bag aging

sanmich

sanmich

Veteran
Local time
3:03 PM
Joined
Nov 3, 2006
Messages
3,420
We discuss in length the aging of cameras (specially black ones), but I would like some opinion on how well different bags/finish and specially colors age.

I for one have a very old Domke Navy bag that looks really decent although it's really worn.

I've seen worn billinghams looking not so nice (but maybe they were just dirty)

So, what's your experience?
 
Cotton Canvas Lasts!

Cotton Canvas Lasts!

Have an original F2 from when Jim Domke sewed them himself-say 1980 vintage. It is cotton canvas and needs stitching in a couple places but the canvas itself looks excellent.
 
I too have an old black canvas Domke (F-3X?) that I bought in college (21 years ago) and still use regularly. The strap has faded to a bluish dark gray and the rubber keeper strips and all but crumbled and gone. The canvas on the bag itself is a faded dark gray, and the trim on the side pockets are pretty frayed, otherwise its still in excellant condition, and looks damned nice! It probably still has decades to go before it's unusable :)

Oh,I also have black canvas F2 that probably about 10 years old. I dont use it much, and it looks and feels as new as the day it came out of the factor. Try as I might, I just cant get it to fade :D Could probably help it along if I stuck in the wash....
 
I've typically bought black.

Domke canvas, my F6 and F3 still look near new (both are over 15 years old), my F803 Satchel is looking a little tatty and gray (bought in 1991, I think; my buddy on the Isle of Man has been using it since 2008), and my F5XB is still going strong, a little tatty and gray (bought about 1989). I'm on the third new strap with the F5XB.

My Billingham L2 (black/black with nickel silver) is a decade old and looks good, about the same as the F6.

Both the Black Label Bag and A&A bags are under six years old, too new to even think were fading yet. The BLB Oskar's One Day Bag II has had the most use and is just nicely settled in now.

My favorite little old Tenba and a slightly larger Tamrac, both bought back in the early 1980s, have had to be retired. They finally fell apart in the past year or two.

G
 
I have a very old (at least 25yrs, probably much older as it was once my father-in-law's) Lowepro Magnum, in tan canvas. It's aged very well despite looking a bit beaten up. Metal ring connecting the shoulder strap is a little rusted, some paint chipped off YKK zippers, canvas faded and looking worn, but still very durable.

Must have been a good vintage.
 
I only buy black bags as well. My oldest is made by MEI. It is ballistic cloth with a leather bottom. Other then the fabric ends fraying a bit on the inside and the leather a bit scuffed, it still looks pretty good for being 25 years old. I personally dislike the "s**t" brown Domke bags. I've had 2 and given them away. Not only are they ugly to begin with, they get uglier with age.
 
I suspect ballistic cloth is the longest lasting. I have a few canvas Domke bags, some new, some old. while mine are all in good shape, they don't get day-in and day-out use. There is another thread here someplace in which someone wrote that they have worn out the canvas Domke bags. Still, mine have really lasted well. I bought one new sometime in the 1980's, have carried a Hasselblad, four lenses and film in it quite a bit, and it's fine.

I think very highly of Tamrac bags and have used them a lot. But the seams are coming out of my Tamrac 706 convertible. Gee, and after only 25 years.
 
My 15 year old black canvas Domke satchel & F2 have worn "body-contact" patches (white/ grey). Stitching is intact but there is minor fraying at the edges of flaps. Both have been through the washing machine many times without noticeable colour loss. The bags live in a harsh equatorial environment (UV; heat; humidity) & are doing a grand job. A caution is that canvas absorbs moisture, so I tend not to use the bags for storing lenses or bodies. If I do I leave the main flap open
 
Last edited:
My khaki Domke looks better now than when I bought it four years ago. I have used it heavily. It has held up well, although it is slightly faded. The best part is how nice and soft it is now.

My black Billingham is indestructible but does not age as nicely. Generally I find that navy blue canvas ages better than black. The back of my Billingham has faded to gray. The coating has started to come off the zipper. Surprisingly the leather looks the same as when I bought it.
 
My Tenba is coming loose at the seams in 2 places after 5 years due to shoddy workmanship. You can guess where it's made.
 
Rob-F said:
I think very highly of Tamrac bags and have used them a lot. But the seams are coming out of my Tamrac 706 convertible. Gee, and after only 25 years.
Click to expand...

Seconded. I have a couple of Tamrac bags of similar vintage, which all are fine. But of course, the quality of a 25 year old bag won't tell much about their current products...
 
The bags that have held up best for me are Lowe Pro. EX 140 for daily carry and Nova 2 for traveling. Very tough and easy in and out. Mine are both dark green, and they don't seem to fade, nor do they show dirt.
 
kbg32 said:
I only buy black bags as well. My oldest is made by MEI. It is ballistic cloth with a leather bottom. Other then the fabric ends fraying a bit on the inside and the leather a bit scuffed, it still looks pretty good for being 25 years old. I personally dislike the "s**t" brown Domke bags. I've had 2 and given them away. Not only are they ugly to begin with, they get uglier with age.
Click to expand...

lol! I have three s**t" brown Domke bags in various states of decay and I think they're fine. ;)
 
SamStewart said:
this thread needs pictures of the bags being spoken of.
Click to expand...

I can't think of anything worse than pictures of camera bag brassing. Except the inevitable questions about whether the user took a file to his Billingham...


My original F6 Domke in tan has been all over everywhere, often stuffed too full and while worn here and there still has plenty of life in it. A slightly newer F2 looks quite the same.

My Courier Ware bag looks brand new several years on. My current main bag is an A&A and it certainly shows more age than the Domkes did after three or four years. Looks well loved tho.

I had a Tamrac bag for a long time before the Domke, which lasted well (except for the plastic closure clasps) but once it started to come apart it just about disintegrated right before my eyes.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top Bottom