The thing I like most after a good pair of shoes, is a nice bag – and like my shoes I prefer my bags on the more practical side of fashion. Come on you know I’m no fashionista – you’ll not spot me with a short handled bag in the crook of my arm, totally impractical for walking along muddy footpaths! Most days you’ll see me donning a satchel for work, a large cross-body bag for a day in town, or a rucksack the rest of the time. So when this dark red British made Jim Bag duffel bag arrived in the post I let out a little squeal, what a fabulous thing to try out.
I wasted no time and stuffed my bits and bobs into the bag for work the following morning. The heavy red cotton canvas is put together really well, it feels hard wearing and durable. The opening at the top is large making it easy to put things in and get things out. And the little zip pocket on the front is handy for wallet and keys, lip stuff and the all important to do list.
The only problem was the next morning when I got up it was absolutely chucking it down. Not that fine rain that goes right through you, oh no, proper big heavy globules of sharp rain that penetrates absolutely everything. I looked at my lovely canvas Jim Bag and knew… I took everything out and popped it all in my more waterproof sack. While I’m certain the canvas itself could cope with a shower, the huge opening at the top, which has no flap over and doesn’t close completely with the drawstring, means there is no protection from the rain.
With the fact that the bag isn’t going to protect its content in the rain aside, I still love this bag and its size, shape, style and usefulness. The fact it is British made is a definite bonus, too, it’s good to support home-grown stuff.
To give you an idea of size I tried a few combinations of contents – I can get joggers, t-shirt, hoodie, trainers and a small towel in here no problem with a bit of space to spare – enough for a small wash bag perhaps. Or it can carry three pairs of trainers. Why you’d want to transport three pairs of trainers in your bag I’m not really sure, but you can, so now you know. I guess what I’m trying to say is that the bag is perfect for your gym kit, and let’s face it that’s the point. Or the beach, it would make a pretty awesome beach bag – towel, sun cream, sunnies, snacks, book – no problem. In fairness I’ve mostly been using it for my going-to-work-every-day stuff, and it’s great for that too.
This is a very cool bag, and when I had a browse on the Jim Bag website I found some more even more cool bags. I really like the turquoise holdall, I think I might need that as my new overnight bag, and there’s a cute wash bag to match. At £34.99 I think the duffel is good value.
Thanks to Jim Bag for sending me one of their duffel bags to try out.