Looking for a Billingham style bag

[noimmunity]

My condolences to you on your loss. Be glad that it was not life or limb; be sad that our world is like this and take it as a moment to redouble your resolve to be kind to others. Cheers!

seriously, guys, ive been mugged this monday downtown sao paulo with a friend from work by 3 guys with knives, probably addicts. one of them noticed me taking my m4 from my hadley small, taking a shot, putting it back. noticed my friend on her iphone. he doesnt have a clue on what is a leica or the brand of the bag. they just see it as something they can trade for drugs, period.

it wouldnt have made ANY difference if i was shooting with a bessa-r or an m9, if i had a billingham or a $10 bag, it would be stolen anyway due to the opportunity. i've used the hadley small for about 2 years before this has happened, prior to it i had a domke f6 (bought one again recently btw, i love how you can pack an absurd amount of things inside it). on monday a crazy lady at the bus terminal told me "piss off, reporter, no pictures of me!". i think the billingham might have helped in that sense, or maybe it was the glasses, the beard, the hairdo, the clothes i was wearing... i dont know. the billingham sure does look fancy. might be something to consider, but i dont think its a decisive factor. i wish someone could make a billingham in all canvas, sort of, and in dull colours to look cheap. i like the build of the billinghams, how they feel robust. the domke doesnt protect my stuff as much, i think, from eventual bumps. but ive used it for a couple years with no problems whatsoever.

i've learned a few things from the ****ty experience of monday:
- have everything insured. it will be relieving, you wont do anything stupid by impulse, you keep safe (hopefully) and everything can be re-bought.
- the way you behave and act are more important than believing taping a camera logo will make it less appealing to being robbed - it wont, it will just maybe put off people from those "wow you have a leica" comments
- have your gear tagged somehow to ease identification in case it shows up somewhere. leicas are not common and the market is not that big, eventually these might pop up somewhere. but there is always the chance they opened the bag, found an "old camera that is worth nothing" and just bashed it agains a wall, pissed off by the unsuccess of the robbery - as a photographer friend of mine told me yesterday he has already seen (two kids hammering an M3 into a wall downtown).

also, i wonder if there is any service/product/device you can leave in your bag in a sort of hidden place to track it down via gps, if i had one i could have followed the guy and found a police officer in the way. it was near a subway entrance so he could have gotten anywhere within minutes of the robbery. im thinking of maybe having a cheap smartphone with a gps on, connected to a tracking service, and with the ringer on the loudest volume possible. might be onto something here. they can always ditch the bag but who knows, could be something useful to track it right afterwards and sound the ringer, they might ditch the bag to get rid of the attention.

 

[Roger Hicks]

In the summer Greeks address me in English if my wife is with me and Greek if I'm by myself, in the winter it's all Greek ... context makes a difference I would suggest, well, that and co-ordinating the Billingham with a fanny-pack ...

... whatever that is

Dear Stewart,

Intriguing! Thanks.

I can see "Summer = tourist, winter = local" but what do you think it is about your wife? Or is it merely that Greek couples together are rarer?

I''m not being flippant. I'm really intrigued as to what the clues are. Even though we've all seen them, they're very, very hard to analyze.

Cheers,

Roger

 

[Godfrey]

All right, those are cartoon American tourists, and they certainly exist. But there are also subtler clues sometimes, and I'm not sure what they are. I'm British; my wife is American; we live in France; and sometimes we'll ask one another why a particular person (or more likely, couple) looks American or British. We have yet to come up with any convincing answers. ...

My friend Paul and I on balmy Ballaugh Beach yesterday. One American, one Brit. Aside from the girth, I think we look equally barmy. (That is still lingering snow behind us ...!)

Beached Whales Incognito​

M9 + Nokton 50/1.5

- An American On Holiday

 

[Roger Hicks]

Since Billinghams are basically just glorified hunting/fishing bags, you might want look at military surplus (army bags have the same pedigree) or outdoor supply joints. I think Mr. Hicks has mentioned gas mask bags on occasion.

Similarly, I have friends who swear by Filson bags, but they're almost as expensive as Billinghams, though (mostly) made in the USA.

True, but I once had an interesting few minutes at Glasgow Central station in the very early 1970s. I was carrying a modest Leica screw outfit in a really lovely saddle-leather case, lined with green baize, that cost me 10/- at Bogey Knight's Government Surplus in Plymouth. It was very late at night and when they asked me what was in it, I fear the police may have clocked, blind-embossed in the leather top, "Dynamo Exploder Mk. I"

It eventually fell apart when the stitching perished, and I threw it away. If I still had it, I think I might have re-sewn it by now.

An aside about Billingham. Once, many years ago, I was talking to Martin Billingham about Fogg bags. He said, "My bags are expensive, but this reflects the workmanship. Fogg bags are not better made, but the prices are much higher. I don't see why people want to subsidize someone who makes bags for a hobby."

Cheers,

R.

 

[Roger Hicks]

My friend Paul and I on balmy Ballaugh Beach yesterday. One American, one Brit. Aside from the girth, I think we look equally balmy. (That is still lingering snow behind us ...!)

Dear Godfrey,

Well, quite. This rather serves to reinforce my question:: why is it that some Americans look so... well... American?

I was about to go on "...while others look like normal human beings," but then I thought I'd better clarify that most Americans (and Britons) do indeed look like normal human beings. It's just that some don't. Why not? What is it that sets them apart?

Cheers,

R.

 

[jsrockit]

Beached Whales Incognito​

Point aside, I like this photo for some reason... makes me feel like you just discovered something after a long expedition... 😀

 

[cz23]

Fantastic, awesome!! http://www.onabags.com/store/small-goods/the-bowery.html?color=field-tan#field-tan

Great size, easy clasp, and no velcro. Thanks, I really like that bag!

John

 

[Highway 61]

Since Billinghams are basically just glorified hunting/fishing bags, you might want look at military surplus (army bags have the same pedigree) or outdoor supply joints. I think Mr. Hicks has mentioned gas mask bags on occasion.

For years I have been using, as my primary photo bag, a nice saddle leather cubic bag which had first been a military field telephone case in the 1960's. I had it re-sewn twice but now the leather is turning into dust all around the stitching holes so I won't use it any longer.

An aside about Billingham. Once, many years ago, I was talking to Martin Billingham about Fogg bags. He said, "My bags are expensive, but this reflects the workmanship. Fogg bags are not better made, but the prices are much higher. I don't see why people want to subsidize someone who makes bags for a hobby."

I am not too sure if Nigel Fogg even once made bags for a hobby. He started up the company in 1987 (I quote) : "A severe winter and deep recession in the UK dictated a small scale and a cautious approach ; we met with financial advisors, banks, graphic designers, business consultants and venture capitalists - and managed to retain our independence, just.
The early years involved breaking-in to specialist photographic stores, and included legal action against a large UK photographic chain for flagrant copying of our work.
Later we put down our tools to go off and exhibit at trade shows in Cologne, New York, and Tokyo - and were gratifyingly well-received - when the internet was still largely a confidential concept..."

He then established his very small company (and family) in a very remote southern France area and he certainly doesn't have the same logistics as Billingham so the Fogg bags production costs are probably higher than the Billy ones - hence the higher prices. Also, stepping into a very narrow niche market always commands that you sell your deluxe products at very high prices...

Speaking of the same area of southern France, another aside : there are those bags. Magnificent but very heavy. But really, really, really magnificent and probably having the best predictible lifetime of all bags made onwards from now. Of course, they cost much so this is OT.

Anyway - ita missa est. Amen. 😉

 

[Sparrow]

Dear Stewart,

Intriguing! Thanks.

I can see "Summer = tourist, winter = local" but what do you think it is about your wife? Or is it merely that Greek couples together are rarer?

I''m not being flippant. I'm really intrigued as to what the clues are. Even though we've all seen them, they're very, very hard to analyze.

Cheers,

Roger

... no, I'm intrigued too I've been wondering about it for years, and taking note of the circumstances at the time. We have a maid who is very fond of bleaching the floors (nothing like as pretentious as it sound you understand) so I have a few bits of clothing with small white spots on them ... those invariably provoke the Greek response with people I don't know, or when I'm in the touristy parts of the island I've noticed ...

 

[Sparrow]

My friend Paul and I on balmy Ballaugh Beach yesterday. One American, one Brit. Aside from the girth, I think we look equally barmy. (That is still lingering snow behind us ...!)

Beached Whales Incognito​

M9 + Nokton 50/1.5

- An American On Holiday

.. is the yank the chap on the left?

 

[Michael Markey]

Snow still in the IOM
I`m just fifty miles across the water and its warm and sunny 🙂