Some bag-making companies and people I think are interesting, with some notes.
I also try to include some comments about company size and manufacturing locations. Not that being a large (a.k.a. once-small, then successful) company or manufacturing overseas are necessarily wrong, but it's information...
- Rickshaw Bagworks (San Francisco)
- Relatively new, recently (winter 2008) opened a warehouse/factory in Dogpath. They have a nice set of Juki machines set up.
- I haven't worn any of their bags or talked to people who use them, so no immediate opinions
- Zugster Bags (San Francisco)
- One-man bag-making operation in SF, about 30-50 bags/year made
- Also makes bags from waxed cotton in addition to the standard Cordura and similar synthetics
- Shared some good information in online communities about industrial sewing machines, thread, etc. in the past
- Along with lovelife, the "hip" bags in SF in 2008/2009? Not that I'm really any judge of that, and who cares?
- Lovelife (San Francisco)
- Small company (one-person? a few?) in SF, makes bags with a lot of recycled vintage upholstery and billboard vinyl
- Satchel Studios (San Francisco)
- Transit (Atlanta)
- One-woman custom bag maker in Atlanta, also has info at a Myspace link:
- Bags with interesting and waterproof, recycled liner materials (old truck tarps, or printed vinyl), and a logo that I like a lot
- I saw someone wearing one (or a prototype?) at the SF Zine Fest and she talked about her friend in the ATL who makes them
- Timbuk2 (San Francisco)
- They make a variety of sturdy bags. A Timbuk2 was my daily bag for about 5 years, and is still in great physical shape though a bit beat up.
- They've really pushed the bag color customization and built-to-order approach
- The messenger bags I've had have pretty basic shoulder straps, and suffer from the "flap doesn't fully overlap the body (and rain gets in)" issue that many bags of that shape also do. And the pockets are pretty basic as well. I wouldn't call them innovators in bag design.
- Their courier bag history page is interesting
- The San Francisoc Hipster Bag, circa 2001?
- They've grown a fair bit and now make many of their bags overseas
- Chrome (San Francisco)
- I've met a fair number of SF bike messengers who use their bags
- I've only worn their courier bags briefly, but I hear comments that they are more comfortable for biking than for walking around (at least the larger ones)
- Also the San Francisco Hipster Bag, circa 2006 or so
- They generally have good, padded straps and a well-thought-out strap attachment geometry and fabric extensions. And in general, interesting takes on various aspects of bag design.
- The seatbelt buckle is an entropist magnet at parties
- I have (and really like) one of their roll-top waterproof backpacks and have taken it on many trips
- Their tiny retail store in Soma expanded recently.
- Manhattan Portage (NYC)
- One of the original courier-bag-as-utility-and-fashion companies?
- I see their bags around, but haven't worn one
- They've grown substantially and moved manufacturing to Asia
- Courierware (Vermont)
- This was my first messenger-style bag
- Made in Vermont
- Waterfield Designs / SF Bags (San Francisco)
- Good padded laptop sleeves, and also a range of bags
- Really nice customer service when I ordered from them
- If you're local, you can arrange to pick up an order in person to save the shipping cost/gas if you let them know
- Designed and built in San Franciso
- Freight Baggage (San Francisco)
- I haven't worn one, but they have some interesting-looking rolltop backpacks and bike luggage, I saw them at one of the Indiemarts.
Do you make bags? Do you know another company, person, or bag design I should know about? Let me know by emailing max@ the domain name above.
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