Ultimate Vintage look Bag?

[paulcurtis]

I'm a complete manbag addict.

I've a FX-5B as a small carry around which i love but after getting an ipad for my birthday i got a 803 which i haven't really configured yet.

I'd like to ask what others are doing for creating/buying dividers? I like the FX5B because you can make your own pockets as it has a two sides which can take velcro. The 803 is just an empty bag with a single fixed sized divider. I've seen Kata do a modi-vers which you can cut to size but it's bright yellow! Also popping the ipad into the outerpocket fits perfectly but it's not very secure. I may find some velcro to seal that or look for a solution that might be a bit more weather sealed. I'm sure i'm not alone in using the 803 like this.

On the other hand i really do like the look of that wotancraft messenger, the question is does anyone have one? What's the interior like, it's quite difficult to see what would actually go in it.

cheers
paul

 

[atlcruiser]

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.

As always you are a ray of shunshine Chris


3rd work slaves? give me a break. Like almost any economy the workers work for what they can get paid; fair is in the eye of the beholder. In particular the Chinese market is very skewed due to the government and military control of most businesses on some level.

So to follow your logic; if I can afford to make my product in Georgia, a right to work state, for 50% less at the same quality than I can make it for in... lets say New York...a union state then are my workers slaves? maybe my overall cost is considerable lower and I can pass that on to the consumer or pass that on to my shareholders.


Perhaps a class of economics 101 would be a good step for you.

And yep...i think the bags are ugly no matter where they are made 🙂

 

[Chriscrawfordphoto]

As always you are a ray of shunshine Chris


3rd work slaves? give me a break. Like almost any economy the workers work for what they can get paid; fair is in the eye of the beholder. In particular the Chinese market is very skewed due to the government and military control of most businesses on some level.

So to follow your logic; if I can afford to make my product in Georgia, a right to work state, for 50% less at the same quality than I can make it for in... lets say New York...a union state then are my workers slaves? maybe my overall cost is considerable lower and I can pass that on to the consumer or pass that on to my shareholders.


Perhaps a class of economics 101 would be a good step for you.

And yep...i think the bags are ugly no matter where they are made 🙂

I've taken Economics, David. Its like a theology class, mainly superstition designed to keeps some in power, and some in chains. Here's an economics lesson a lot of you rightwingers are learning: You aren't that rich, and you have no power. Those who do have power were not satisfied exploiting the poor, you're next. The middle class has been devastated in this country. Some of you have wised up once your job has been reduced to the $8 an hour level, but some are still fools (my father, for example, who now earns less than I do. He used to make 5 times what I do! He's still a rightwing idiot).

Another economics lesson: Oppress the mass of the people hard enough and long enough, and they will stop accepting their lot and will start cutting throats. Its happened in a lot of countries in the last 100 years. I do not want to see that happen in my country. Is paying your people living wages so hard for you that you're wiling to risk the feel of cold steel across your throat? For those businessmen with the money to flee abroad when that happens, as many of Russia's nobles and business leaders did in 1917, the profits are worth the risk.

Most American conservatives are not rich, they're middle class. Too poor to escape and rich enough to fuel resentment. Bad combo! That's the class I grew up in and where I'm headed as my income keeps increasing. I'd personally prefer to treat working people like human beings. Beats getting myself and my son murdered while the masses pillage my home. Right?

 

[Disaster_Area]

I love my Grafea bags.. I have three now and absolutely love them, I did a write up about them a while ago:


Grafea Photo Bag Review

 

[Ronald M]

Looks like some first lady Mitchelle would buy, not me.

Rodeo Drive is not for me.

I prefer a Buick and blue jeans. I will keep my cameras in something that does not look tempting to the underclass.

 

[atlcruiser]

I've taken Economics, David. Its like a theology class, mainly superstition designed to keeps some in power, and some in chains. Here's an economics lesson a lot of you rightwingers are learning: You aren't that rich, and you have no power. Those who do have power were not satisfied exploiting the poor, you're next. The middle class has been devastated in this country. Some of you have wised up once your job has been reduced to the $8 an hour level, but some are still fools (my father, for example, who now earns less than I do. He used to make 5 times what I do! He's still a rightwing idiot).

Another economics lesson: Oppress the mass of the people hard enough and long enough, and they will stop accepting their lot and will start cutting throats. Its happened in a lot of countries in the last 100 years. I do not want to see that happen in my country. Is paying your people living wages so hard for you that you're wiling to risk the feel of cold steel across your throat? For those businessmen with the money to flee abroad when that happens, as many of Russia's nobles and business leaders did in 1917, the profits are worth the risk.

Most American conservatives are not rich, they're middle class. Too poor to escape and rich enough to fuel resentment. Bad combo! That's the class I grew up in and where I'm headed as my income keeps increasing. I'd personally prefer to treat working people like human beings. Beats getting myself and my son murdered while the masses pillage my home. Right?

Get a grip Chris.....maybe move to an area that actually can provide some intellectual stimulation...maybe a mountain cabin in Idaho? Prepare for the end of days! Oh yeah...make sure you stop at walmart on the way to stock up on supplies


Yep..maybe I am a right winger. I put myself through under grad and paid for my MFA. I worked my ass off for years to get the money to have my own business and I sank everything I have into that business. My hard work right now takes care of 5 different families; employees that work for me. you know crap about me so why would presume to call me a righ winger?

 

[Disaster_Area]

Can we please keep all political talk in private messages if at all... it really makes it hard to parse through and find the photography based info. If you don't like a specific product or company, fine, don't buy it. If there's a photographically relevant reason against it, by all means, lets talk about it. But I come here to read about cameras and camera related things. I have plenty of other sources to read about politics and economics.

 

[Chriscrawfordphoto]

Get a grip Chris.....maybe move to an area that actually can provide some intellectual stimulation...maybe a mountain cabin in Idaho? Prepare for the end of days! Oh yeah...make sure you stop at walmart on the way to stock up on supplies


Yep..maybe I am a right winger. I put myself through under grad and paid for my MFA. I worked my ass off for years to get the money to have my own business and I sank everything I have into that business. My hard work right now takes care of 5 different families; employees that work for me. you know crap about me so why would presume to call me a righ winger?

I've seen enough of your posts to know your political philosophy. Its not hard to figure that out. If all you can do is make fun of me, rather than addressing the validity of what I said, then you're admitting that I'm right. No country that keeps its people in poverty can call itself a free society. Its that simple. If you pay your employees living wages, then I commend you. I assumed you didn't, based on your comment about making things in places where wages are lower. I, too, am self employed and I also have worked very hard to get myself to where I can support myself doing what I love. My business is very small. Just me! I doubt I'll ever have any employees; I'm not interested in becoming a manager. I want to stay an artist as my fulltime occupation, and you'll agree I'm sure that running a business with several employees takes a lot of your time and energy.

Money only interests me to the extent that i need some of it to live. Getting rich doesn't interest me at all. My parents were very well off when I was younger. I drove a very expensive car, had expensive clothing, an expensive watch, etc. Didn't bring happiness. I'd have preferred a family that cared about me. That, I did not have. I like spending a lot of time with my son; he will not grow up in the kind of family I did...so I don't want to work so hard that I cannot do that.

It upsets me that so many in our society have to work more than one job at $8 an hour slavery wages to merely survive. What kind of family life can they have, with no free time? Our politicians keep squawking about 'family values', but if they really cared about that, we'd have a realistic minimum wage and and end to the free trade that has destroyed our economy. Given the huge number of Americans who would rather die than see the humanity of our poorer people honored, we ultimately get what we deserve as a nation.

As for going somewhere more intellectually stimulating, I am stuck here until my son turns 18. He'll turn 18 a couple months before he graduates from high school, so we'll wait till he's done with that and then we are headed back to Santa Fe. I am literally counting down the minutes till we can go.

 

[paulfish4570]

these bag threads seem to draw more political ire than any others ...

 

[kshapero]

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!

I was a Saab owner for over 25 years. Last year I traded it for a Chevy Cobalt SS. I have not brought it in once, never could say that about Saab, plus the dealer was about a 100 times nicer than the Saab guys. A moot point anyway since Saab is pretty much history. Also referring to "made in China", I am more comfortable with exploited than slaves but I get the point.

 

[atlcruiser]

I've seen enough of your posts to know your political philosophy. Its not hard to figure that out. If all you can do is make fun of me, rather than addressing the validity of what I said, then you're admitting that I'm right. No country that keeps its people in poverty can call itself a free society. Its that simple. If you pay your employees living wages, then I commend you. I assumed you didn't, based on your comment about making things in places where wages are lower. I, too, am self employed and I also have worked very hard to get myself to where I can support myself doing what I love. My business is very small. Just me! I doubt I'll ever have any employees; I'm not interested in becoming a manager. I want to stay an artist as my fulltime occupation, and you'll agree I'm sure that running a business with several employees takes a lot of your time and energy.

Money only interests me to the extent that i need some of it to live. Getting rich doesn't interest me at all. My parents were very well off when I was younger. I drove a very expensive car, had expensive clothing, an expensive watch, etc. Didn't bring happiness. I'd have preferred a family that cared about me. That, I did not have. I like spending a lot of time with my son; he will not grow up in the kind of family I did...so I don't want to work so hard that I cannot do that.

It upsets me that so many in our society have to work more than one job at $8 an hour slavery wages to merely survive. What kind of family life can they have, with no free time? Our politicians keep squawking about 'family values', but if they really cared about that, we'd have a realistic minimum wage and and end to the free trade that has destroyed our economy. Given the huge number of Americans who would rather die than see the humanity of our poorer people honored, we ultimately get what we deserve as a nation.

As for going somewhere more intellectually stimulating, I am stuck here until my son turns 18. He'll turn 18 a couple months before he graduates from high school, so we'll wait till he's done with that and then we are headed back to Santa Fe. I am literally counting down the minutes till we can go.

I am wrong you are right; happy?


I will continue to do my best to keep the poor down by owning a business and being an active part of the economy, paying my bills and keeping people employed


Sant Fe will be a good place to build your dreamworld 🙂

This got way off topic; apologies to any that were pissed off