With all the stuff a guy needs to carry, has the man purse's time arrived?

The Denver Post ^ | 8/24/10 | Douglas Brown

[MissTed]

Stuff has spent the long summer shoved miserably in the pockets of my blue jeans and khakis.

Stuff like my wallet. It presses against my backside when I sit. My keys scratch my thighs with every step. When my reading glasses or sunglasses aren't clattering to the ground, they are hooked through the top of my shirt; if I cross my arms with abandon, I could break the frames. My iPhone tugs me down, and if I'm sitting when it chirps, I panic: How will I fish it out of my pocket in time?

As we approach September, with every hint of chilled air I dream of jackets. Jackets have pockets in the lining for a wallet or cellphone, and side pockets for keys and earbuds and little slips of pockets on the chest that are perfect for glasses.

Jackets have space for all of this stuff that has become part of my daily armor, stuff I didn't used to own, like an iPhone and earbuds and reading glasses.

But maybe I — and you too, dude — should be thinking about more than blazers and sport coats and ski parkas.

Bags. Maybe it's finally time for men to start carrying them. And not just to work. A bag to the coffee shop. To the bar. To the ballgame and the cage-fighting extravaganza and a bag to the monster truck show.

You know, guy bags.

"Just don't call it a 'man purse,' " said Courtney Colavita, fashion editor for Details magazine. "Don't approach it as fashion for guys. Approach it as making your life easier. Even if you wear a blazer in the winter, there is a risk. It could get weighed down. I embrace a bag for guys."

[dalereed]

“This is why God invented cargo pants.”

People shouldn’t be allowed out in public in those ugly things.

[Pan_Yan]

Maxpedition makes a number of side bags that are in no way a murse:

Suuure. And keep pretending that SUV isn't an oversized minivan.

[earlJam]

I was getting jiggy with it!

Gotta run now. Can you keep people from tapping on the glass?

[unkus]

LOL That’s funny!

[Constitution Day]

I don’t even want to know HOW you found that. Aiiiee!!

[Pan_Yan]

Uhhh... I don't think it matters what kind of bag he carries. I doubt anyone will say anything.

[unkus]

I once carried a heavy Rucksack in the jungle. An empty Ammo can was my “purse”.

[OneWingedShark]

Two words: Cargo Pockets.

[KarlInOhio]

Put on a tie and carry a briefcase. No one questions a man with a tie carrying a briefcase, even if all you carry is your Activia yogurt and a copy of Cosmo.

Get a laptop computer bag even if you have to buy a $20 broken laptop to carry in it. You can shove anything you want into the bag just so long as you do have a computer in it. (Checking mine: electronics catalog, check book, phone, a netbook to keep my laptop company when I'm gone, USB hub and a network cable)

[stylecouncilor]

ping

[Yo-Yo]

"It was a gift..."

[VRWCmember]

What kind of handgun is in there?

[surfer]

I thought they called it a holster or a tactical vest...is there anything else you need?

[La Lydia]

Classy. But your theory about loading up on condiments is lame, because zip lock bags are transparent, and everyone could see what a cheesy freeloader you were.

[Charles Martel]

I think something like a shoulder holster would be cool.

With more storage, yeah. Something like a cross between Batman and Steve McGarrett.

[wtc911]

On my trips to Haiti post-earthquake I wear ten pocket rip-stop pants from Cheaper Than Dirt and an Uncle Miltie's vest (too many pockets to count) all the time. I walk around with 72 hours of emergency rations, medical kit (including combat gauze), emergency poncho, emergency reflector blanket, water purification tabs, deet wipes, handi-wipes, sunblock, knife, mag-light...all distributed with no problem. The only external I carry is a two liter bladder. Oh yeah, two hundred dollars in tens folded into a zippered web belt.

You can always tell the Americans because we;re all dressed the same.

[MissTed]

Put on a tie and carry a briefcase. No one questions a man with a tie carrying a briefcase, even if all you carry is your Activia yogurt and a copy of Cosmo.

Ya'll are making me laugh this morning!

[La Lydia]

Great. Now they can be as uncomfortable as we are.

[dfwgator]

And remember guys, according to “The Man Law”, the only acceptable way for a guy to hold his wife’s/girlfriend’s purse (if you absolutely have to), is to hold it like an NFL running back holds a football.

[Rocko]

George's Exploding Wallet