large enough for the combination PDA/phone, but smaller than any fanny pack I've ever seen. Why does your wife give you a hard time about it?

I bought the largest of the liberty pouches to be what amounts to a very small fanny pack. I tried it a few times, but it proved to be too big in that when fully loaded it puts a real drag on your belt and looks pretty silly. Might as well wear a real fanny pack which avoids the belt problem. But the smaller pouches should be OK... Yes the larger pouch also comes with a strap that also lets it be a "man purse", but if I'm going to do that, I'd rather carry a small backpack, so usually, that's what I end up doing...
 
It’s not a purse; it’s a satchel.

My wife also won’t let me use the larger Liberty pouch, though I get away with the smallest one as a cell phone holder. I have been using a sling bag I purchased at the Gap for work, but it is a little large. I am waiting on a Padded Omnibag from NewSun, but will need to find something for casual dress in warmer weather. I do like the looks of that Filson gear…


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James Segura
San Francisco, CA
 
The daytimer idea is good for some occasions. Something you might also want to consider is a army bag-they made small ones for medics-gas masks ect. As an army bag you don't have to worry about the "purse" issue. Also given that the late Kennedy carried one through Harvard it's a fashion ok.
 
<font face="Verdana, Arial" size="2">Originally posted by matthew rapaport:
I would think the medium sized Liberty Pouch would be perfect for your requirements. Large enough for the combination PDA/phone, but smaller than any fanny pack I've ever seen. Why does your wife give you a hard time about it? </font>
Click to expand...

I'm not certain I understand the subtleties of her argument on this matter
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On the one hand, she says it doesn't look good, bad on jeans and totally unacceptable on dockers. She also claims it looks less-than-masculine. Go figure.

I know about the liberty pouch and expedition liberty pouch. The expedition is too big for sure. The regular liberty will fit a PDA, but then there's little room left, as I recall. No room for both a cellphone and pager. I'll have to double-check that in a few minutes. But I think I need something bigger than the Liberty, and anything that big doesn't look so great on the belt.

Joe
 
I am with youon trying to decide how to carry all this crap. PDA, phone, pager, and all the regular "pocket: stuff tends to drag the ol' summer shorts down too far. I have alos looked at the Liberty, and some of their other products...anyone have any good pics of thes izes of htem "stuffed" with stuff? Please help us "space challenged" people here.

David

PS- anyone want to sell one of their "man purses/satchels/carry bags" let me know! ;-)

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David P. Sproles
Eagle Scout Class of 1988
"As iron sharpens iron, so one man sharpens another." Prov. 27:17
 
Here's a link to the liberty stuff at Brigade Quartermasters:
click

Which Liberty do you have, Joe?

I usually go up to my Pangaea Consulate, which is briefcase-sized shoulderbag, but that may be too much. It has a sleeve for my laptop, and I already have extra pens, a UKE 4AA, a couple of screwdrivers, etc. It is nice that there is plenty of room for books, magazines, etc.

Thinking of something smaller, a "courier bag" is still larger than a fanny or lumbar pack, but smaller than a briefcase.

A smallish backpack perhaps? Or you can be like Indiana Jones and carry an old gas mask bag...


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Clay Fleischer
clay_fleischer@yahoo.com
AKTI Member A000847
 
Ah, the lineup has changed! I think I have a version in between the smallest wallet version, and the next size up. I also have the wallet-sized version as well. Mine is the same length and width as the wallet-sized version, but is thicker.

Here are my solutions at the moment:

- At work, I carry a leather binder that fits a legal pad, and has a pocket opposite that can accomodate my cell phone, visor, stowaway, and E1. Tiny-sized pager on belt or in pocket. This works all day at work except when I want to go to lunch, when I have to basically just stuff the visor and cell phone in my pants.

- When I'm dressed casually in shorts, everything goes into a fanny pack.

- If it's chilly, everything gets stuffed into jacket pockets.

- If it's the slightest bit cool, I tend to carry an extra long-sleeve shirt to use as a jacket. Visor and cell phone get stuffed into front pockets on shirt.

- If it's warm and I'm wearing jeans or dockers ... I still dunno. I may be stuck with: pager in pocket, cell phone on belt on one side, visor in liberty pouch on other side. Or maybe visor and phone stuffed into a big bulging liberty pouch on one side. I dunno.

BTW, I just found www.newsungear.com to see the full lineup. Very interesting!

Joe
 
Boys,if you can't carry what you want because of your wife ,I think you are a prime canidate for a purse.




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AKTI #000946
 
Bwahahaha! Good point!

Lest you think I'm too whupped, I'll point out that it isn't my wife saying "you're not allowed to carry that." It's my wife saying, "you look like dork", and me 1. trusting her judgement more than my own in these matters, and 2. not wanting to look like a dork. I'm looking for a solution that's convenient and looks good.

That said, bring on the purse
smile.gif
smile.gif
 
<font face="Verdana, Arial" size="2">Originally posted by Lone Hunter:
Boys,if you can't carry what you want because of your wife ,I think you are a prime canidate for a purse.
</font>
Click to expand...

I agree completely! And my wife said I could.
smile.gif


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Holger :c{{{&lt;
AKTI Member No: A001324
CKG-F
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www.cockroachfarm.com
 
<font face="Verdana, Arial" size="2">Originally posted by Sproles:
...PS- anyone want to sell one of their "man purses/satchels/carry bags" let me know!....

</font>
Click to expand...

Serious? I have a brand NEW, black leather Timberland" courier-style shoulder satchel that I'd like to sell.

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Holger :c{{{&lt;
AKTI Member No: A001324
CKG-F
-----------------------
www.cockroachfarm.com
 
Joe, for the past six months I've been carrying what http://www.levenger.com calls an "Office Shuttle". It's meant to hold all the stuff you mention and transfer from briefcase to briefcase.

I have in mine, a battery operated shaver, a tape measure, an led stylus, an extension pointer, a ballpoint pen, an HP12C, a lighter, a scissors, a money-clip knife, 3x5 and business size cards, Palm V, and a couple of empty slots.

It's typical Levenger quality, first class leather with good zippers and nice design.

This is about the size of the Franklin or DayTimer planner cases, but much, much, more useful.
 
I'm lucky that it's cool enough here that I can get away with wearing a jacket all year round. My jacket ends up weighing 42 pounds, but it holds everything. I can't stand to go out with anything I have to carry in my hands, so other options would be fanny pack (sometimes slung diagonal across one shoulder), backpack, belt pouches, or cargo pants. I'd sooner wear a backpack just to carry one more thing than carry that thing in my hands though. You might be able to find belt or IWB sheaths for most things (phone, pager, etc.) and save pocket space for the rest. Joe, I don't know if you noticed, but I brought a BFC knife carrying bag to our last meeting, with a shoulder strap attached.

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Jason aka medusaoblongata
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"Is not giving a need? Is not receiving mercy?" - Thus Spoke Zarathustra
"Cutting his throat is only a momentary pleasure and is bound to get you talked about." - Lazarus Long
"Knowledge is not made for understanding; it is made for cutting." - Michel Foucault
 
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