Shopping from Cabela's, Summer 1980

Cabela's is one of the biggest outdoor suppliers in the country. Like LL Bean, their catalog still holds some gems, but it's their old offerings that are really attractive for being short and sweet.

Shopping from Japan/UK: Quality Gunslips

Quality Gunslips is a UK bag brand that I know best via Japanese web shops. Per company literature, all Quality Gunslips bags are "hand-made using the highest quality British materials at our workshop in the small rural hamlet of Sarnau, Mid Wales." Their main line of fishing and game bags are made from our favorite materials: double texture proofed cotton canvas, leather strapping, solid brass hardware and the mil spec webbings England produces without effort. The bags clearly share a familial link with other UK bag brands like Brady, Hardy, Billingham and Chapman.

Here are a few views of the Quality Gunslips Japan-only bags and their UK equivalents.

Flap tote bag (Japan)

Flap tote bag (UK)

New tote fishing canvas shoulder bag (Japan)

Marquis economy range (UK)

S Net Messenger Bag (Japan)

Game bags w/rot proof netting (UK)

Shopping from the UK: Chapman Bags

It's great to see all these new Chapman special collaborations and Japan special make ups. I've always viewed Chapman as something of a Carhartt to Brady's Filson. Chapman makes terrific, UK-made field bags out of what the testers at the Montgomery Ward Bureau of Standards might designate as good or "economy" quality materials. For example, the rubber lining on my older Solway game bag is starting to crack and the leather is in need of repair. Brady, on the hand, uses top quality bridle leather, solid brass hardware and mil spec webbing--components that result in a premium price. The Brady line is small and focused on a few signature styles (the Ariel, the Trout, the Gelderburn, etc). Chapman, on the other hand, offers limitless variations on classic British and Fishing styles including bags made from linen and tweed along with standard cotton canvas drill. If you cannot afford Michael Palin's $295 Brady Geldenburn , shop from the vintage Chapman catalogs below for terrific, economical alternatives.

Price Guide

Archival Camouflage

Brady Arial Traut Fishing Bag (Japan only)

Large Ariel Trout Fishing Bag (UK/US availability)

I'm not much of a camouflage bag fan. In my mind, camouflage is too closely associated with my father's decoy gear bags , Cabela's novelty product offerings or Manhattan portage messenger bags.

As a pattern, camouflage (cryptic coloration, a mimetic cloth), is not visually interesting to me (too many lakes and shorelines). However, I do like the idea of camouflage and the fact that it has an underlying, historical use value (unlike paisley, for instance). From the Wikiepedia entry on Military Camouflage:

[T]he intent of camouflage is to disrupt an outline by merging it with the surroundings, making a target harder to spot or hit.

Tracking on Brady product migrations to Japan, I found this Arial Traut Fishing Bag in "Colonel Desert Camo" on the C Point import select shop website.

I'm drawn to the bag, in camo, in part because of its limited availability. But also because the camo seems to work with the original tan of the style, making the camo patterning more like a strategic subtraction (a disrupted outline!) and less, a larky embellishment (more English Patient, less The Winds of War).

Archival News: Brady Norfolk bag on sale

For interested parties seeking a wee sized British fishing-type bag (sized for wallet, camera and a deck of playing cards), UK based Brady bags is offering their Norfolk style bag at a discount (close-out)? I first saw this style Brady bag being sported by the founder of Rivendell Bicycle Works when I visited the bicycle company two years ago. Though the bag is diminutive, it's quite functional and does not show any design or build compromises even though it's marketed for town rather than field use. I use mine as a bicycle commuting bag with my tin cloth Filson tote handling the large cargo spillover.

For reference, here's a spot sidewalk inventory of what I can fit into the Norfolk from the flickr group, The Items We Carry.