Outside bloggin no more

I'm ending my stint here as a contributor to Outside's blog, but look for more bylines in the magazine. A final field test entry:

Field Tested: BaileyWorks Messenger Bag

Was it North Face that pioneered expedition-class gear as casual wear? I can't pinpoint it, but some time in the 1990's, I remember seeing people walking down the streets of New York with scuba gear on a rainy day. Hey, I'm all for testing products in extreme conditions, but there comes a point where pro-grade should be left to the pros.

Enter the BaileyWorks SuperPro Messenger Bag.

The Portsmouth, New Hampshire, bag designer describes this baby as "Built for the Working Bike Messenger" and loads it up with a Cordura shell, waterproof lining, a blink-light clip and reflective strip, and options for customization when ordering online. More importantly, it has an innovative "split strap," which is a kind of extra harness that snugs the bag across your chest and keeps the one-shoulder bag from flopping forward. The strap is reversible, so you can wear the bag on your right or left shoulder.

The SuperPro runs from $145 in small to $185 for XX-large (presumably for that extra yard of pricey Cordura?). And, true, there ain't a blueprint, estate deal or urgent law brief it can't handle.

Now, are you a professional bike messenger, racing through the streets of New York, Chicago and San Fran on a tarot-card-studded fixie? Probably not. You're probably like me. I'm a daily bike commuter lugging my laptop, lunch and papers to the office, on the same steel 18-speed I use for weekend warrior rides. For a messenger bag, I use this:

It's a piece of swag (thanks, Salon.com) from the Cartoon Network, promoting a show called Out of Jimmy's Head. It's canvas. It has lots of pockets: two on the front plus one on each side, plus a zippered pocket inside, and some loops for pens. It has a decent Velcro closure for the flap that isn't so aggressive it rips your sweater off. The strap is adjustable and, uh, reversible. What's more, the bag is completely waterproof -- when I wrap it, or its contents, in a plastic grocery bag from my local Albertsons.

And as nice as the BaileyWorks bag is, I'm not going to trade in my trusty satchel for it.

--Matthew Fishbane