I now own a Man Bag

22Jul08

You put your dignity in one of those mesh pockets.

I know. Shut up.

But you didn’t expect me to carry around my wife’s purse-looking thing did you?

It’s a diaper bag. To be more exact, it’s a Skip Hop Duo Deluxe Black diaper bag.

The photo on the right is the Man version of the photo of the bag. The one at left from a different site looks much more like a purse. Don’t look at that photo when you buy this item. Tell yourself repeatedly that it is just a messenger bag. Convince yourself for now that the baby bottle/sippy cup-shaped pockets are perfect for a can of beer.

Once I had the bag, I immediately wondered what should go inside it. There are plenty of lists out there detailing what you need to carry around with you. They will make your wife’s usual haul look like pocket lint.

Apparently, the lists are relatively accurate, though – you need to carry a lot of stuff in case your baby has something called a “blowout.” This basically involves feces squirting up the small of the baby’s back and other terrifyingly disgusting effects that lead to changing every layer of the baby’s clothing and perhaps your home address. To be honest, I refuse to listen long enough to my friends with kids to actually learn what causes this, so I’ve decided that I will leave it for future discovery and in the meantime assume it is yet another consequence of global warming that is beyond my control.

I thought of some fun things to include but was disappointed to find out they weren’t on the list. I thought my best idea was a squirt gun. It’s a toy to amuse your baby, and a way to wash down the baby’s butt without ever touching anything. I might even be able to assist someone else changing the diaper from as far away as 20 feet with the proper equipment.

Anyway I digress – this is a product review, after all. I bought it because:

1. It doesn’t look like a diaper bag and is available in black.
2. It’s roomy enough to store a lot of stuff but doesn’t look stupid when it’s more empty.
3. It has 11 pockets designed for baby stuff, a strap system for attaching to strollers and a changing pad that is plain and manly.

dadorbust no-brainer product pick guidelines: I don’t do competitive reviews or discuss the merits of several models when I offer my purchase decisions. I use widely trusted sources, personal recommendations, and a fully functioning forebrain.  I try not to yammer on with feature comparisons- I just tell you what I picked, the top few reasons why, and maybe I throw a few tips in.  And I follow-up with an update or separate post if something goes wrong with the product.

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Tags: diaper bag, diaper bag for men, diaper bag review, fatherhood, man bag, skip hop duo deluxe, skip hop duo deluxe diaper bag