As shit-cool as natural fabrics be and their power to stir the monster of your visceral regard {huh?}, you can’t get around the jack-over practicality of esthetically well designed goods made from synthetics.

Sometimes synthetic materials just work too well to ignore.  Natural fabrics {wool, waxed cotton, canvas} helped conquer North America but synthetics took us to the moon (Alice).

Ortlieb makes some kick-ass, super waterproof, ergonomically well designed bags;  backpacks, messenger bags, panniers, duffle bags, . . . (etc.)

Ortlieb bags aren’t poser products; with your individual, personal and unique style, it’s your job to bring the grooviness to the bag, rather than the poser expectation of the bag bringing its grooviness to you.  I call this the GroovY-Reciprocity-Factor (GRF).

Get-on with your super-bad GRF and sling this bag over your shoulder to Bev-Mo and Trader-Joe’s and bring home the holiday cheer.

The medium Sling-It Shoulder Bag [$102.00 msrp] (pictured here) will easily carry 4 bottles of wine or a six pack of beer and two liter sized bottles.

I love this bag.  No dangly straps to distract you from the task at hand.  The non-slip shoulder pad holds the strap comfortably in place and comes with a stabilizer strap that keeps the bag well positioned across your back.  The medium bag is perfectly sized for a bag with a single strap.  When you use a larger bag you’ll find yourself stuff’n it full and too much weight on one shoulder is uncomfortable.  The larger Ortlieb single strap bag would benefit from a wider strap to help spread the pressure of the weight more uniformly across the shoulder.  If you plan on carrying heavy goods, consider a backpack style bag.  The key difference between a messenger bag and a backpack is the convenience of get’n stuff in and out of the messenger bag without having to take it completely off; unfasten the stabilizer strap and you can swing the bag around and easily open the Velcro secured flap.

The bags come in a variety of colors.

Other features I really like:
•2 zippered internal compartments
•2 big open inner pockets for easy access
•padded laptop pocket
•pen slots
•removable internal snap hook for keys

Visit BikeBagShop.com ($79.00) to review specs and other size options.

Tenga Moda Animaux!