the quest to be esoteric

March 20, 2007 4:03 PM

does anyone sell Royal Mail Carrier Bags?

after a recent trip to the UK, i'm desperate to get myself a Royal Mail mail carrier's satchel/messenger bag. I've been googling and googling and searching throughout ask.me with no luck! The only one I've found is in Japan AND very expensive. Anyone have the hookup?

I'm more than willing to pay a fair amount for it, and America/UK/European location is fine. help me be the kewl1st rider on the block!

posted by markovitch to shopping (8 comments total)

You should probably ask the Royal Mail. They might be aware of replicas, I think buying/selling Royal Mail issued bags is probably illegal.
posted by fire&wings at 4:47 PM on March 20, 2007

I know I. Goldberg & Co., a longstanding Army/Navy/surplus/whatever store in Philadelphia, sells former-issue (used) Royal Mail jackets. I can't remember if they have the bags, but it's worth a shot, as they have pretty much every service bag conceivable. Their website seems to be crap, but give them a call. They're usually helpful.
posted by The Michael The at 5:14 PM on March 20, 2007

this site has the vest, but in their bag section they don't seem to list a British Mail bag.

Mebbe you could email them. Even if they don't have one they could give you a source for their vests.
posted by jourman2 at 5:17 PM on March 20, 2007

When I worked for Royal Mail there was a business unit called Stamps & Collectibles (S&C) that would field enquiries for this sort of thing (not that they would provide you with a bag, but they might be able to point you in the right direction if you were making a student film, for example, and needed it as a prop). The company has shed tens of thousands of employees since my day, though, so I suspect they no longer have the manpower to assist with those sort of random queries.

Your best bet might be to get in contact with front line Delivery Office or Sorting Office staff through a forum like Hellmail, as they're the ones that have access to 'spare' or 'damaged' bags The legality is a little dubious but there are an awful lot of pissed off posties who might be willing to help you out for a few beer tokens.
posted by boosh at 5:07 AM on March 21, 2007

It is illegal to own or carry an official Royal Mail bag unless you are a legally employed postman/woman on Her Majesty's business.

The best way to get one is to steal one or failing that dubiously obtain one from a current or ex-postie.

I actually have one, given to me by a friend who worked as a postman over a few summers. It's very handy for carrying records, is practically bombproof and has a nice super padded shoulder strap. It also has the added bonus of allowing you to jump on buses and the "tube" trains in my city for free!

However, the downside is that I've been questioned by police on a few occasions while wearing it and have had to concoct a cock n bull story about why I have a bag full of records and not mail and been warned that it was in fact illegal to use the bag for anything other than delivering mail.

I ended up tearing off the luminous plastic yellow banding with the Royal Mail insignia for peace of mind.

Not much help to you tho. Unless you make me an offer ;)
posted by brautigan at 2:26 PM on March 21, 2007

I guess i should have mentioned that I want something extraordinarily similar to a Royal Mail bag. i'm not desperate to have that yellow 'royal mail' reflector strip or anything, they just look like absurdly comfortable/nice bags.
posted by markovitch at 7:06 PM on March 22, 2007

Ok, you're in luck! After a bit of digging, HERE is a link to the UK company who manufactures the Royal Mail's post bags. The one shown here is identical to the official one I have, except it's unbranded and the reflective strip is white. You can purchase online and international shipping should be fine. If not I'll help get one sent over if you want one.
posted by brautigan at 4:48 AM on March 23, 2007 [1 favorite has favorites]

Ooh, and there's also a pretty fine bike rider's bag HERE too. Nice.
posted by brautigan at 4:53 AM on March 23, 2007