The True Messenger Bag
Courier bags—or, as they’re now mostly called, messenger bags—aren’t just a sideways backpack or a random shoulder bag. If you’re not trudging up mountains, a messenger is far handier for normal city life and even for travel. Yet I’ve almost stopped using them, simply because I can’t find the right one anymore.
What makes a messenger special is its sheer practicality: roomy, comfortable on foot or bike, and easy to load or unload even while moving—bulky stuff included.
There used to be a Hong Kong company, Tough Jeans, that made gorgeous bags, proper messenger models included. Their clothes were solid too; overall, an excellent brand. About eight years ago the owners sold the business to some Chinese traders, and—at least to my taste—nothing good survived. I still own a few of their bags. One, bought twenty years back, is wearing thin: the lining’s torn, a couple of plastic parts snapped. Another bag stayed in Moscow, and two more left along with relationships that fell apart. And the brand’s current line has nothing worth buying.
To reject a bad bag in a heartbeat I use two rules of thumb:
-
Capacity. Can it swallow both a basketball and a pizza box (not necessarily together)? If yes, it’s big and versatile enough.
-
The flap. A real messenger bag closes with an overlapping flap—a generous, heavy piece of fabric. Flip it open, drop something in, flop it back, and its own weight (plus whatever’s stashed in the little pockets sewn into it) keeps the bag shut. It must still cover the load when the bag’s overstuffed, and it can fasten—but it shouldn’t need to.
Beyond those two rules you still want the usual: a comfortable, easily adjusted shoulder strap; smart pockets; waterproof fabrics; sturdy zippers and buckles.
Bags that tick all those boxes just aren’t made anymore—or I haven’t found them, and I’ve hunted hard. I once ran a comparison website devoted purely to messenger bags, featuring over a thousand models from more than a hundred brands. We even tried sewing our own to my design—good design, but without a proper factory we couldn’t hit the needed quality.
So these days I mostly carry backpacks, but I do miss a good messenger bag.
Tags: bags
