Bags similar to the Handbag of Holding

May 7, 2023 4:54 PM

Help me find a replacement for my ThinkGeek Handbag of Holding! I have several specific requirements.

It's been seven years and my trusty canvas Handbag of Holding is starting to show its age, fraying at the seams. Unfortunately, ThinkGeek no longer exists, and the resale market for new, unworn Handbags of Holding is prohibitively expensive. (I would like to spend less than $100 if possible; I would consider more for the best bag ever.)

So, what bag can I still buy new that's similar to a Handbag of Holding?

(NB: I'm talking about the Handbag of Holding (the purse one) and not the Bag of Holding (the messenger bag one) or any of the other bags in the same line.)

Desired features:

• Made of canvas, nylon, or similar sturdy fabric. Probably not leather (not at this price point, at least), definitely not fake plastic leather. Ideally something that will last a while and is generally durable.
• Not femme in design. Please bring me the butchest handbag you have. It can be a bag for men. Whatever.
• Big enough to carry a regular-sized tablet; a padded pocket for it would be nice. Big enough to hold a lot of additional stuff. Small enough to still basically feel like it could be a large purse rather than a tote or messenger bag. (The Handbag of Holding is approximately 13" x 11" x 4". So this is approximately the size I want.)
• Crossbody strap. Extra handles on top to carry the bag in my hands would be a very nice feature but are not required. Crossbody is absolutely required.
• A lot of interior pockets. As many pockets as you can imagine, and then more pockets than that. This should be the kind of bag where you have to check six different pockets to find your keys. Perhaps it might even have a place for keys.
• Multiple exterior pockets of varying sizes that are easily accessible one-handed. This part is extremely important to me. I am disabled and cannot easily use two hands to access any of the pockets. One of the things I really love about the Handbag of Holding is that the exterior pockets are all fastened with magnetic snaps, which are extremely simple and easy to undo one-handed without taking the bag off. Magnetic snaps are my favorite option. Regular snaps are acceptable. Zippers are acceptable. Velcro is acceptable. Buckles are NOT acceptable, including those clicky plastic safety buckles.
• Ideally NOT a messenger-style bag with a flap; the flap is usually too cumbersome for me. I would like it to zip shut if possible. It should be easy to open and close one-handed while wearing, with the bag contents easily accessible with one hand.

I have only found two recommendations for people specifically looking to replace a Handbag of Holding. One is the Nomadic's NW-05 Wise-Walker but it is at the very upper end of my price range and it doesn't have extra handles. The Rothco Canvas M-51 Engineers Field Bag has also been recommended, and it sounds like the kind of thing I want in terms of number of pockets, except I'm not into the messenger-style flap and the flap closure might be too tricky. Also it might be a little too big.

I have checked the past questions, and the questions I found with similar requirements were all from when the Handbag of Holding still existed, so I think the available bags have changed since then. Thanks in advance for your help!

posted by sineala to Shopping (16 answers total)

Maybe something like this Modern Large Pocket Crossbody from Baggallini? I have the smaller version and it's really nice and capacious and multi-pocketed, and the zippers work easily with one hand. I've had a couple of Baggallini bags and they're very sturdy and durable.
posted by Daily Alice at 5:23 PM on May 7, 2023

That sounds an awful lot like the Medium Cafe Bag from Tom Bihn. (I haven't used it myself but the people I know who use Tom Bihn bags are fanatical about them.)
posted by zeptoweasel at 5:26 PM on May 7, 2023

You're looking for the Tom Bihn Medium Cafe Bag, with their "Freudian Slip" insert if you have the means. At the price point you're aiming for you're right that the leather bags you'll be able to get are junk, but if you're OK with flat grey, Maxpedition's Entity Tech Sling bags might also fit the bill. Both Tom Bihn and Maxpedition have well-earned reputations for durability, but Maxpedition is... well, a lot of their action shots have guns in them, which is informative.

Also, jinx.
posted by mhoye at 5:28 PM on May 7, 2023

Tom Binh bags have the clicky buckle you don’t like, sadly, but I will tentatively recommend their Maker’s Bag. It’s a little bigger than your requested size but it has way, way more pockets than the Cafe Bag other people have recommended. I also use it one-handed often since I wear it on my bike and the buckle and zippers are easy to use.
posted by heurtebise at 6:02 PM on May 7, 2023

I’m having trouble finding an exact match, but promising brands to look at include TSD Brand (such as this mail bag) and Kipling (like this convertible shoulder/crossbody).

Tom Binh has great customer service and are the folks to go to for intense bag organization. Try sending them an email and see what they suggest. They have some good items for keeping inside other bags to help organize them further, if you find a bag with nice exterior pockets and a big cavern inside.
posted by Mizu at 8:47 PM on May 7, 2023

Tom Bihn do a variety of bags like this:

Crossbody and shoulder bags.
posted by chariot pulled by cassowaries at 8:47 PM on May 7, 2023

I really like the purse I bought from Haiku Bags. The one I have is the jaunt, which is a bit too small for what you want and doesn’t have enough pockets (although if you reorganized maybe you could fit a tablet in there? I never have, because I keep other things in there), but maybe one of the other ones would work? They can run kinda femme, but it looks like some of their colors this spring are more neutral/less overtly covered with flowers.

The ToGo Convertible might work (you wouldn’t have to turn it into a backpack) or maybe the bliss saddle bag?

Anyway, I recommend the haiku bags. I had a baggalini before this one which I never really liked, a Sherpani before that which was pretty good, and an Eagle Creek bag before that, which was honestly really nice. (My kid’s using that one now.) but they seem to have gotten out of the handbag business.
posted by leahwrenn at 10:31 PM on May 7, 2023 [1 favorite]

Check out the crossbody bags from Hedgren. There are a few styles that get close to many of your requirements, specifically the Fanzine Shoulder Bag, the Eye RFID Medium Shoulder Bag, the Orva RFID Shoulder Bag, and maybe even the Galactic Shoulder Bag/Tote if you threw a bag organizer into the main compartment. Despite the names, all bags can be worn as crossbodies. The front page of the Hedgen website says stock is limited because they're moving warehouses, but many of the bags are also available on Zappos. Zappos has product videos for some bags so you can get a better look at the interiors (and the back exterior zippered pocket that's listed in the descriptions for all the styles I linked above but is difficult to see in the product photos).

A couple of weeks ago I ordered a few styles of the Hedgren crossbody bags from Zappos. All the bags appeared to be of good quality, and I've kept the Eye RFID Medium Shoulder Bag. So far I am happy with it as a larger replacement for my aging utilitarian Tom Bihn Side Kick. I'd been looking for a replacement for months and of course Tom Bihn released the larger Side Hustle just last week.
posted by bones to dark emeralds at 11:41 PM on May 7, 2023

I shop cheap, and this may be pretty close. Outside pockets are all zippered or open-air.

Inside has 3 pockets, but you can always add an organizer insert, which would have way more pockets than you need, and you can order one for your size with 5 to choose from, plus a plethora of color options.
posted by kschang at 4:10 AM on May 8, 2023 [1 favorite]

One more thing: If none of the inserts suit your bag, it is *possible* to create your own insert using a "modular insert panel" with stuff that can be attached via Hook-n-loop (i.e. Velcro (tm)). It then can be customized to your own specifications with Velcro fabric (or the generic equivalent).
posted by kschang at 4:26 AM on May 8, 2023

I've got a few Maxpedition bags and they have proved extremely durable, even in actual military use. Some of them have dedicated hooks for keys, and if you go with the "tactical" looking ones you can add all sorts of pouches and stuff, both inside and out.
posted by Harald74 at 4:43 AM on May 8, 2023

I’d suggest something from Travelon, I’ve a few of their bags, really sturdy nylon and lots of organisation. There are a lot of varieties of cross body bags, I have one of those and have used it a lot and it’s surviving really well.

I did have a Hedgren bag, it looked nice but was a little bit flimsy. The strap was narrow and cut into my shoulder when I loaded it up with stuff so I’d maybe not recommend them.
posted by ElasticParrot at 4:44 AM on May 8, 2023

I have the Baggalini modern crossbody bag and it might suit - lightweight, lots of organization. You might order several different ones to try or find a store that carries the line to mess with some in person. This bag almost has too many separate compartments - there are a couple I don't use but it's pretty decently organized and v sturdy.
posted by leslies at 5:37 AM on May 8, 2023

Here's a Handbag of Holding on Poshmark for $110 with two small spots of wear.
posted by dancinglamb at 6:51 AM on May 8, 2023 [1 favorite]

Sorry! Disregard - it's not canvas or leather. My bad. :(
posted by dancinglamb at 6:52 AM on May 8, 2023

Ideally NOT a messenger-style bag with a flap; the flap is usually too cumbersome for me. I would like it to zip shut if possible. It should be easy to open and close one-handed while wearing, with the bag contents easily accessible with one hand.

Since you're getting a lot of Tom Bihn recs, here's a fact that might be useful. The Cafe and Maker bags, and maybe some others, have an oddly shaped top flap with one corner sort of cut off on a diagonal. The upside of this design is that you can reach in under the diagonal and access many of the pockets one-handed, without unclipping the flap. The downside is that if it rains, you have to make sure everything is tucked back under the flap, or else rain might get in. If you're really worried about rain, they give you a little clip that makes sure everything stays tucked correctly, but you still need to remember to do up the clip.

Anyway, tl;dr: better for one-handed access than true messenger bags, but also fiddlier in bad weather than true messenger bags.
posted by nebulawindphone at 11:27 AM on May 8, 2023