Man vs Purse & Clutch

The word “purse” and “clutch” have always been associated with women since time immemorial, and so to many men, the idea of carrying them might be a little daunting.

In fact, man purse / man clutch (if they sound too feminine, there’s “murse” (man + purse), folio, gear bag, sleeve etc ahem) exists, and they are made specially for men. They are both stylish and useful. I bought one recently (picture) and it actually solved some of my problems.

When I’m going out or running around in town, I don’t usually leave house without my armours. You might think a man’s  armours won’t be too far from phone, wallet and keys, but those are hardly adequate for many men in today’s living. I think Minimalism doesn’t apply in this department anymore.

Here’s my armour assembly (which might grow later in the day):

• Wallet
• Blackberry
• Canon EOS M Camera
• Paper notebook & pen
• GPS
• Name cards
• Debit cards e.g. Touch n Go
• Bills & receipts (this is the growing part)
• Small change & coins (more growing)
• Keys
• Some paperworks
• Oil control film

Of course, that calls for a bag, and I love my trusty Filson tote because it can carry all my armours with ease (plus, a 13″ Macbook and the charger).

But there are occasions when I don’t need a laptop or the larger stuff. So I tried to eliminate the need for a bag completely: I tried leaving the GPS in the car (not a good idea I know), slung my camera over one shoulder or hung it around my neck (don’t really enjoy anything that sling over me), hand-carrying my papers & notebook, and keep the rest of the stuff in all the pockets that I can find. (This explains the macarena dance men do every once in a while just to check things are still there.)

But there has to be a better way.

So, in between carrying no bag and a tote, I realised a stylish clutch fits in perfectly.

I think it’s a brilliant idea so I’ll be sticking to my clutch for now. And I don’t know… do you have the same problem? How do you carry your stuff?