Recently I was browsing the Rollacrit website and stumbled across the Messenger Bag of Holding. As someone who loves board game bags in general and messenger type bags in particular I was very intrigued. After scrolling through the photos, I knew I had found a contender for our board game gift guide, as well as for the most stylish and useful game bag we’d ever reviewed. Join me as I walk you through the details of Rollacrit’s Messenger Bag of Holding and tell you why I think this is worth a look.
Messenger Bag of Holding Board Game Bag
At Meeple Mountain we grade all board game bags using the same 4 sets of criteria: Straps, Functionality & Durability, Capacity and Portability, Price & Availability. How did the Messenger Bag of Holding board game bag do against our metrics? Let’s find out…
Straps
The primary strap on the Messenger Bag of Holding is a 2” wide thick nylon strap (think seatbelt thickness and quality) with a lovely smooth texture and d20 printed pattern. It has a comfortable shoulder pad with a mesh covering for breathability and ¼” thick foam padding. It connects to the bag proper via double stitched loops at the end of the strap with heavy metal spring clips which attach via D-rings stitched to the bag itself.
The Messenger Bag of Holding also features backpack style straps; an interesting choice for a product which bills itself as a messenger bag. That said, they’re comfortable and sturdy. The shoulder straps are the same as the main bag’s shoulder pad and have a slight flare near the bottoms to make it easier to wrap around your torso. Each strap has a set of adjustable buckles at the bottom and a D-ring around chest level for attaching various accessories.
Functionality & Durability
On a messenger bag, it’s hard to talk about functionality without also overlapping into some of the other categories, so keep that in mind. It’s clear that a lot of thought was put into this bag: there are pouches, flaps, pockets, and all sorts of places to put stuff…in fact they even specifically mention a “secret pocket, that is a secret” in their marketing material. Amusingly enough I thought I’d found all of them until literally just now as I write these words…and the hidden pocket actually contains a rain covering to protect your bag during heavy storms. A note that the canvas material of the bag is, while not waterproof, rain-resistant, being made of thick washed canvas with a 210D polyester lining.
There are 21 places to store things in this bag, from the capacious main compartment, to the outer pouch which closes with a snazzy embossed chrome d20 snap, to the bottle pockets on either side (each of which draws shut with a spring clip. And in most cases, each main pouch has smaller internal spots for pencils and paper, tablets, folders, charging cables, games, and more. Suffice it to say that you’ll probably never run out of places to store things if you’re strutting around with this bag.
The outer straps, flaps, and pockets are made of the same washed canvas as the main bag, while the inner material is either washed canvas or polyester with the d20 pattern printed on it. The inner pockets close securely with either velcro or zippers with a distinct pull (metal with a hexagon shaped knockout at the end).
Capacity
Space wise this isn’t going to hold a candle to the larger dedicated gaming bags like the Game Haul: Game Night Bag, the Geekon! Ultimate Board Game Bag, or even the Raven YATA Board Game Bag. But that’s okay because carrying loads of games isn’t the main focus of this bag; and more importantly the space isn’t meant to be an empty cube.
The storage appears to have been thoughtfully distributed throughout the bag, meaning it’ll stay balanced, and things go where they make the most sense. Theres’s a mesh pocket on one end for a cup, and a mesh holder on the other side for a portfolio or blueprint tube; both of which have drawstring spring clips to hold their contents secure. Unzip the outermost pocket for commonly grabbed items like pens and pencils, your wallet, a phone, etc. Throw open the main flap and grab your tablet and stylus for a quick meeting with a client. Or grab your copy of Come Sail Away, or possibly your Pathfinder or Dungeons & Dragons materials, and throw it in the large central compartment as you head out for a gaming session.
The point of the Messenger Bag of Holding is that it’s flexible and can accommodate most use cases, as long as you’re not intending to supply games for an entire board game convention.
One nice feature is that the base of the bag is extremely thick, and wide enough that it can stand up on its own even while empty.
Portability, Price, & Availability
It’s a messenger bag, so it’s tailor made to be portable. In addition to the single carry shoulder strap, and the backpack straps, the Messenger Bag of Holding also features a curved handle so the bag can be carried like a briefcase—imagine how jealous the other accountants would be when you rolled up to the monthly “tax thing” meeting with one of these babies! Another nice thing about this bag is that while it is capable of holding a good amount of cargo, it’s not so much that it becomes super heavy (unless you’re carrying tax law books to the aforementioned meeting.
With a current price of $150 on the Rollacrit website ($175 on Amazon), the Messenger Bag of Holding is in the upper end of what I’d consider when purchasing a bag like this. Comparable Timbuktu messenger bags are between $110 and $140, and Manhattan Portage bags start around $165. Of course there are also far cheaper options to be found in the $50-$90 range. So it really comes down to your use cases and aesthetics.
The Messenger Bag of Holding can be found via many online retailers.
Final Thoughts on the Messenger Bag of Holding Board Game Bag
There are a few things I might call out about this bag, things not important enough to call foul on, but that could possibly make it into a v2. The two largest zippered pouches could benefit from double zippers so that people of both handedness could zip the direction they choose. The spring clips holding the shoulder strap to the bag are pretty tight…not a bad thing, but they’re actually a little hard to get off. And the backstraps could stand to be a bit wider, to more effectively spread the load on your shoulders, making the bag more comfortable to carry while in that mode.
I’ve never been one to focus on style over substance. Things I own need to have a purpose and perform their tasks well. So I’m willing to spend a bit extra for something that will hold up well over time, but I’m also leery of spending money unnecessarily. The Messenger Bag of Holding treads the line between too expensive, but highly utilitarian (with more than a dash of style). As mentioned earlier, this could be “the bag” you buy now and use for ten years or more. It’s not good for everything, but it’s good for “most” things, and sometimes that can be enough.
I can’t tell you that this bag is right for you, but I can say that if you decide on this bag you’ll receive a +4 buff to charisma, and a 21 additional carrying slots…and that’s not nothing.
Note that one of the mesh holders on the sides is a drink holder and the other is a poster tube holder: the poster holder doesn’t have a bottom but cinches top and bottom.
Berto, so THAT’S what that side is for. I wondered about that, thank you for clarifying! I’ll update the text of the review.
Also, the “secret pocket” is at the bottom of the main compartment. The bottom liner connects by velcro on one side and you can open it from there 😉 After all, a Bag of Holding is truly bottomless!
Hah, you’re right! Delightful!! Man, this bag gets better and better.