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Wow another Manhattan Portage drop so soon? (and again no red?) Well I already hopped on the Focus drop, so I'll have to wait for that one to arrive before I go frittering away my disposable income on another bag. Stil...
CalaverasgrandeMy beef with the Focus was that it seemed heavy to me at 4.7 lbs (2.1 kg). This one seems decent. I haven't heard anyone say anything negative about Manhattan Portage bags but I'm still hesitant to go in on a bag because somehow I've never heard of the brand before now. I'm coming from the the hike/outdoor world where you're usually looking at brands like The North Face, Patagonia, Osprey, Arc'teryx, Black Diamond, etc. Do you have any insight as far as how these types of brands compare to MP?
rolanie3
2
Aug 27, 2018
Saucy_Puppet_ShowSame here - never heard of this brand but they seem to be durable based on some google searching, but results are few.
rolanie3I live in NYC, and before I lived here I had a relative who bought me my first MP bag. I believe it's a largely regional brand. There is a sister brand in the Bay Area called, wait for it...San Francisco Portage. To give an idea of how durable. I've utterly destroyed bags from Incase, OGIO and Timbuk2. Those are bags that are fine for casual use by gentle people. But I am hard on my stuff. I do a mix of IT work, photography and audio engineering/musician stuff. So I end up carrying sometimes an absurd load of things. I had an OGIO just plain fail on me one day. Never again. Ditto for Incase. Pretty bags, impractical and cheap build though. Timbuk2 used to be a very legit brand. But the owner quit making them in the Bay Area and sold out/switched to overseas contract production. The last one of those I had was rife with QC issues and cheap plastic buckles. In contrast my MP bag is coming up on a decade old and not a single buckle or zipper has broken. I don't know what they make their buckles from but they are remarkable for their toughness! On the downside, they can't hold a candle to the Chrome bags for looks. They don't have the variety of color or fabric options or the snazzy looks of those bags. But that is OK. MP is more low key in the looks dept.
rolanie3
2
Aug 27, 2018
CalaverasgrandeThanks for your testimony, you covered my exact concerns! Joined the drop.
CalaverasgrandeBah. I haven't heard of Chrome either. It's both rewarding and maddening to talk gear with people because, while it's good to hear new ideas, I'll be spending the next 2 hours looking through Chrome's entire catalog. Thanks for the informative reply.