As we get out of the house, the gear-obsessed WIRED Reviews team is writing about our favorite bags and EDCs. Today, reviewer Michael Calore raves about his do-it-all L.L.Bean tote bag. You can also check out other Bag Check stories where WIRED writers share their carryall of choice.
Every single Sunday morning, I roll my electric cargo bike out of the garage and pedal it to the food co-op just over a mile from my house, my shopping companion in tow: a heavy zip-up tote bag from L.L.Bean with a reinforced bottom and a water-resistant lining. I do my weekly shop there, picking up enough groceries and staples to last me and my wife a full seven days.
The place, Rainbow Grocery, is an old-school hippie co-op that’s been in San Francisco since 1975. All of the produce is organic, and—as is typical of the way natural-food purveyors sell food—the fruits and vegetables aren’t bagged or wrapped in cellophane, the way you’d find things at, say, a Kroger or an Albertsons. Rather, Rainbow is closer to a farmer’s market than a supermarket; the chicories are dewy, the chanterelles are dusted with decaying leaves, and the beets are messy with earth. It’s the type of food that really feels like somebody used their hands to pull it out of the ground. All of my provisions go directly into my trusty Zip Hunter’s Tote Bag.
The Zip Hunter’s practicality and durability is seemingly unending: Its beefy handles make it comfortable to lift on and off the cargo bike, even when I’ve stuffed the bag beyond its capacity. And no matter how much mud or grit or schmutz is on the parsnips, turnips, and daikon radishes I carry home, I can just rinse the bag out and hang it to dry.
The walls of the bag are tough enough, made from 1,200-denier polyester, which is heavy-duty and water-resistant, not to mention so rugged that it’s nearly indestructible. I’ve checked it as luggage on a dozen or so flights, and it doesn’t show any scuffs or tears. The zipper at the top isn’t sealed, but it’s heavier than it needs to be and works just fine in the rain. What truly sets the bag apart, though, is its lining. The whole interior of the tote is coated with a thin layer of thermoplastic, further increasing its imperviousness to moisture.
Now, of course, the purpose of this kind of lining is to keep the contents dry when you use the bag in a wet environment, like on a canoe trip, on a rainy bike ride, or on a duck hunt in the Maine wilderness. And surely, I have used the bag in a canoe and on many a rainy bike ride (I’ve never been on a duck hunt), and the goods inside have indeed always remained intact. I even trust the bag enough to carry electronics and musical equipment to the office or studio on drizzly mornings. But for me, the utility the bag provides is more so the opposite: it’s an excellent place to cleanly transport items that are, themselves, muddy, wet, or slimy.
For example, I’ve taken the bag car camping several times. Once, I used it to pack my tent, ground cloth, boots, and rain shell. On the last day of the trip, it poured outside, and upon it being time to head home, my rain jacket and tent were soaked, the ground cloth was dotted with wet pine needles and flecks of bark, and my boots had a thick layer of Mendocino, California, muck in the tread. I crammed all of those items in the Hunter’s Tote, zipped it up, and tossed it into the back seat of my rental car. The interior lining kept the mess inside, saving the rental car’s tuck-and-roll upholstery. Back home, I emptied the tote, flipped it inside out, and blasted out all the forest flooring with a hose.
There are two heavy plastic tabs on the edges of the tote, one at each end of the zipper. This is where the shoulder strap clips in. I’ve never really used the strap (honestly, it just gets in the way), but those tabs are great for hanging the tote to dry after rinsing it out.
The Hunter’s Tote comes in three sizes. I have the largest, the XL, which has a capacity of 53 liters. (That’s huge for a tote bag.) I prefer the larger size because when you set the reinforced bottom on a flat surface and prop the mouth of the bag open, you have a generous flat bottom inside of 10 by 19 inches. All that room really makes the bag more versatile, so my recommendation is to go large.
Also, just know there are no frills here: no exterior pockets, no padding, no laptop sleeve. Just a rugged carrier that’s ready for your dirtiest work. Whether you’re carrying twelvers of La Croix or bagging Buffleheads, it’s indispensable.
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