The OYB Bag --The World's Only 6-Way Bag!
June 16, 2009

$39 (inc. S/H)

[$39, postpaid in US] The 6-Way OYB Bag is ready for action! Click on the PayPal button to the left under the picture and order away! Now available with extra options like top-straps, waterproofing and snug-mount stick! But read on, there's so much more! Hmm, this has to be about the world's longest product description, but what can I leave out?

The OYB Bag is 4"x7"x9" in size (4.1 liters, 250 cu in) and is the only bag that converts in a jiffy into a Shoulderbag, Saddlebag, Handlebar-bag, Pannier, Backpack...or Frontpack! No other bag does all 6 things!

It also has a small outside pocket (where I keep my whole bike tool-kit) that's 2" x 4" x 6", or .7L (50 cu in), for 5.3L total bag capacity (300 cu in). Weighs about 14 oz.

The "OYB Normal" bag is sensible, affordable, stylish...it epitomizes the OYB approach. OYB says that cycling (and luggage) aren't segregated from the rest of life. OYB stands for versatility, integration and culture. In a world of segregating specialization, OYB sticks to the big picture. Yeah!

Two Logo Patch Options! OYB panniers and bags now come by default with a leather logo patch riveted on. The patch can function as a blinky-light strap -- just clip your light onto it. But! I can glue on an embroidered patch instead, if you like and add a note telling me to do so. So, you can either go classy or colorful!

As Seen on TV! (9/09) Ed Wardle in his National Geographic TV series "Alone in the Wild" uses one of these bags! Check it out in the pic below! Now, there's a macho "manpurse"! : ) He's carrying not one but TWO guns...and an OYB Bag! It's also shown near the start of the "Packing Up Camp" video (link below) and in use berry-picking in the final hour of the show. The customer who notified me said he probably removed the logo patch for sponsor reasons---but maybe his wasn't one of my bike-modified items to begin with. : ) http://channel.nationalgeographic.com/channel/alone-in-the-wild-week-3-videos

Water-Repellent Option! NikWax does a great job of making this bag water repellent. Use their "Cotton Proof" diluted 3-to-1. For $5 I'll brush on an initial coating for you. I don't know how long it lasts. It seems darn tough and thorough, like it transforms the fabric. I use their "Leather Conditioner" for the leather part (and I'll put that on your bag, too). Now, it'll never be as waterproof as a (sweaty) rubber drybag, but this stuff helps. For ordering your own supply, go to: http://www.greenboatstuff.com (tell em I sent ya!). To order an initial OYB treatment, just click this "Add to Cart" PayPal button:

Top Straps Option! For an extra $15 I'll rivet straps to the top of the flap to boost the stash capacity of your bag. (See pics below.) Just click this button:

Carradice-type Stick Mount Option! For an extra $10 (order-button below) we'll sew button-holes at the back of the bag and include a dowel (6"x.7") with end-flats so you can do a Carradice-style installation on a saddle with bag-loops. Your 3 straps also get extra holes punched in them. (See pics below.) I know I haven't even told you much about the bag itself yet, but I'm into this stick option. It creates an ideal saddlebag. Without the stick the saddlebag is what I call a "jiffy mount." The stick mount works with both Brooks-type saddle-loops and standard saddle rails (it hangs a bit lower with rails). This same option with a fancy Osage stick is $15 (second order button).

The stick option holds a bag high, tight, and trim. It lets a bag open easy and wide. It also lets a bag work with smaller frames and certain brake cable set-ups. To install the stick, you thread each strap thru a button-hole, thru a saddle loop/rail and back inside the bag where you buckle it around an end of the stick.

(Please let me know if your saddle has rails-only -- no loops -- and you want the bag to ride a bit higher. Also, your frame size, if it's 54cm or smaller. I'll adjust the button-holes location accordingly.)

The $15 Osage stick option gives you the same buttonholes but gorgeous "character" wood instead of a dowel. Osage is basically the hardest, toughest, hottest-burning...and prettiest...wood (its stress stats are about 5X other hardwoods). You'll like seeing it in your bag! It's the best wood for bow-making, preferred for a thousand years. Indians traveled far for it. It's rot resistant and was popular for fence-posts; it's twisty and thorny so it made great hedges...but it's really hard to work. Artisans love the challenge! It has a round green fruit that looks like an orange. As these sticks dry they sometimes get cracks in them, but that's OK, they're tough. To make your stick, I go out and cut a dead limb off a wild tree I know, using a Gerber pocket-size folding pull-saw, while walking the dog. (OK, I've gathered a dozen ahead of time.) Back home I use a rare Ahti Metsa Finnish puukko camp knife (I write about this knife elsewhere in OYB) to whittle out the stick, then I finish it up with a Japanese pull-saw. Thought you'd like to know. :) It takes HARD whittling and about 20 minutes per stick.

Click the next button (in addition to the main item order button) and get a $10 plain wood mounting dowel and buttonholes, plus the 3 straps have extra holes punched in them:

Click the following button (in addition to the main item order button) and you'll get a $15 potent Osage stick and buttonholes:

Non-US Customers You should see an option upon check-out for postage to your country (or near enough). Please select the *2-3 pound* postage rate (although it will charge you less than this weight-range usually costs...it's just how I set up my grid). If this doesn't work right for you, there are manual PayPal buttons for postage below.

Money Back Guarantee & Warranty If you don't like your Bag, return it for a refund (less shipping) in a week. If something breaks untowardly, I can send you a part if it's easy to replace, or you send it back and I'll do the repair and, again, if it failed too soon I'll pay for Parcel Post shipping back to you. Otherwise, if it's normal wear'n'tear you can pay the postage back, if you would, please. These items are tough. I've only heard of a couple breaks out of hundreds sent out. They've all been readily fixed by the customer so far, so I haven't had any repair returns yet.

Shoulderbag-Only 2-Way Option! If you want one of these bags but do NOT want to use it on a bike, I offer it in an unmodified version without the 3 extra straps for $25.00. ($15.00 less!) It's a worldclass shoulderbag. However, I note that the shoulder strap, with adjuster-slider, is 44" long max, instead of the 52" of the 6-Way Bag: so it rides a bit higher on my hip (I'm 6 feet), if that matters. (A 48" strap lets a bag hang below my hip/butt, if I want.) Also, the shoulder and waist straps stay on: they're sewn-on on one end instead of clipped on. (There's no OYB logo patch, unless you request one---I'll rivet one on free of charge.) Just click this "Add to Cart" PayPal button:

Even More About this Amazing Bag! I've been told it should be called the "OYB Normal Bag." Get it? (Say it out loud.)

What's more...it's one of the rare bar-bags that works nicely with a headlight on the bars! You can mount it to hang down a bit, under a light. Also, it fits with STI (pivoting brifter levers) or moustache handlebars.

This bag is great for carrying all manner of daily-use goodies, including a wine bottle (or two?). I keep my complete bike tool/spares kit with minipump in the smaller outside pocket (tube, tools, wallet, keys, the works).

A great thing about these bags is their slot'n'stud fasteners. Faster than buckles yet secure. Better-looking than zips. Elegant solutions are so pleasing!

I make these bags out of surplus military shoulder bags---by modifying the d-rings, adding the straps and sewing my groovy OYB patch on them---and by rescuing and re-purposing this very rare bag away from oblivion in the first place.

The bags are used---some have small marks, scuffs, wrinkles, a bit of corrosion. They break in to a nice "burnished" look. Some have brown leather, others have gray/greenish leather which wears away on the edges to brownish. I'll fill orders with BROWN unless you ask for gray/green.

They come with an instruction sheet and a removable waist-strap. The 48" shoulder strap has two super-duper, smooth, quality steel sliders, making it easy to adjust from either side---very handy, I find! For some reason, because the sliders are so easy and smooth to use I find that I'm adjusting the strap on the fly and on the go most times I'm carrying the bag. The shoulder strap is also removable.

How to Use Your Bag... Each bag comes with an info sheet detailing the 6 modes. It also comes with 3 small leather buckle-straps. To use as a bar-bag, tuck shoulder-strap into main-pouch and thread 2 leather straps thru the big D-rings to the bars and 1 strap around the head-tube thru the waist-strap D-rings. To use as a jiffy saddle-bag, here's where it gets neat: Each main-strap D-ring has a 1/4" section removed beneath its attachment loop---shove the canvas aside and clip each D-ring thru your saddle rail or bag-loop, then use a leather-strap to afix to the seatpost. Presto! (If you think it doesn't open wide enough, just unclip one side, then the bag will open fully. Depending on load, bag can sway when riding out of saddle unless you use snuggest seatpost lashing, where you use the strap to bring the 2 rings closest together around the post---follow? Also depending on load and road a bag might rattle on rails--duct tape padding cures that.) To use as a pannier, just clip the two upper rings over rack top rail and strap to lower rack leg. To use as a backpack, loosen the shoulder-strap all the way and loop it over your head, then pull it down in front, then take the waist-strap, which is attached as normal at one end, and thread it through the bight of the shoulder-strap, then snap it into its other d-ring, and, presto, a backpack! The pack mode is GREAT for XC skiing. Do the reverse of this for the 6th mode as a frontbag---great for a camera! (Note: Strap is not long enough to work as backpack for an XL person.)

Get Monogramming For $5 I can stamp up to 11 "western saddle-style" capital initials for you: one each on the two leather main flaps and up to 3 initials in each of the 3 small straps (I put them near the buckle, reading toward it, so you can see the initials when the straps are installed).

What Some Happy Owners have to Say... "Hi Jeff... I got the purse yesterday---very nice! I used it this afternoon when taking my 3 1/2 yr old daughter and two dogs to the park. Having a small bag to stow keys, phone, binoculars, dog leashes, etc etc, and one that doesn't swing around and hit whatever is in front of you when you bend over to tie shoes or adjust leashes is a great benefit. -- Patrick Moore, bicycle enthusiast

"Your packs have caught many eyes in this bike mecca and I have given many Oregon folk your website. I commute every day and do not have a car. The bags are great at all times. They keep their shape and looks. I have ridden them thru 2 snowstorms here so far, full of groceries, without busting an egg!" -- H. Roberts, Eugene, OR

"I had my new 6-way bag on the taco ride last night (www.tacoride.com). Your bag got a lot of attention. I've sent your website to a couple people this morning so you might get some interest from a few IA or NE cyclists." -- D. Olson

It has other fans, too... The Bike Commuters blog also raved about it: http://www.bikecommuters.com/2007/09/28/oyb-saddle-bag. As did The Satchel Pages: http://thesatchelpages.com/out-your-backdoor-man-bag-in-purse-action-plus-a-swedish-three-way.

It's a super grab'n'go. (Sure, it's a bit narrow in the mouth, but that adds to its compactness and makes it less purse-like, if that matters.) I am now never stranded without handy items, yet I never have cluttered pockets, either. As per my other man-purse article, I stock mine as follows: water bottle notepad pen paperback flask swiss army knife leatherman digicam cellphone lighter powerbar pipe mini-flashlight aspirin/chapstick/bandaid/coughdrops ducttape sunglasses

--Be prepared! Never at a loss! Never idle when idling!

If a bag rubs a canti-brake cable, here's how a guy made a PVC tube stand-off for his Carradice: http://128.83.80.200/bike/nelson.html (Check out the rest of his site, too. Wild!)

Non-USA Postage Buttons Canadian customers get the usual postage subsidy but there's a bit of excess that they need to cover. So you can first click the above main ordering button then click this next button which adds $3 to your Cart:

UK/Euro/Oz customers: Please click the main button above then click the button below to add an extra $10 to your Cart, to cover excess postage costs:

Why OYB Luggage? I offer luggage items as a way to promote and support the 1000+ free articles on this website, giving a view into independent outdoor culture like no other media source. That is, there is no longer a subscription to a print magazine, but I still need to make a living with this media. So please buy this quality, hard-to-find luggage if ya need it!

So Here's Some Pics!

Here's a close-up image:

A couple "far views" show how they look on a bike. (I used some zipties in one pic---but you can also see the leather straps. Each bag comes with 3 straps.)

Here's a "close view," showing how a bag attaches "casually" by its shoulder-strap "ring-clip-loops" without a stick:

Here's the $10/$15 Carradice-style option which allows a closer fit to a saddle with bag-loops. (Note that seatpost strap could be tighter, to eliminate any sway, if rings were drawn together with strap rather than strap going thru rings and around post---follow?)

Here's how nice and wide the bag opens with the (attractive) Osage stick option ($5 extra):

A pretty Osage stick (I now cut notches, not flats):

Two big points in this pic... *1: Let me know if you'll mount via Rails (standard saddle) rather than Loops (Brooks) -- a shorter 4.5" stick works better in that case. *2: Let me know framesize if it's smaller than 54cm (here's a 50cm) so I can sew buttonholes lower so bag mounts higher (get it?):

$10 dowel-type stick pics (courtesy Alan Ferrency):

Here's the $15 top-straps option:

Here's "Shek," a bike commuter, showing his flare via an OYB Bag in pannier mode:

A happy OYB family! Coloradan Joe Ramey bought a bag last fall. One of his kids poached it. Then he got another. And another. And another! ...He finally has his own. One of his daughters is using hers as a shoulderbag on campus.

(I think I see a trace of a creature in the image above. A skunk? Family pet?)

Here's a Blinky on its strap (a $5 extra option) with an embroidered patch:

Here's the Backpack mode!

More customer pics of their bags...

Henry Roberts, organizer of Cino Heroica, a gran fondo in Montana, en route at L'Eroica:

On tour in Italy the week before, with 3 bags:

As a handlebar bag on JD Kimple's CX bike:

And on Dave Olson's Salsa Fargo:

Houston Roberts "car":