A while back, I made a decision: I am going to carry a purse. I want to carry far more stuff than I can reliably (and easily) carry in my pockets. Even if I wore a jacket everyday, the annoyance of moving things from pocket to pocket wears on me. So I set about finding the purse I wanted to carry, and I picked up a previous generation of Porter’s Tanker Sling Bag — a small and compact pouch in the iconic fabric and design.
It’s supremely good, and the current generation only looks better.
Materials and Specs
This is a small bag, which is just large enough for what I want to carry, it measures around 9” x 5.5” x 2”. It’s made out of the Nylon tanker material, which is three layers housing a padding in between the outer and inner layer.
The bag has three sections: two front pockets and a main pocket (the current generation has an additional pocket on the rear). Inside the main compartment is pouch along the back of the bag, which closes with a small Velcro in the center.
The strap is narrow, and detaches so the purse can be used as a pouch if wanted. This older generation has belt loops on the back of the bag. Presumably so you can thread a waist strap of another bag through it, but who knows the original thinking on this.
As with all Porter bags, it has industry leading fit and finish on it.
In Use
I keep coming back to the notion that this bag is too small, quickly followed by it being too large. What I realize is that it’s about 30% empty, so it’s probably the right size. Anyways, this is my most carried bag since I picked it up, as it’s my purse, so I take it with me everywhere. It’s fantastically good, and ideally sized when I really stop to think about, so let’s talk through this.
One note, is that this is an older model, the newer ones have some slightly different features, but not enough to substantially change my thoughts. If needed, I would go buy a new one today to replace this one, but I am quite happy with what I have such that I am not seeking out a new model.
This bag is very simple: detachable shoulder strap, main compartment with small velcro top pocket inside, and two front pockets that velcro and snap shut. The entire kit is compact, but large enough that I never run out of space, even when I want to stash my phone or sunglasses in the bag quickly, there’s just enough room for it.
The two front pockets are quite small, and can be a little cumbersome to get in and out of because of how small they are. At first I kept my car key in one of these, but I turns out that I needed access to that key often enough, that it was a little annoying. I now keep a small boo-boo kit in one side, and earplugs and advil in the other. Things I want to have on hand and know where they are easily, but which I don’t access often enough to be annoyed by the opening of the pouch being small.
The main compartment is a single zipper pull, which moves easily and is quick to access. The shoulder strap is the tanker material with a little spot of vinyl gripper stitched in the center of the strap. That’s a welcomed addition as the strap can be slick even with that on there. It is a narrow strap, so too much weight in the bag can make it dig, but at the level I carry this at, there’s been no discomfort for me.
I do wish mine had the pocket along the back instead of the belt loops, as they look a little silly. That said, they do offer a nice spot for grabbing the bag.
Initially, I thought I would use this bag a lot more inside other bags, as I could simply take off the strap and toss it in my bag. While I can do that, it’s a little large for that, and then I am without the strap, so I gave up on this idea. Instead I carry this bag on its own, or if I am taking another bag then I pull my wallet and keys and leave this behind in favor of whatever bag I am using instead.
I keep a pretty trim kit in this bag, as it really acts as a place to keep a handful of essentials, with my wallet and keys. Nothing more is needed or wanted on this, and I’ve been quite happy with it overall. It looks good, but is very much a purse. Whether that works for you is going to be locationally dependent — where I live I am good to go.
Overall
This is my purse. I had been trying others out, but this is clearly the best option for a small purse sized bag, with enough space for everything I need, but not so large that it looks like it could be carrying anything more than what I need.
I love it.