See, I was determined to ride my newly-repaired road bike, having been relegated to my old hybrid bike all week due to a flat on the Trek roadie (sorry, hybrid, I love you and all, but you're not a speed demon). However, riding the Trek requires that I bring along my giant U-lock. I don't have a rack on it, since that would be blasphemy, so I therefore need some sort of bag. However, I didn't feel like carrying a big old backpack around while bar-hopping, so I cast around my bedroom for a suitable messenger-type bag. The closest I could find was my SCA retaining bag, so I dumped my stuff in that and was off, only to find that the bag kept swinging around to hang most awkwardly in front of me. I quick fixed it by attaching the bag strap to a pants loop via a carabiner, but the whole scenario got me thinking that I could really use a more functional bag - function, of course, being the key to fashion and comfort, and those in turn being necessary to socialize properly on a Friday night in East Lansing.
So long story short, I designed and then put together a custom reversible messenger bag. Start to finish, I'd say it took me about 8 hours (not including, of course, the internet breaks, the beer break, the going-to-Schuler's-to-read-comics break, and sleeping).
The moral of the story is that, to paraphrase Saint Francis, once you own one thing, you find you need a whole bunch of other shit to go with it (which is why I have a houseful of stuff).
Voici les fotos:
The bag, completed:
Some close ups:
The front (note the personalized monogram! Which means it's MINE!)
The back (these are loops to attach the bag to a belt or something to keep it from slipping around while riding), and side:
...which reverses into a total party bag! Woo!
The bag also received the official seal of approval from the household feline committee:
The end.
