i’ve not had any experience personally, i only heard it somewhere when researching which one to buy. i ended up with the papermunky (as you know) and am yet to figure out where i heard such scandalous and potentially untrue information…probably the internetzz
psssh, design commentary from a pinko.
all you know about is black flags and red stars
put that in your “fixed.org.au comedy gold” signature!
cheers ranga…
here’s the thread that spawned my belief that crumpler’s standards had slipped.
http://www.fixed.org.au/forums/t1317/
i don’t know CraigC but he seems to be a bit of an enigma around here…?
Rolly - I’d reply but Dave has produced something way better than anything I could have tapped out.
As a side note: Yes - quality of crumplers did decrease when they moved to china/offshore, but that was quite a number of years ago. It hasn’t come back, but they are cheap (in price) when compared to many other messenger specific bags.
My personal view is that if you plan to use the bag a lot, or for valuable/heavy items, then you are better off going with a more ‘dedicated’ brand (of which BOGear is definitely one). The difference in both functional design and customer support is night-and-day.
you probably wont have much luck dying the bag without fucking up the fabric. crumpler bags are made of cordura nylon fabric on the outside, I think a lighterweight denier than some of the older stock used to be, its not as stiff and brushed and abrasive on your clothing. This stuff is essentially the same type of fabric that BO, skin grows back bags are made with, when it comes down to it you have to consider what you want the bag for and how its design fits into what you want. There is fashion and their is function, you have to make your own choices. Dont just buy something because its cheap, its going to be something you use regularly you probably want it to last and you probably want to actually like it. Make a list of what you want in a bag and if theres nothing standard someone can likely add on pockets/holsters etc or whatever you are looking for at an extra cost.
If price good buy it
ride it through a Melbourne spring
won’t be lime for long
I’d buy a knapsack style bag myself and get something you want in a color you want.
At Nikcee’s recommendation I got one of these a while back after finding my crumpler shoulder bag couldn’t cope with all the crap I carry to and from work :
Freight Baggage rolltop knapsack - medium - and have been very happy with it - price is good and you can order custom colors. (Would have ordered one of the skingrowsback packs but I didn’t need anything as big as those and was working to a budget).
And it has a train on the logo.
I like trains.
SW
At the risk of coming off as a pedant, isn’t it ‘dyeing’ as opposed to ‘dying’?.. sorry,
cheers for the replies fellas, i basically wanted to use it as a gym bag for work, and when i start cycling in. Then i decided i also wanted it as a daybag when im travelling overseas next week for 3 weeks. I would also need to fit baby gear as im travelling with my 13month old.
I figured the crumpler would fit well for all my purposes.
Probably left it a bit late to try and find second hand, might just buy a brand newie as theres a crumpler store just a few mins from my work.
which bag are you considering anyhow? from the sounds of it you would need at least a Complete Seed size in the messenger bags. my Barney Rustle the one size down from it doesnt hold as much as I might generally carry, so it gets alternated with a bigger backpack similar to an old version of their King Single laptop backpack. always get the bag a bit bigger than you think you want, because you will use the space. 
crumpler are the new crocs.
get a BO, or SkinGrowsBack. Failing the Aussie option, Chrome, Seagull, PACdesigns…
Save up, buy proper and buy once.
while the other bags are great and maybe more functionally designed for cycling, crumpler do have a lifetime warranty, which I dont think anyone else offers.
Yeh, the complete seed is the one im looking at, the barney is definitely too small.
i got a few more days to think about it before i fly out, get 10% off duty free as well if i get it…sweet.
Gday
Ok for starters i just skimmed over this thread because there was alot and im writing this as i steal the wifi at macas and Central Station in Brisbane.
Anyway in regards to dyeing a Crumpler DONT DO IT! I can not stress this enough!! Do not do it! The waterproofing will shit brix and the bag will start to eat its self. I personally have 7 Crumpler bags and decided to give this a try the other day for i had one that would not come clean no matter what i did to it. The bag in question was the Barney Rustler Blanket and it was a mistake. I used water proof fabric dye from Spotlight or Lincraft what ever is in the Myer Centre Anyway i went along with the usual steps of dyeing and i let it dry and holy crap that was a mistake, it was blotchy and messy some sections actually lost dye all together and in the end i trashed the bag sadly. The only thing i can sugest to save you from having to kill a bag is putting it in the was by it self on the coldest setting you have and chuck in some OMO Small and Mighty. That is what i recommend and have had the best results with it turned my once grey and blue bag from black back to its normal colour. You can also throw in the shoulder pad and any attachments like the Thirsty Al or what not in with it as well.
Sorry about the lack of breaks and punctuation this was typed on my Ipad.
cheers for that dude!