I was reading the thread about the top ten tools to carry with you a little while ago, having just finished one of the backpack threads, when a thought struck me.
Backpacks, while generally useful to the extreme for carrying all your junk around, have two drawbacks for a guy like me who's on a college campus most of the time and walking around a pedestrian-friendly city the rest of the time. Drawback one is that they're heavy as hell when loaded down, drawback two is that you have to stop and take the backpack off your back to get at the gear in it.
A messenger bag helps solve part of that (I actually got a very nice one from the Dave Matthews Band web site, if you'll believe it)by reducing the load you can carry and allowing you to swing it so that the bag is facing your front rather than your back, but it's still cumbersome when all I want is to carry my EDC stuff, like a knife, cell phone, keys, flashlight, maybe a powerbar or two and a nalgene bottle without making my pockets sag like an elephant's balls.
What I'd really love to find is a harness like the custom one someone had in an animated gif on the backpack thread, but styled in a fashion that wouldn't make my fellow students (especially the cute, tight sweater wearing female kind of student) shy away from "the scary kid with the army gear and vacant stare."
Something that looks like a backpack without the backpack, with pockets and straps and such on the harness itself would be ideal. Khaki is pushing it, olive drab is a no-no, and camouflage is absolutely out.
If you have such a thing, better still - we can take it to the trade forum and deal with it there. But even suggestions as to what brand, style, where it can be found et cetera would be great.
Any help y'all can give would be much appreciated.
Backpacks, while generally useful to the extreme for carrying all your junk around, have two drawbacks for a guy like me who's on a college campus most of the time and walking around a pedestrian-friendly city the rest of the time. Drawback one is that they're heavy as hell when loaded down, drawback two is that you have to stop and take the backpack off your back to get at the gear in it.
A messenger bag helps solve part of that (I actually got a very nice one from the Dave Matthews Band web site, if you'll believe it)by reducing the load you can carry and allowing you to swing it so that the bag is facing your front rather than your back, but it's still cumbersome when all I want is to carry my EDC stuff, like a knife, cell phone, keys, flashlight, maybe a powerbar or two and a nalgene bottle without making my pockets sag like an elephant's balls.
What I'd really love to find is a harness like the custom one someone had in an animated gif on the backpack thread, but styled in a fashion that wouldn't make my fellow students (especially the cute, tight sweater wearing female kind of student) shy away from "the scary kid with the army gear and vacant stare."
Something that looks like a backpack without the backpack, with pockets and straps and such on the harness itself would be ideal. Khaki is pushing it, olive drab is a no-no, and camouflage is absolutely out.
If you have such a thing, better still - we can take it to the trade forum and deal with it there. But even suggestions as to what brand, style, where it can be found et cetera would be great.
Any help y'all can give would be much appreciated.
