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Fjallraven: Vintage Shoulder Bag |
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Written by John Fenna
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FJALLRAVEN: VINTAGE Shoulder bag
Fjallraven have quite a following within the bushcraft community, being admired by many for their tough, comfortable and practical clothing and equipment.
 Was it Indiana Jones who made the “man bag” acceptable? Whoever it was, the use of a shoulder bag by a man is now fully accepted and many styles are in use by bushcrafters from “gas mask” bags and leather “hunting” bags to shoulder bags designed purely as “man bags”
I have been trying out the Fjallraven Vintage Shoulder bag, which incorporates “vintage” features, such as the leather buckle straps, with modern fabrics to give you a stylish, hardwearing, practical and capacious bag that many will find ideal for a range of uses.
I have used Vintage Shoulder as a day bag, holding all my kit for a day’s walk in lowland areas, a “foraging bag” collecting wild foods etc, and as a pure “man bag” on trips into town, and it has proved excellent in all these roles.
The main part of the bag measures approx 28 x 33 x 11 cm and has a deep, shaped flap closure with twin leather strap/white metal buckle closures. Under the flap you find two flap-topped patch pockets with nylon linings and Velcro tab closures, one pocket approx 16 x 14 x 3cm, the other approx 13 x 14 x 3cm. The pockets are only “boxed” on the “inner” side; the other side is plain and fitted into the side of the front panel. In between the pockets there are four pen/pencil pocket tubes. |
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The panel the pockets are mounted on is in fact the front of a large front pocket, which is almost the full size of the front of the bag, and which has a nylon lining and a small Velcro tab top closure. The back of the bag is a similar pocket, while the main compartment is accessed through a chunky metal zip in a shaped top panel of the bag. The nylon lining of the main compartment features a zip-closed, nylon “security” pocket.
The exterior fabric used in this well-made shoulder bag is Fjallraven’s Classic G1000 impregnated 65/35 polycotton material that is tough and weather resistant, while the fully adjustable shoulder strap is of a 5cm wide cotton webbing with bronzed metal fittings. The sides of the bag are faced with the same webbing and feature 2 leather loops each side. These loops have proved ideal for securing extra items, and also just look good!
The Vintage Shoulder Bag holds about 10 litre of kit and weighs about 520gms empty and, as well as looking very smart, is also a very practical bag to carry for a variety of purposes.
The different pockets allow you to organise your bits of gear, or separate the foraged items and the nylon pocket lining are pretty much “wipe clean”. The bag can also be washed without too much difficulty.
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Available in Light Khaki or Olive with natural leather detailing, the Fjallraven “Vintage Shoulder” teams well with the Vintage 20 Day Sack, should find wide popularity among the brushcraft fraternity, and costs around £42.
The G-1000 fabric is machine washable at a 40 degree wash and can be re-proofed with Fjallravens own “Bees wax”, which can be purchased in blocks (soap size). To re-proof, just rub the wax all over the garment, and gently heat by either hair-dryer, or gently over an open fire.
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I would highly recomend this daysack
For more information check out www.fjallraven.com
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John can at last come home with dry feet after a days yomp accross the Welsh hills thanks to NikWax New Leather waterproofing liquid.
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Thanks
Goatboy.