Ultimate Vintage look Bag?

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fdigital said:
I dare say that the quality of the domke is somewhat over-rated - I still really like mine and will be looking for a f3x soon, but the crumplers are a similar price (and while being a fairly different style) are much tougher/more durable bag IMO. It's a Melbourne based company too I believe!
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They are an Australian company, but they make everything with low-wage slaves in China. Not worth the high price, given that. Domke bags are American made. Higher end Tamrac bags are also American made. Artisan & Artist are made in Japan. Billingham are made in the UK, and Fogg are made in France. If you want to spend a lot of money on a bag, I'd buy one of these brands. At least the high price supports workers paid fair wages in The USA, Japan, and Europe. I have Tamrac, Domke, and A&A bags. Love them all.

Several years ago, my cat got mad at me and pissed on a bag of mine. He was spiteful and nasty like that. So, I needed a new bag. Wanted a Domke F1x to replace it. I used the bag the cat ruined for my medium format gear. Went to the local camera store and asked for the Domke. They carried Domke, but were out of the one I wanted.

The guy behind the counter tried to convince me to buy a Lowepro bag made for MF systems that he did have in stock. It was made of nylon and was expensive. $220! I began looking it over, looking for the "Made in...." tag. The sales dude asks what I'm looking for, and I told him. "Who cares where its made?", he asked. "I care. I'm not paying $220 for something made by third world slaves. If its not made in a high-wage country, I don't want it." The bag was made in China and I rejected it and asked him to order me a Domke, which was actually $30 less expensive!

He got all indignant with me about "being stupid about where something's made". That was it. This guy was one of my classmates in college and this happened years after we graduated. He made $5.50 an hour then and couldn't find a better job. I told him that he was an idiot because the lack of decent jobs in this country is directly tied to people like him buying slave-made crap and paying made in USA prices for it. The look on his face was PRICELESS. Know what he's doing for a living now? He found some girl to support him, and he lays on his ass and does nothing while she works full time. Sad thing is, his parents paid for him to get his MFA at the Savannah College of Art & Design a few years after my argument with him over the bag, and he's too lazy to teach or try to get his work out there to sell.
 
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Chriscrawfordphoto said:
They are an Australian company, but they make everything with low-wage slaves in China. Not worth the high price, given that. Domke bags are American made. Higher end Tamrac bags are also American made. Artisan & Artist are made in Japan. Billingham are made in the UK, and Fogg are made in France. If you want to spend a lot of money on a bag, I'd buy one of these brands. At least the high price supports workers paid fair wages in The USA, Japan, and Europe. I have Tamrac, Domke, and A&A bags. Love them all.

Several years ago, my cat got mad at me and pissed on a bag of mine. He was spiteful and nasty like that. So, I needed a new bag. Wanted a Domke F1x to replace it. I used the bag the cat ruined for my medium format gear. Went to the local camera store and asked for the Domke. They carried Domke, but were out of the one I wanted.

The guy behind the counter tried to convince me to buy a Lowepro bag made for MF systems that he did have in stock. It was made of nylon and was expensive. $220! I began looking it over, looking for the "Made in...." tag. The sales dude asks what I'm looking for, and I told him. "Who cares where its made?", he asked. "I care. I'm not paying $220 for something made by third world slaves. If its not made in a high-wage country, I don't want it." The bag was made in China and I rejected it and asked him to order me a Domke, which was actually $30 less expensive!

He got all indignant with me about "being stupid about where something's made". That was it. This guy was one of my classmates in college and this happened years after we graduated. He made $5.50 an hour then and couldn't find a better job. I told him that he was an idiot because the lack of decent jobs in this country is directly tied to people like him buying slave-made crap and paying made in USA prices for it. The look on his face was PRICELESS. Know what he's doing for a living now? He found some girl to support him, and he lays on his ass and does nothing while she works full time. Sad thing is, his parents paid for him to get his MFA at the Savannah College of Art & Design a few years after my argument with him over the bag, and he's too lazy to teach or try to get his work out there to sell.
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Don't get me wrong, I generally agree with what you're saying - I'm always checking where stuff is made, however in my case my crumpler has had significantly more use and abuse, and has held up measurably better than my Domke. Material differences aside, it seems to me the crumpler is just better put together.

That being said, if Crumpler was made in Australia I'd pay an extra $50 for it. I'm sure a lot of other people would too - Australians are always very proud of home made products.
 
I think those bags look pretty awesome, but yeah...the price is a bit high :[
Also, you know not everything in China is made by "slaves" just saying. There's quite a lot of high quality stuff made in China.

Just like not everything made in USA is quality...there's quite a lot of crap quality products made in USA. Like cars for instance. AND yes I can say this, I was raised near Detroit, Motor City.
 
Chriscrawfordphoto said:
They are an Australian company, but they make everything with low-wage slaves in China. Not worth the high price, given that. Domke bags are American made. Higher end Tamrac bags are also American made. Artisan & Artist are made in Japan. Billingham are made in the UK, and Fogg are made in France. If you want to spend a lot of money on a bag, I'd buy one of these brands. At least the high price supports workers paid fair wages in The USA, Japan, and Europe. I have Tamrac, Domke, and A&A bags. Love them all.

Several years ago, my cat got mad at me and pissed on a bag of mine. He was spiteful and nasty like that. So, I needed a new bag. Wanted a Domke F1x to replace it. I used the bag the cat ruined for my medium format gear. Went to the local camera store and asked for the Domke. They carried Domke, but were out of the one I wanted.

The guy behind the counter tried to convince me to buy a Lowepro bag made for MF systems that he did have in stock. It was made of nylon and was expensive. $220! I began looking it over, looking for the "Made in...." tag. The sales dude asks what I'm looking for, and I told him. "Who cares where its made?", he asked. "I care. I'm not paying $220 for something made by third world slaves. If its not made in a high-wage country, I don't want it." The bag was made in China and I rejected it and asked him to order me a Domke, which was actually $30 less expensive!

He got all indignant with me about "being stupid about where something's made". That was it. This guy was one of my classmates in college and this happened years after we graduated. He made $5.50 an hour then and couldn't find a better job. I told him that he was an idiot because the lack of decent jobs in this country is directly tied to people like him buying slave-made crap and paying made in USA prices for it. The look on his face was PRICELESS. Know what he's doing for a living now? He found some girl to support him, and he lays on his ass and does nothing while she works full time. Sad thing is, his parents paid for him to get his MFA at the Savannah College of Art & Design a few years after my argument with him over the bag, and he's too lazy to teach or try to get his work out there to sell.
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Wow..it seems harsh to name ppl as a 3rd world "slaves"...:mad:

but i do agree that things made in Japan vs the same thing made in China does make a difference in terms of quality
 
But to get back on topic, do you guys have any other bag recommendations that look similar to the first post but is not so expensive?
 
FalseDigital said:
I think those bags look pretty awesome, but yeah...the price is a bit high :[
Also, you know not everything in China is made by "slaves" just saying. There's quite a lot of high quality stuff made in China.

Just like not everything made in USA is quality...there's quite a lot of crap quality products made in USA. Like cars for instance. AND yes I can say this, I was raised near Detroit, Motor City.
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High quality stuff can be made by people being exploited. Its not the quality of Chinese stuff that I object to, its the exploitation. Generally, American made stuff is better quality. I know its fashionable to spit on American cars, but my experience has been that they are as reliable as any others and cost a hell of a lot less for parts when they do need repair. I just retired my old Chevy Caprice, a 1995 with 210,000 miles on it. It was indestructible, I wrecked it 8 times and you can't tell. It never needed any repair greater than a new grill and headlights on any of my wrecks with it, except the time I hit a deer. I had to replace the hood then too! The car never gave any mechanical problems till near the end, when the transmission started giving problems. It had 205,000 miles at that point. I knowWAY too many people with toyotas and Hondas that have had their transmissions rebuilt LONG before that. Almost everyone I know drives GM or Ford cars and none ever had transmission problems on cars with less than 200,000 miles.

The only US cars that were junk were low-end models like the Ford Escort and Chevy Cavalier. Buy a decent car like a Taurus or a Caprice, and its reliable. My Caprice cost my grandfather $30,000 in 1995 when he bought it new. You get what you pay for, and that car carried me all around the country for more than a decade, despite my bad luck in constantly getting in accidents with it. It still runs, but needs new fuel injectors. I figured it was too beat up to put the $800 the parts cost in it (I'd install them myself, like I did the used transmission I put in it a few months ago). I bought a nice Crown Victoria last week. LOVE IT!
 
FalseDigital said:
But to get back on topic, do you guys have any other bag recommendations that look similar to the first post but is not so expensive?
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If you like the design of billingham...there are some others..like ciesta from korea and herringbone...
http://ciesta.co.kr/ciesta9_com/about.html

FalseDigital said:
Yeah, It bothered me too. I'm assuming he's like the majority of Americans that are jumping to conclusions about countries they've never even been to.
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That's quite uncalled for..unless he felt that he is from a first world country but then again the behaviour definitely dont seems to be from a first world person...:eek:
 
It's been the opposite experience with me. I have a Pontiac Grand Am GT and it's had all sorts of problems. My friend's who own Hondas and Nissians have put their cars past 300,000 miles without having to having to replace the engine. Pretty crazy I think. I don't think all American cars are bad but I definitely don't prefer them.


Chriscrawfordphoto said:
High quality stuff can be made by people being exploited. Its not the quality of Chinese stuff that I object to, its the exploitation. Generally, American made stuff is better quality. I know its fashionable to spit on American cars, but my experience has been that they are as reliable as any others and cost a hell of a lot less for parts when they do need repair. I just retired my old Chevy Caprice, a 1995 with 210,000 miles on it. It was indestructible, I wrecked it 8 times and you can't tell. It never needed any repair greater than a new grill and headlights on any of my wrecks with it, except the time I hit a deer. I had to replace the hood then too! The car never gave any mechanical problems till near the end, when the transmission started giving problems. It had 205,000 miles at that point. I knowWAY too many people with toyotas and Hondas that have had their transmissions rebuilt LONG before that. Almost everyone I know drives GM or Ford cars and none ever had transmission problems on cars with less than 200,000 miles.

The only US cars that were junk were low-end models like the Ford Escort and Chevy Cavalier. Buy a decent car like a Taurus or a Caprice, and its reliable. My Caprice cost my grandfather $30,000 in 1995 when he bought it new. You get what you pay for, and that car carried me all around the country for more than a decade, despite my bad luck in constantly getting in accidents with it. It still runs, but needs new fuel injectors. I figured it was too beat up to put the $800 the parts cost in it (I'd install them myself, like I did the used transmission I put in it a few months ago). I bought a nice Crown Victoria last week. LOVE IT!
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Ah sorry, I didn't mean to sound too insulting. It's just that I'm moving to Bangkok in a month and I've had too many ignorant people assume I'm moving to rice patties or something. Either that or they assume everything was like the movie "hangover 2" It's just got annoying to me lately.

Also, while living in NYC I was working for Chinese companies and they treated me better than any American company ever did. I have many friends who work in Shanghai and Beijing and yet again I hear all sorts of dumb assumptions about Chinese companies. Yes, sweatshops still exist, but not everyone operates that way.

Just hit a nerve, that's all.

Oh and thanks for the link! These look pretty nice too! :D

Pikapig said:
If you like the design of billingham...there are some others..like ciesta from korea and herringbone...
http://ciesta.co.kr/ciesta9_com/about.html



That's quite uncalled for..unless he felt that he is from a first world country but then again the behaviour definitely dont seems to be from a first world person...:eek:
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FalseDigital said:
Ah sorry, I didn't mean to sound too insulting. It's just that I'm moving to Bangkok in a month and I've had too many ignorant people assume I'm moving to rice patties or something. Either that or they assume everything was like the movie "hangover 2" It's just got annoying to me lately.

Also, while living in NYC I was working for Chinese companies and they treated me better than any American company ever did. I have many friends who work in Shanghai and Beijing and yet again I hear all sorts of dumb assumptions about Chinese companies. Yes, sweatshops still exist, but not everyone operates that way.

Just hit a nerve, that's all.

Oh and thanks for the link! These look pretty nice too! :D
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Bangkok is a paradise for shoppers :) Definitely a nice country less with nice people...You will be there permanently?

Im in Singapore actually..:eek:
 
I can never say permanently, but I definitely think I'll be there for quite awhile. Thailand is such an awesome country. I haven't got a chance to visit Singapore yet, hopefully I'll get a chance to visit there in the near future. :]

Pikapig said:
Bangkok is a paradise for shoppers :) Definitely a nice country less with nice people...You will be there permanently?

Im in Singapore actually..:eek:
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FalseDigital said:
Also, while living in NYC I was working for Chinese companies and they treated me better than any American company ever did.
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Nearly all companies operating outside their home turf "take care" of their employees a bit better than domestic. It's the only way they can draw talent from domestic companies. Ask anyone working for Allianz, CreditSuisse, Barclays or DeutscheBank.

Chris, a lot of folks pull over when you have a crown vic. You need to put a few black antennas on the trunk.
"It's got a cop motor, it's got cop tires, cop suspension, cop shocks and it'll run good on regular gas."
.
 
bigeye said:
Chris, a lot of folks pull over when you have a crown vic. You need to put a few black antennas on the trunk.
"It's got a cop motor, it's got cop tires, cop suspension, cop shocks and it'll run good on regular gas."
.
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People did the same when I got my Caprice years ago. Back then, the Fort Wayne Police Dept. used Caprices. After they switched to Crown Vics, people became less paranoid around the Caprice. The police here have been switching to Chevy Impalas, but they still have a lot of Crown Vics, so I see people slowing down and putting on their seat belts when I get close to them! LOL

It really doesn't get bad gas milage considering the size of the car and its V8 engine. I get 17 miles to the gallon in the city. I know I could get a lot more with a little tincan with a 4-cyl. but the idiots where I live all think that stop signs are merely suggestions, and speed limit signs are postings of the Minimum speed, not the maximum. Of all the wrecks I have had, only one was my fault. The rest, except the deer I hit, were idiots running red lights in front of me or rear ending me. Its worth the gas costs to drive a car that will protect me from these fools. Several years ago, a woman in a tiny car ran a red light and I slammed into the side of her car at 50 miles per hour in the caprice. Her car was FLATTENED. Miraculously, she was not hurt. My car wasn't hurt badly, and I was able to drive it home. If I'd hit another car at that speed in a Civic or other econobox, I'd be dead. No thanks. I'll pay for gas, and be happy to do it.
 
FalseDigital said:
Also, while living in NYC I was working for Chinese companies and they treated me better than any American company ever did. I have many friends who work in Shanghai and Beijing and yet again I hear all sorts of dumb assumptions about Chinese companies. Yes, sweatshops still exist, but not everyone operates that way.
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I suppose you or your friends never worked the production line at a Foxconn factory.


To stay on topic, my favourite "vintage look bag" is still the Hadley Pro, or the M-classics bag. I like some of the bags in the OP though, but they look a bit too wide for my use.
 
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