OK, I've had my MK VII for about 8 months, but not until reading all about everyone else using their bags daily have I started carrying mine. Dang useful bag, ain't it?!
Tho' my wife calls it my "man purse," she has begun encouraging me to carry it (probably because I don't keep bothering her to put things in her purse or keep asking for gum and things).
Indiana Wayne wrote:You must have a lot of guts to wear it in public!
Actually, I was a little shy about it, until I read a forum from way back (can't find it now, of course) about how people use their MK VIIs. The most creative was "diaper bag." Once I started carrying it, I stopped caring what other people thought. Help me out, more experienced Gearheads; anyone remember that thread?
Very therapeutic, this site... or very enabling, depending on how you look at it
Am I picking up that some folks are shy about wearing their MKVII's??
How could that possibly be? I do not get the 'man purse' connection. It is made of green canvas with a brown leather strap. Not very feminine at all!
I live in NYC and use mine every day and have never felt self conscious. Then again, you can see a lot worse than a green canvas bag in this city!
Pagey wrote:Here in Austria, just about everyone (well, mostly young-ish people) carry army style shoulder bags. Men and women, they're really common (the bags that is). In fact I was a bit disappointed that my mint MKVII looked like I bought it in the high street!
Same here in the UK You can see Indy looking bags all over the place in London
Pagey wrote:Here in Austria, just about everyone (well, mostly young-ish people) carry army style shoulder bags. Men and women, they're really common (the bags that is). In fact I was a bit disappointed that my mint MKVII looked like I bought it in the high street!
So, no - I'm not at all worried about carrying my bag. Now that it's really hot and I can't wear a jacket, it's really useful.
On the other hand, my mother visited last week and when we went to town she asked if I would carry her glasses in MY HANDBAG!!!! :evil: :evil:
Great avatar, Pagey! I give my wife the stink eye if she calls it my man-purse now. Handbag, though, that's a bit better, but not much!
My MK VII still does look a bit mint; it is a WPG repro, Zach, strap and all. Good eye! I haven't decided whether to age it or not. I think I'll just let it age on it's own. I've already had to re-stitch the top of the bag where it started coming apart, so it has a little personality already.
The sky had actually cleared up by then; here I am in the Mojave with 360 days of sun a year, and the three days I go west to the coast I get clouds! Guess the clouds were just trying to catch up with me.
And please don't encourage my wife! She also has a certain pet name--which I shall not mention--that I can't get her to stop calling me in front of her family, particularly her five-year-old niece that repeats it over and over and over...
The one thing missing from that trip was a good fedora. I'm working on that though. Stand by for posts in the Fedora section!
here's really a general rule of thumb I find useful for retaining, at least in my head, my manhood with my make-shift indy bag or ANY carry bag (like a laptop case)...
almost anything in that bag... and its your adventure satchel...
put you CAR KEYS in it and then sift through to find them... suddenly not matter what the bag it is... it becomes a purse...
(PS: Sorry for the no posting for over a year... been veeery busy... found the ark though)
It is indeed Renderking who using his bag as a diaper bag. I have seem him do it. It's a lot of fun at summits:
"So, what's in your MK VII?"
"Pocket knife, camera, first aid kit."
"How about you, Ren?"
"Oh, diapers, baby-naps, pacifier..."
Jack,
You shouldn't feel selfconscious about carrying that bag at all. Old Navy sells bags like an MK VII. Many people around here carry some sort of army-style shoulder bag.
I've started carrying mine more and more, especially since I finally figured out how to fit my camera in there.
It's only the pith helmet that might cause the ocassional snicker.
Hemingway Jones wrote:You shouldn't feel selfconscious about carrying that bag at all. Old Navy sells bags like an MK VII. Many people around here carry some sort of army-style shoulder bag.
I've started carrying mine more and more, especially since I finally figured out how to fit my camera in there.
It's only the pith helmet that might cause the ocassional snicker.
I'm learning that! Molorom is right: who gives a pile of dung?! I'm also reaching that age where my convenience is much more important than what other people think of me. I haven't started wearing dress socks and shoes with shorts or anything, but what the hey.
I guess it's really a question of being comfortable with who you are.
Hemingway Jones wrote:
It's only the pith helmet that might cause the ocassional snicker.
It that a pith helmet in your MK VII or are you just happy to see us H.J.?
Get that helmet on your head soldier!
Actually, Ferraud, Mojave has an excellent circa 1930s English explorer's outfit with high officer boots, tweed jacket and tie, and a pith helmet. It is a very nice and spot on retro outfit.
I have always wanted a pith helmet for my wall, as decoration. I have always found them to be the quintessential safari item of the 30s.
Hemingway Jones wrote:Actually, Ferraud, Mojave has an excellent circa 1930s English explorer's outfit with high officer boots, tweed jacket and tie, and a pith helmet. It is a very nice and spot on retro outfit.
I have always wanted a pith helmet for my wall, as decoration. I have always found them to be the quintessential safari item of the 30s.
Mojave Jack, if you have an occasion to post that picture I would love to see it!
I too have always wanted a pith. Too much Gunga Din I guess...
My wife gives me the strangest look whenever I mention it...
Feraud wrote:
Mojave Jack, if you have an occasion to post that picture I would love to see it!
I too have always wanted a pith. Too much Gunga Din I guess...
My wife gives me the strangest look whenever I mention it...
I hope Mojave doesn't get mad at me for talking about it, but it really is a cool picture and I appreciate stuff like that: Indy related, but a little bit different than the Wested and the fedora look.
I must admit, I haven't had the guts to wear my pith anywhere but around the yard. I do wear my molded pith-style helmet like the one below, and my wife often wears her sea grass pith-style hat.
I have to wear the decendant of a pith helmet every time I go out on the street for work
After the Boer war, the British had a derth of pith helmets left over, so they shipped them back to England where they were used as head gear for Police Constables & a more up to date version is still worn to this day
Mojave Jack, that is such a great look and you pull it off well. It does not look like a 'costume' at all but something you have spent time in.
I was expecting to see a lion's head over the mantle and a Holland & Holland double rifle or .416 Rigby leaning against the fireplace!
Skippy wrote:I have to wear the decendant of a pith helmet every time I go out on the street for work
After the Boer war, the British had a derth of pith helmets left over, so they shipped them back to England where they were used as head gear for Police Constables & a more up to date version is still worn to this day
Still...makes me look taller
So that's where the style comes from! My wife loves the Boer-era pith helmets, particularly since The Four Feathers was remade.
Skippy, I'm envious that you have a uniform with so much history that you wear daily. In the U.S. Air Force we have to change our uniform every year, apparently so we can keep recruiting young kids. Next year they'll start issuing skate boards or something! If we had any sense of history, I wouldn't have to hunt for Indy pants, because I'd still be wearing my pinks and greens daily.
hmmm, a Holland & Holland double rifle or .416 Rigby, eh? That would look good!
Mojave Jack wrote:So that's where the style comes from! My wife loves the Boer-era pith helmets, particularly since The Four Feathers was remade.
I just picked up "Zulu" on DVD with Micahel Cain, excellent film and surprisingly sympathetic to the natives for a film of its day. Very cool English pith helmets and uniforms as well.
Mojave Jack wrote:Skippy, I'm envious that you have a uniform with so much history that you wear daily. In the U.S. Air Force we have to change our uniform every year, apparently so we can keep recruiting young kids. Next year they'll start issuing skate boards or something! If we had any sense of history, I wouldn't have to hunt for Indy pants, because I'd still be wearing my pinks and greens daily.
Pinks and greens? I'd be happy if you zoomies would at least return to the bus driver suits of the 50s. I always thought James Stewart (a real life BG in the USAF Reserve) looked so cool in "Strategic Air Command." The B36 Peacemakers weren't too shabby either. I've always had a soft spot for that massive bird. And I live less than 100 miles from where they were built!
Sorry for the OT. Now back to your regularly scheduled programming.
Mojave Jack wrote:So that's where the style comes from! My wife loves the Boer-era pith helmets, particularly since The Four Feathers was remade.
I just picked up "Zulu" on DVD with Micahel Cain, excellent film and surprisingly sympathetic to the natives for a film of its day. Very cool English pith helmets and uniforms as well.
Do not get me started with the movies! Zulu, is a great film. You are correct, H.J., it is surprisingly even handed in it's portrayal of both natives and non-natives for a period piece. I have to say I really like the performances of Baker and Caine in that one.
If you do not have it, I highly recommend The Man Who Would Be King. Connery and Caine, a great duo!
O.k. back to the thread.
Feraud wrote:If you do not have it, I highly recommend The Man Who Would Be King. Connery and Caine, a great duo!
O.k. back to the thread.
Great film and I know it well. I weep like a baby at the ending everytime. There are excellent Indy-era costumes in that one. Though, they get the Afghani religion totally wrong with that strage cycloptic idol.
You can see Indy looking bags all over the place in London 
Guess the clouds were just trying to catch up with me. 
