[possum]

My name is Possum, and I have a bag problem.

I am 33 and I have spent about 20 years looking for the perfect purse. I've tried them all. Expensive ones. Cheap ones. Messenger. Shoulder. Backpack. Handheld. Big. Small. Tote. Compartments. No compartments. Black. Colorful. Plain. Ornate. Even some custom made ones have turned around to bite me in the ass. I have yet to find what I want.

My ideal bag should have one or two outside pockets, a bit of stashing room but not huge or bulky. Preferably not leather. Not a bunch of hanging crap, fringe or dangling junk. No useless buckles. Must be lightweight. Must be durable. Not trendy, no dumbass logos all over it. Must have a shoulder strap of some kind. Must be a bit unusual, something not everyone on earth would have. Is this too much to ask?

Here's what I haul on a daily basis:
Cell phone (black RAZR named Poe)
iPod (named iNgrid)
Wallet
Pons/Pads
Pens
Moleskine daily planner, size of a book
Small can of cop-grade pepper spray, aka Krypto
Albuterol (asthma rescue inhaler)
Digital Camera
Glasses
Lip balm, concealer, small hairbrush
.. and sometimes whatever junk I run across.

What bag do you carry?

WHERE THE HELL CAN I FIND A BAG I LIKE?!

Thank you. Please drive through.

[humanist77]

Halleluliah! It's a revival!

I'm driving myself absolutely crazy trying to find a new bag. I have searched about a million sites trying to find what I'm looking for, to no avail.

I've been carrying this bag (the dark brown one) for about 6 months now. It's taken quite a beating and starting to get a little shabby.

I'm looking for something smaller than that one-small enough so that I don't carry around needless crap which makes it too heavy, but big enough to fit the basic stuff. I also want it to be a backpack, because my right shoulder is messed up, and now my left shoulder is starting to hurt too from always carrying it on that side. I know that's because I carry too much stuff, but that's because the large size encourages me to fill it up. I pride myself on being a pretty rational person, but for some reason I just cannot minimize the amount of things I carry, if I can fit it in the bag. So I hope if I have a smaller one, I will have no choice but to carry less.

So..basically I'm looking for a mini backpack, but I am so extremely picky about..everything. The color, the material, the details on it. There really are a lot of mini backpacks, but not quite what I am looking for. I know, I'm making this so much harder by being so picky, but I generally use the same bag daily for a long time-like at least a year, usually longer, and so I want something that I will still like a year from now, and meets my needs. This current one is just starting to cause me problems. And I'm sick to death of the color brown.

I would love something handmade, or at least looks like it. I've looked through a lot of crafty-bag websites, but not many of them make backpacks for some reason. I've looked on Ebay, Amazon, Overstock, Ebags, Zappos, and many other random sites that sell bags. All of the major sites generally only sell boring, trendy bags. Ebay is kind of a hit or miss-I'll find something that is sort of what I am looking for, but not quite, and at this point, it's the most promising lead, because people can sell whatever they want, I'm hoping someone will have what I'm looking for.

To be honest-and to make things harder, I can't really put together in my own mind what I want it to look like. I have lots of ideas, but nothing solid. Just the small backpack so far. But most of what I've found is too boring and/or too trendy. I want it to have structure, so things inside stay somewhat in the same spot, but I'm not sure about leather. Leather-like would be okay. No sporty-nylon either.

I have to say though, that I love Matt & Nat bags-they are stylish and interesting, but not too boring and trendy, and they are made of PVC, which feels and looks a lot like leather but is not. Some of them are a little pricey, but they are well made. And the names of their bags are usually amusing and film-related. They just don't make any backpacks

Oh, and I don't want to spend more than $75 or so-and that's if I REALLY like it.

God I know I am my own pain in my ass. And I know, I feel so materialistic, but I really don't go through that many bags. I think I've had 4 in the last 6 years, and 3 of those were handmade. My current one was the first one I've ever bought. But I'm afraid I am not talented enough to make what I'm looking for this time.

Anyone know where I can maybe find what I'm looking for? I would love any suggestions. I can't guarantee I will find it there, but anything will help. Thanks for reading this!