Livin' large... ish... Actually, smaller.

Well, the choice was obvious really. I packed my bags last night ready for my flight tomorrow (I have a dinner to attend tonight) and I slipped in between a some of my shirts my Gossen Tippa.

I was very tempted to go with the Hermes Baby, but in the end I didn't for a very particular reason. And the Kolibri isn't quite ready for travelling just yet.

The Tippa has the right weight x size x usability, so it was more or less the most obvious choice. But the Hermes baby came a very close second. But, there's more...

Many of you are familiar with the 'Crumpler' line of bags. My daily workbag is a Crumpler message bag, and I also have a Crumpler laptop bag. They're excellent bags for people like myself that spend a bit of time on bikes/motorbikes and public transport as they are very strong, reliable and resistant to water.

Also they're something of a Melbourne icon. The company started in Melbourne in the 70's, where they produced bags for messenger workers. As bicycle messaging took off in the 80's and 90's, Crumpler's messenger bag designs along with their reputation for quality construction, took off like a rocket.

Today, they're all over the world. They're a lot more polished company these days, and have internationally dropped the unusual naming of a lot of their products that the locals found humours, but they still retain a lot of their old charm here in Australia.

So why am I mentioning this? Well, because Crumpler still have one of their earliest stores continuing to operate. Further more, you can get made to order custom Crumpler bags here - which was what really differentiated the company early on.

So, while I'm in the area I'm going to see if Crumpler can sort out a bag made specifically for my Gossen Tippa. Something that has good knock padding, and provides a bit of weather resistance so that I can just throw it over my shoulder and take it with me on my motorbike. 

Seem like a good plan? We'll see what transpires. I've been emailing them, and not getting a whole lotta response, so they're either too busy or - just not working at the moment. I might be up for a bit of a disappointment there.

Anyway.... the Tippa it is. See you in Melbourne!