blickblocks

Generally messenger bags are more flexible in what they can hold due to the flap design, they're made to ride flat but expand and turn into more of a box shape the more you put into it. Conventional backpacks which use zippers cannot do this and are not weatherproof (water will get in through the zipper, no matter what fabric it's made of. Also, conventional backpacks are not meant to be on shoulders which are as tucked down as they are on a cyclist.

The question should be messenger bags vs. messenger packs.

I think you're underestimating how large a typical DJ mixer is. Even for a decent two channel it looks like it might not fit in that bag. I've been able to carry my PPD01, laptop, and cables in a bag I made about the size of a Chrome Metropolis (I use flight cases now, luckily).

tepr

sometimes i really love you blick

edit: always

blickblocks

<3

ban guzzi

backpacks used to be 'geeky' before geek was chic. Mess bags were hip (hipster happened later). Now the situation is reversed.

Use what you want. I use a mess bag since I commute year round, car free. For me, it works. Worked great on motorcycles for weekends and commuting, too.

mehhem

My Chrome Metro can hold much more than my North Face backpack.

deadforkinglast

Really?

iansmash

throwing it out there...


i swing my pack around and put my right arm thru the left strap, and hang it there while getting things, similar to the messenger bag swing. I would argue that it can be faster than putting it down and popping the top

elTwitcho

And I think clearly the important difference in carrying capacity is that one is a mess bag, and the other is a backpack...

elTwitcho

Of course not. Since we're talking about things being BIG it would be MACROscience.

The answer to why your bag with one strap can carry more than your bag with two straps remains elusive though.

stakes is high

the only people with valid reasons to use messenger bags are messengers?
....what a silly/presumptuous statement to make.

when using my messenger bag, i'm constantly going in it to get things.
probably on par with however often a messenger would go through their bag.
cry about it.

elTwitcho

Indeed, I'd started to suspect as much.

You stop and go in your bag about 40-50+ times per day riding across the city over an 8 hour period?

Are you a drug dealer?

stakes is high

note: i said "when using my bag".
and i would say that when using my bag, i do go into it very often. i'm not sure if it's "40-50 times".... but it's very often anyway.

and no, i'm not a drug dealer.

d3fold

Most backpacking/hiking type packs aren't waterproof enough for biking either. Plus their mostly built with pretty lightweight material that don't really hold up well.

Flimflam

Yeah I do this with my backpack, too.

I switch between my mess bag and backpack - mostly because the mess bag has caused a torn rotator cuff (carrying 12+ beers over 10 miles multiple times in a week/weekend was apparently too much for my puny shoulder to deal with).

I'm not a messenger, I just like the mess bag for the added capacity (size of package/stuff I carry), the waterproof material and the ability to carry *huge* stuff with the flap open without stuff likely to fall out. My backpack is fairly big, but not as versatile. I'm just resting my shoulder now.

I'm also a car-free year-round commuter/transportational cyclist, I've used a backpack, a big hiking pack, a mess bag and my rack/pannier/trunk bags for rides - I prefer for long, long rides the weight being on the bike. The mess bag is nice if it's not too loaded for around town, but for general versatility and dealing with all situations, the backpack seems to rule. I wouldn't want to do much more than 50 miles with a loaded mess bag (not my bag anyway, single shoulder strap w/ stablising strap = too much weight on one shoulder for comfort). My full commute is 33 miles, I've ridden that with my mess bag and that's about the furthest I think with that.

The backsweat is a pain, but I change shirt when I get to work anyway - I'm probably going to put a rack on my Rob Roy and use my pannier or trunk bag for the winter (though the backpack = nice warmth) which is nice, but I do prefer having the bike weight-free and it all being on me (for whatever reason it seems faster/lighter that way).

Flimflam

The world has a surplus of those irritating plastic grocery bags. Put them in your backpack(s) and they'll keep your stuff waterproof. I do this regularly. Before I got booties I used bags for shoe covers in the rain/snow too.

Adapt, improvise, overcome. (Hoorah for the CRE!)

chris wielk

i ride with a messenger bag but im about to get a backpack. for a few reasons really, mainly size, shape, weight distribution, and padding. i dont like things poking me in the back because there is no back padding on a messenger back. i have to adjust all the things to be able to fit them and also be comfortable which is sort of annoying. i also rarely swing my bag to get anything out aside from maybe my wallet. otherwise its easier to just take it off so i can locate what i actually need. that being said i don't do messenger work. its mostly a school/ play bag being filled with books, notebooks, beer, tools, and tubes.

Treespeed

So wrong. It's immensely easier getting things in and out of a messenger bag without taking it off your back. And it's not only messengers who need to do this. I know this, because I was a messenger for 8 years, and have used a messenger bag for 15, but now because of some spinal issues I've had to switch back to a backpack and it sucks. Harder to load and unload tools, groceries, and locks.

So for those of you who want to keep using your messenger bags make sure you don't overload it and watch your back strength or you might notice one day that one shoulder is lower than the other. Getting old has it's benefits and detriments.

bonechiller

Racks.

skeem

ive done some messenger work before and i used a smaller backpack but i broke my left collarbone about a year and a half ago and a backpack kills my shoulder still so i just use a right sided messenger bag. also, ive noticed that my backpack would roll op on my back when on a road bike and in the drops. besides the convienence is still nice even if your not doing courrier work.

NewYorkMantle

it's already starting to happen to me, very slightly though

GayestManAlive

So even though you said i was wrong you proved my point

Lets see, a slight inconvience vs crippling and debilitating back problems

Hmmmm....

There is no way the extra 10 seconds it takes to get something out of a backpack can compensate for serious back pains, unless you do it 50 times a day (10 minutes) for 5 days a week (50 minutes) for a year (2500 minutes, or 41 added hours going in and out of your bag)

Messenger bags feel terrible. Once I switched over to a backpack it was like a whole new world of comfort.

Treespeed

No, you said there was no contest, and you were wrong. And yes, as a messenger you go into your bag probably a 100 times a day, if not more. I think crippling and debilitating is overstating, more like ouchy, to quote my daughter. It's not like I've stopped riding.

GayestManAlive

Look you can say what you want, but there is no actual reason to chose a messenger bag over a backpack, unless you are a messenger. Ok, also, maybe if you are a girl and you have a little messenger bag that you use as a purse to carry little random stuff while riding, thats legit. But I'm talking if you are hauling groceries, or bringing clothes to work, or carrying around beer, or carrying around tools, or taking an illegally aborted fetus to the dump, a backpack wins hands down.

GayestManAlive

Yes, I'm saying a messenger using a messenger bag will save himself/herself about 40 hours a year.

and then I'm saying the average Joe Aerospoke doesn't experience that same benefit

Strick

It all comes down to personal preference. Me, I've used messenger style bags for about 20 years now and prefer them to all else.

And shoulder pain has never been a problem. Most people just don't know how to wear them. Cinch the strap tight enough so it rides high and the bag lays across your back rather than pull on your shoulder. The strap is holding maybe half the weight, the rest is spread across your back. Bigger bags are more comfortable than smaller ones.