I have always enjoyed camping, the few times that I have been with my outdoorsy friends, so I finally determined to get the basic gear and GO. I got a nice 2 person North Face tent and footprint from REI today. Thank goodness for my pre-existing membership and the 20% off one full price item coupon- it saved me around $50. B and I had some fun putting it up, and almost didn't even use the instructions (except when we got stuck and had to find them). B got a dece REI sleeping bag and a nice Thermarest sleeping pad. We are planning a trip out to E Rock next weekend, but I gotta remember to email reservations. Tomorrow!
With all this new gear, I wanted something to carry most of it in, since half the bags I own are for biking and the other half are totes, therefore neither types are great for camping at all. I figured that military stuff is functional and cheap, so I looked up some old military bags on Ebay for comparison. This resulted in me obsessing over Swiss Army rucksacks for the past few hours... they are extremely durable, relatively cheap (it's great how military surplus goods are so cheap- proves that quality is not necessarily $$), and made of canvas and leather. So classy. Also, in my research, found out about musettes, bread bags, gas mask bags, and so many other functional and awesome military bags. Drool. I see smaller and similar/inspired bags in the high-end mens urban fashion blog that I read, but really, this is what they are built for. Carrying stuff around the outdoors. Not merely for carrying your books and laptop to school/work. Anyways, I love a good-looking, rugged bag. (I just love bags, in general. My Domke amply covers me in as a medium everyday bag, so I can't use any excuses.) They are in the $50 range, and it's total bullshit that the Sundance catalog has them for $125. It's the sort of neat vintage bag that will make me want to create occasions to use it more.
Img sources: Fatigues Army Navy, LoadUp
2 comments:
Also check out the Worn Again military messenger bag, made from recycled army tents at: http://www.blokesbags.co.uk/acatalog/Recycled_bags.html
I had a similar situation with Sundance Catalog-- messenger bag was selling for $149 and I found it at a Clark's outlet for $49. Exact same bag. I called and Sundance said they do not offer any price assurance on non-exclusive products. You can see this all over the Sundance Catalog-- water bottles, blankets, and bags. It's about a 100% markup probably a smart bet that the readers of the catalog are elite and will not care about pricing.
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