What influences how we carry?
I love how radically adaptable humans are. If you live in Alaska, you learn to love 40 below temperatures for how light the snow will be. If you live in Bali, you learn to love never needing a jacket, and playing in rain without getting a chill.
Carrying cultures also vary radically, and my latest theory is that the two biggest influences on it are work and transport…
If you hang in Tokyo, it’s mostly salarymen carrying small black attaches by train. The slim and discreet profile looks great in an office, the single strap or handles are sufficient for short runs between the office and station, and there’s vending machines adorning every platform if you need a quick bite (so you don’t need to carry much food or drink).
If you hang in San Francisco, you’re probably working for a young company in less formal attire, and hauling a big water resistant messenger that lets you pick up shopping on your bike commute home. If you’re in Idaho, you don’t really have a bag, as you just throw everything in the back of your pick-up on your way to the potato farm.
London? That’s more about your fancy wallet, where just stepping out your door seems to require handing over pound notes, so you want to look good shouting the boss a pint.
Yes, yes, I’m generalizing, but you get the drift. Those leather attaches are pretty useless on a wet ride home in San Fran, but few Tokyo office workers ride, so they work great there. And those big SF messengers are really disrespectful in a Tokyo office, as it shows you value your commute more than your office time.
What’s the carry culture that I hang in? Hmmm, it’s a beach/country/town/self-employed mess. I have IKEA bags for hauling clothes in the car, a van for hauling surfboards, a few bags for office trips by bike, and a water resistant wallet for all the gunk that accumulates along the varied way. Yeah, I’m a carry conundrum.
How about you? Any interesting carry culture that you hang in? We’re always curious about what seems to work for all those peculiar combinations out there…
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End note: One of the most exciting areas of carry is when you take work out of the equation. Walking around Hong Kong or Tokyo on a Sunday, you get to see crew out for the day still using trains as their transport. That’s when you get waist bags slung over shoulders, and crazy little leather satchels intended to haul your everyday carry with minimum intrusion. Put those in a car dominated culture though, and you have to constantly shout ‘it’s European!‘ to justify your manbag.
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How about taking this a bit further and asking whether people in their culture(s) are using traditional/conventional bags/wallets, or if they have conciously picked special carry items like an optimized (slimmed down) wallet or practical messenger bag – vs. just going for stylish / hip (but maybe rather useless/impractical) carry items?
(this Fjall Räven rucksack – I had 4 of them as a teenager. just because of their flat and square shape which is perfect for school. but carry-comfort was horrible, except for the foam pack in the back
Ahh, this blog is so great. Carryology – good to know there are others infected with the carry virus. ^^
Haha, cheers for the nice words.
Yeah, it’s funny that the Fjall Räven is cool because it’s basically crap. Just like all the retro Eastpac/Jansport shapes getting reissued right now, there are none of the modern features that make a pack work better. But that striped back feel is what makes it cool in many carry cultures. It’s almost a monk-like approach to shunning comforts.
So crew can be carrying a really basic bag because they have never thought about what a good bag can be, or because they want to intentionally shun a good bag to be cool. Which means the worst bags are being carried both by the least cool crew, as well as the most ‘cool’ crew.
Yes, we humans are a weird bunch.