seagull.apollo

Hey, so I did an hour or so of searching and came up with the usual suspects aka UTW, Cocotte and PAC. Does anyone have some hidden gems they want to share. US exchange is killing me. Oh, and if anyone knows of a good place to buy or order Ortlieb bags from in Canada I'm all ears. Thanks.

tdot-miele

you need to get a "Push the Envelope" bag... they are the best legit messenger bag... They are sold out of urbane cyclist in toronto. I think they may do internet orders too... but they definitely have a website

rarebird

i recently went messenger bag shopping on the internet and ended up with a canadian maker, under the weather. I bought a backpack that will get here in a week or so. As far as I can tell there are 4, under the weather, pac designs, cocotte, and push the envelope. all of them are easy to find.

i went with under the weather for a few reasons. they don't use pvc, they have good reviews, and the people there made recommendations for what they thought would fit me and suit me best instead of jsut trying to sell me their biggest or most expensive bag. I was looking in particular for a small bag because i'm a small person. this is my bag, i got pink & blue https://www.under-the-weather.ca/?page_id=454

I saw reviews for the messneger bags but only one for the backpack, but they said they just put it out a month or 2 ago.

i looked at all of the sites though and i think canadians have the best bag makers around

plus the dollar stretches up there, my 200 dollar backpack is still expensive but 200 canadian isnt as bad is it?

if you can avoid buying a PVC messenger bag you should. besides which the pvc is the first thing to go

some of the other bag makers quit using pvc but most of them still do. UTW thanked me for noticing

rarebird

oh and if you search this forum and fixed gear gallery you will find lots of reviews

operator

I do have a beef with their flyaway bag though - the position of the immovable buckle at the bottom can dig into your side. And since you can't move it

seagull.apollo

Thanks for the heads up. I think the flyaway is a little small anyways for my needs.

Already did that, man. I said so in my original post. Unless I don't know how to work the search properly...

And thanks for the heads up on UTW. I'm considering heavily. Anyone got any other gems, reviews, or the like? Haven't bought anything yet...

veganwar

A friend messengered with his push the envelop bag and absolutely hated it. The strap just sucked and it wasn't comfortable unless it was full. Either get a PAC (pricey but great construction) or get a biking specific backpack.

tdot-miele

^^ was this before they changed their strap design?? I've had no problems with mine... but i'm coming from an 8 year old timbuk2 messenger bag

andmalc

Pac at pacdesigns.com is Canadian though the website lists prices in $US. I bought a side pouch bag from them at Bikes on Wheels in Kensington in Toronto.

Gyeswho

I have a pac and absolutely love it. They are pricey, but the range of options is what shines along with it's durability. Here's a review I made of it:
PAC Ultimate OS

rarebird

if u are still shopping, check out the baileyworks backpack, it is PVC free, to add to the short list of PVC free offerings

jim-bob

What's the evil thing about PVC, again?

also: I've got a PAC, but it's a little too tech for my simple caveman mind.

tashi

Since you're in Victoria, you could check out "Not Just Pretty", a clothing store on Fort. They have bags made out of used sails, and they're pretty neat. I have no idea if their mess. bags are well thought out as they only have purse size bags in store (it is a ladies clothing store after all), but they're locally made, unique looking, and made from durable, reused materials.

Can't remember the brand right now.



Not the most helpful post I'll admit, but they've always caught my eye and I figured that if I ever needed anything more serious than my MEC mess bag, I'd get in touch with the designer/seamstress to see what she could do.

p.s.: Is there bike polo in Victoria? I'm kinda into trying that out sometime.

rarebird

it's pretty evil, manufacture is evil & tremendous, it releases PCBs into the atmosphere from the time it is manufactures until it disappears in a 1000 years, smells like bad while doing that. Polyvinyl chloride

I think everyone uses it because everyone uses it and it's cheap. Looking at all the messenger bag options the only ones that don't use it are Under the weahter and baileyworks, under the weather not at all, baileyworks still has some pvc offerings.

I asked, because yes I am one of those people that won't buy something I don't agree is at least okay, and the owner replied that the only reason they didn't switch away from PVC earlier is that they had lots of trouble finding the new material in a form that could withstand colder than -20 c and they sell mostly to canadian messengers and cyclists. The TPU they have is rated to below - 40 c, is the only one that is, and at x6 the cost of PVC is one of the most expensive TPU out there, but it doesn't crack. at all.

so i was impressed. it's a small company, but the owner wrote back because she appreciated my stand that plastics should be used responsibly.

UTW and Baileyworks, and Timbuk2, but T2 uses a tpu laminate that has its own issues. that and I want made in north america thank you very much

IRO is steel, from tiawan okay, I'll bend a little see? not a complete nut, but yeah i threw out my bisphenol stuff and wont buy more.

rarebird

uh in case you REALLY care and aren't just curious about my plastic weirdness, PVC has been shown a carcinogen, but don't worry too much about that unless you work in a PVC plant. What sucks is that your pipes are bad, sure, but the soft things, like the bag liner of your messenger bag are soft because of plasticizers added to PVC, these are leeching into you and everything around you. Sure that's lame, but PVC is one of the most widely produced materials in the world, and its manufacture creates an inordinate amount of dioxins as a by product. So even the pipes that are used everywhere, while releasing very little poison in construction, release a ton when it is made.

and no one recycles the stuff, so where does it all go?

seagull.apollo

Man, those PAC bags are pretty. One problem is that I wouldn't really like to spend more than $200, even though I know, you get what you pay for. I'd prefer to learn that lesson the hard way. That's actually why I asked for Canadian bags, just so that I wouldn't get burned on customs, shipping and US exchange, which as previously mentioned, is just brutal right now.

Oh, and I just got a messenger gig so I need something that's big and will stand up to abuse. It's in Victoria, though, so it doesn't have to be able to take -40 weather, just -10 or so.

tashi: There is bike polo in Victoria. It's actually happening tonight at behind Fernwood community center, so you should stop by. You can borrow bikes and mallets, there's always enough to go around. Oh, and there's a race/tournament this weekend. Race Friday night, 7pm at Centennial Square, polo tourney Saturday 11am at the Vic High tennis courts. Hope to see you out!

emenel

I have a Pac bag and a Push The Envelope bag... both are awesome, but I like using the Push bag a little more. The Pac bag strap design makes it really hard to open the bag without readjusting the main strap length all the time.. the Push bag has the strap mounted on the back of the bag instead of the sides, so it opens all the way even when the straps are tight.

The other thing I prefer on the Push bag is that it has multiple interior compartments.. they are all flat so you can still use the entire space for big stuff, but you can also organize. Only the really high end Pac bags have that..

Construction on both are top notch, I'd recommend trying to see them in person before deciding.

riff

Gyeswho - great review! I use the PAC deluxe (not OS!) and it's a great bag. +1!!

jim-bob

I was honestly curious. I've been using messenger bags for most of my life and worked at a bag company for a year or so in the early 90s, and pvc truck tarp was at that point one of the only real options for making sure you were mostly waterproof. You're right about it being the first thing to give out on most bags, but until now I never really even thought about there being an alternative.