MK II Gas Mask Bag from Costumebase

[morphosis]

i recently got the Bag from Costumebase off eBay...the bag is actually quite nice...i was surprised. I bought a new strap from Todd's Costumes and its prefect now...the strap from Costumebase was small and not anywhere near accurate to the original Indy strap....But I might buy another bag from either Todd or Magnoli just to compare...but the Costumebase bag isnt bad....the only problem is that it took 20 days to get from Singapore and i didnt have it ontime for Halloween....

has anyone else got the Costumebase bag? reading on here, seems like most people are happy with Todd's & Magnoli's......so i might have to get them to compare.

[Kt Templar]

I had a costume base one a while ago. The magnoli one is far, better, I haven't seen a recent Todd's one to compare. I have the original WW2 ones and feel that they are still the best.

[RCSignals]

the most recent Todd's is an excellent reproduction of the original

[Insomniac]

The only bag I've ever owned is a costumebase I've had for almost 2 years great bag good specs.

Flimsy material, and color not so good.
I love it to death thou.

So for $20+$10 it was a great deal.

[djd]

My son has a costume base bag and it's lasted very well and has seen quite a bit of abuse. It's not a very accurate copy of the original though. I've currently got a Magnoli one which is very robust (although the colour is a bit off - although strangely if you photograph it it looks fine....) and a great copy of the original. I've had a couple of originals which despite being in seemingly perfect and very used condition, both failed at the point where the strap attaches. Very annoying when it happens mid point during a long hike...

[RCSignals]

The originals are old (even if 'new') and subject to dry rot. Also they were only designed to carry a gas mask, not all the items and weight I-J fans tend to carry in them. The webbing that holds the strap attaching ring tends to be weak/too light for the task.

[djd]

Absolutely - that's why now I'd go for a decent replica over an original

[alphared6]

;0

[Erri]

The originals are old (even if 'new') and subject to dry rot. Also they were only designed to carry a gas mask, not all the items and weight I-J fans tend to carry in them. The webbing that holds the strap attaching ring tends to be weak/too light for the task.

You ever weighted one of those gas masks with metal canister attached? I assure you they are heavier than daily use items, unless you carry gold bars in your MKVII.
Anyway it's true some MKVIIs could get ruined over time but in my experience this only happens if they already have a start of rottening (for however small it might be, a little hole or something). If they are really in mint condition they will hold perfectly. So careful when you buy the real ones, inspect them well or, if from ebay, ask for possible holes or rust spots.

[djd]

I'd have to say that both my MKVII's were absolutely mint. Not a mark on them and unused. The weakness was completely invisible until the material just failed suddenly and on neither occasion was I carrying that much weight ( a couple of bottles of drink and a mobile phone as I recall) - my son regularly carries rocks around in his costumebase version and it's always been fine....

[davidd]

I absolutely LOVED my CostumeBase bag from eBay.



Sadly, the strap attachment points failed four hours into a rim-to-rim hike across the Grand Canyon this past October.



I suppose I should mention that I had the bag loaded down with four -- yes, four -- quart bottles of Gatorade.



I've grown rather attached to this bag over the last year or so. It makes a great little camera accessory bag. After reading various opinions in the forums, I've ordered a Magnoli as a replacement. The Magnoli bags seem to have a reputation for durability. I suspect, however, that if I'd been content to carry two quarts of water with me, rather than squeezing four bottles into the little Singapore Special, I'd still be happily toting my little canvas "costume" bag.

Note to potential buyers: the canvas on these bags is not as heavy-duty as it appears in the e-Bay listing photos. I have a few additional detail photos of this bag posted at my Flickr site, if you're interested:

http://www.flickr.com/photos/puuikibeac ... 202404067/

One more note: while the strap isn't "real leather," I kind of like it. It's wide enough to be comfortable, and plenty long -- 52-inches, I believe. And it looks "close enough," particularly once it has some wear. At the risk of becoming some sort of pariah around here, I'll be using the "plastic" strap from my C-Base bag on my Magnoli when it arrives.

[EDIT TO ADD] Link to photos of a Magnoli and a CostumeBase Mk VII side by side.

[Erri]

Ahhh! Now I get what a costumebase bag is. I have one from the Eurosummit, I actually use it more than MKVIIs because it's slightly smaller, very soft, flexible and the olive colour and brown thin strap matches with many more clothes than the MKVIIs. Also it can be washed and doesn't have a 1940's smell LOL.

The costume base bag only REMINDS of a MKVII but it's SOOOO far from it. Nonetheless it's a nice little bag, nice looking and it's VERY useful. As a matter of fact I love it too