Wise-walker TP07

I met some friends for dinner last weekend and one of them, Jonathan, was carrying a really cool messenger bag.  I'm crazy about bags and when he showed me his black, waterproof Wise-walker and the insane amount of compartments in it, I knew I had to get one to carry my camera.  

I'm not very impulsive about bags - I usually think a lot and trawl many shops before making a big purchase - but this bag really stuck with me and first chance I had, I went down to Cumulus in Wheelock Place and honed straight in on it.

Wise-walker is a series of bags made by the Japanese company Nomadic Inc.  They're not very easy to find here, nor do a lot of people use them, but fans love them because they're durable, practically laid out and hold a lot of stuff.

My new Wise-walker cost $152 (with a ten per cent discount) and even though I was coveting the black version, I had to get it in white because that's all the shop had left.  It's made of waterproof tarpaulin (although the bag itself is probably more water resistant than waterproof) and I actually asked the lady in the shop if I could try wiping stains off the display piece with my wet tissues.  Not kidding.  I'm really clumsy and I really needed to know that most stains could be cleaned.  She was very patient with me, and I could not be more pleased with my choice.

I love my big tote bags but they usually come with only two or three pockets and everything keeps getting lost in the depths.  Small things slosh around and get lost and I ultimately end up frustrated.

The TP07 appeals to the organised person in me.  I'm very messy and destructive but there are small pockets of things that I like to keep organised.  Having a perfectly organised bag or diary, for example, keeps me really energised.

The bag even comes with a map of its pockets and suggestions on how to use them!  Perfect for the anal retentive.

I love that they've provided for your cellphone, magazine, books and even games.  

As you can see, the TP-07 has thirteen compartments, right down to a net pouch that holds your waterbottle so that it's not lolling around in the bottom.  Perfect.  

Here's how I first loaded mine:

Left to right, top to bottom:  Starbucks flask from David, Narcisco Rodriguez perfume, pouch with panadol and other bits and bobs, Aesop handcream, lip balm from Ann-Marie, Vera Bradley wallet.  You know, sanitary stuff for just in case, random stickers, my office pass, my keys with Totoro, the little soot guy Wai Kit got me from Japan and a Starbucks thumb drive.  My diary and wet tissues.  My pencil case and phone.  The only thing missing is my camera which, duh, we all know where that is.

The front flap of the bag folds up to reveal the bulk of the pockets in the front of the bag, complete with a little rubber outlet for your earphones.  You can zip the whole thing up, so it feels fairly safe and compact.  The cellphone pocket is located right in front for easy access and even though I didn't put my cellphone there to start with, I do now.

I have no idea why, but organising the items and labelling them made me ridiculously happy.  In front, I have:

1) Keys.
2) Pads (everyone seems puzzled by my just in case stance until they suddenly need one).
3) Office pass.  For this alone, the bag was absolutely necessary.  We all keep standing in front of the office door and fumbling about for at least ten minutes.
4) My diary, kindle or any other small books I may be toting along.
5) Handcream, lip balm and perfume.  I use these three things very often and now I can just reach down into the bag and grab them right away.
6)  Cellphone pocket.

There's still one empty pocket in the front that I have no use for, and at any rate, keeping it empty means the front of the bag is flatter.  The cellphone pocket is padded and most of the other pockets are made of plastic mesh, so if anything spills, clean up won't be too crazy.

The flap unzips to reveal the main compartment.  This is where any other heavy stuff goes like my wallet and my camera.  You can't see the netting but my flask is nestled very comfortably there.  I like that it zips up and then folds down - double security for travelling. 

The back of the bag has four padded pockets for electronics and the like.

I've got my:

7) Phone (now in the front)
8) Wet tissues
9) Pencil case

The brilliance of this massive compartmentalisation is that I've stopped carrying useless nonsense like ticket stubs or receipts in my bag.  If it's not meant to be in any of the pockets, it goes in the trash. 

Rebecca (thanks!) took this picture of how I wear it for work with my chinos, purple shirt and grey batwing cardigan.  I think it looks fairly rugged, in a good way.

When she saw my Wise-walker, she exclaimed because she has one too!  We spent a blissful half hour talking about how rare it is and how we organise our pockets.  The next day, she brought hers and we took nerdy pictures.  (Or at least Amanda did, chanting "And one, and two, and three" in a creepy voice like an aerobics instructor, while we winced and giggled).

I think it looks nice even with a slightly more formal top and purple pants  Hers is a three-way tote, messenger and backpack in a nylon-ish material.  It might even have more pockets than mine!

And finally, I love this bag so much that I proceeded to fully satisfy the tiny neat freak in me with an homage through drawings.

Um yeah.  I know.

Oh!  And as you can see, the gathering went great!