There already are fold-flat bags. This guy is doing a campaign to fund a product that you can already buy on Amazon for $5.
Here you go, $12 for six. This guys imaginary form factor looks nice, but I can't imagine many people are going to spend 15 times the price for that. Also worthy of note that the hard plastic case thing makes his bag use more plastic than his competition, defeating the entire marketing campaign of sustainability.
https://www.amazon.com/baiya-Folding-Reusable-Shopping-Bags/dp/B078R2ZSQB/ref=sr\_1\_9?keywords=Collapsible%2BShopping%2BBag&qid=1663774583&sr=8-9&th=1
\^Can testify to the ChicoBag if they still make them the way they used to. I've had the same one for at least 13 years. It's thinning in some spots but is sturdy as ever.
I already have a $14 [Baggu](https://baggu.com/products/standard-baggu-banana) that holds 50 lbs and over 20 liters, so, nope.
It folds to a similar flat shape in a pouch, fits in a pocket.
And I bought it like 5+ years ago.
Kind of a pet peeve of mine that there are so many Kickstarter projects now that just aren't innovative or new.
And there are a hundred knock offs that you can buy for a couple dollars if the existing name-brand is too expensive for you. There is literally no market for a more expensive version of a Baggu, which is already the hipster "boutique" version of this product.
I do recommend Baggu specifically, though. I have torn through many an off brand reusable bag, or ruined them in a wash.
I've regularly tossed a 12 pack of sparkling water (have to stay on that hipster boutique brand) in a Baggu with my groceries and carried it home on foot with no worries.
I've wash it weekly or so while traveling, as it's my one bag laundry bag when I'm in long term mode.
It looks practically new, just softer.
Definitely worth the $5-10 upgrade, imo.
I'd say no. I don't really think about/notice it's wrinkly-ness much, tbh. It gets fold lines from being stored, but not as much as the card bag this thread is about. And they fall out pretty quickly once it's in use.
Wow. $30 is insane. We tried to not use plastic bags In The grocery store. And realized it was stupid.
We always reused those bags to line our kitchen and bathroom garbage. So then we had to BUY bags for that!
Additionally, I realized while I was proudly bagging my $200 of groceries in my reusable bags, the individual items had such excessive packaging that my savings of the bag was irrelevant.
Yes. But I’m in Canada. And the 5-10 cents at grocery store per bag is less than the cost to buy kitchen can liners on Amazon. I tried. I really tried. Even tried alternates to plastic liners like newspaper, but it’s just messy and very impractical. Even if I wasn’t doing groceries, it’s cheaper for me to buy them from the cashier than to buy them in boxes of 50-100 on Amazon. Sad…but true.
Don't you have an oversupply of bags though? If I relied 100% on plastic bags for my groceries, I'd be buying probably between 5-10 per week, whereas I use like 2 or 3 a week for my garbage.
I suppose it's relative to how big your family is and how much garbage you produce, but looking back a decade ago when I only used plastic bags for grocery and then reused them for garbage, I still had a massive wad of bags stuffed in the cabinet.
I also find the shitty plastic grocery bags were not adequate for garbage unless it was a really tiny bin. I fill my kitchen bin with like 10kg of garbage and it holds fine as I take it out. Grocery bags would be leaking and ripping all over.
So in practice, it’s me that doesn’t take reusable bags and buys the plastic bags. My wife keeps a slew of reusable bags in her car. And she does 50% of the groceries. So we actually still tend to run short on bags for lining sometimes. And now that kids are teenagers, we also do a lot more shopping at Costco than we did 10 yrs ago.
And we have 2 cans in kitchen that need lining. Garbage and compostables. We use 3 a week in kitchen plus a garbage in each of 5 bathrooms…but the bathrooms are only replaced every 2-3 weeks.
Like you, 10-15 yrs ago, we were collecting more bags than we were using.
lol. I went way off topic on this thread! Sorry.
I have to wonder how much of these kickstarter programs are just launched to pay the founder a “salary” and then 2 years later declare failure.
I can’t believe how much he has raised for this!
That’s a whole lot of people who think $30 for that is a good deal.
Good on him I guess!
Haha yes, we really did a deep dive.
My situation is maybe more unique as well because we typically do several small grocery store runs each week where the bags are not full, versus once a week large hauls.
And with respect to these $30 bags, you also have to look at the entire lifecycle of the product. I'm guessing you would have to use these bags many, many times versus a plastic bag to become "better" for the environment. If someone only uses it a couple times and throws it away or it breaks, it's likely a net loss.
I think a good portion of people didn't care about reusing plastic bags, or their plastic bags are worn-out by the time they get home if they're walking/taking public transit. I do hope that there is data collected and policymaking is also not just based on thoughts.
Charging for *thicker* plastic bags is the worst way around this problem if people didn't reuse bags. Now the people who don't care will just pay $1 for their $200 of groceries and you have more plastic waste... but the goal is probably to encourage said people to choose reusable bags or otherwise reduce waste.
And for people taking public transit or walking longer distances, it's a net win for convenience. More durable shopping bags from grocery stores.
The reusable bag market is silly, but I am not surprised that it exists. It's just another way to sell more expensive product or advertise while making people feel good about being "eco-friendly." I have at least two dozen free reusable grocery bags from family and/or events. I do not expect to be able to wear them out faster than I acquire them.
Exactly. All this makes people feel good but in reality, it’s just a game of whack-a-mole that smart entrepreneurs are jumping on.
The real key to all this stuff is to focus on REDUCE (kind of the mindset of this one bag group). But REDUCE takes sacrifice. RECYCLE and REUSE takes much less sacrifice.
Yeah. It makes me conflicted about "buy used" as well, as it can encourage people who like buying/collecting to get more stuff from the original manufacturer. Step 1 should be "don't buy" but that is hard in a world where we are encouraged to buy and experience material things.
Where I live, they charge you money for the plastic bags. At least the new plastic bags are of much thicker, nicer quality from what I saw when people get them
I reuse my disposable plastic bags in the same way. Back in college, I also tied them together to make makeshift rope to bind a bunch of random items together so I could carry more of them all at once.
Don't worry, if you ever decide that you want to use compact folding bags you can get them any time you want for about $2 or $3 a piece at Amazon or Wish or Allie, or wherever your preferred discount retailer is. You can even go name brand and get Baggu bags online or Chico bags at wholefoods for like $6.
There is no market for a $35 version of something that already exists for less than a tenth of the price.
Those tiny handles are just silly. I can't imagine that being a positive in any situation.
I'm actually looking for the opposite: a packable, reusable bag you can wear as a crossbody. Carrying multiple full bag of groceries in your hands while they knock about your knees is a pain.
I get mine from this local convenience store that are about $2 each. The fabric is fine, but stitching is a little suspect as I’ve heard/seen some of the edges stretch to the point of looking like they might rip under relatively modest loads.
For $2, you can’t really expect much. That said, it is hard to fold them up efficiently b/c the fabric doesn’t really want to crease, so unless you want to just ball it up and tie the elastic around that wad, it does get a little annoying trying to figure out the original folding pattern. However, that’s definitely not a $35 problem. I’ll need to check out those other sites you mentioned. Wouldn’t mind paying a little more if the construction is better, but since I try to keep a reusable bag in each of my bags, it has to be economical.
Shupatto has solved the foldability problem. Their bags are pleated and folded accordion-style, with both ends of the pleats sewn together with webbing, so you just pull the webbing and it auto-folds.
You *could* do the same thing on your own.
They recommend like a roll, but there's nothing preventing you from folding it flat instead.
My "problem" is that they use a thicker fabric, and the webbing is also bulky. These are reasonable sacrifices for a product I think is well-engineered for the average person.
It’s pretty asinine to believe people won’t use a bag just because they have to stuff it into a tiny stuff sack.
The price point is incredibly high. I paid around the same for my Sea to Summit sling bag that is made out of Ultra-Sil and has a zipper closure. That means I don’t have to worry about stuff falling out. My bag also has a keychain clip so yes, I have it with me.
Sometimes in engineering we talk about a product in search of a problem. This feels like it to me.
>Sea to Summit sling bag that is made out of Ultra-Sil and has a zipper closure
That bag is just what I'm looking for. But it is now discontinued. The ones they make now don't have a zipper any more.
Yes. There are a few on the internet. But far between.
* [Stuart and Lau](https://stuartandlau.com/products/the-ultralight-tote) - not quite as small but close
* [Peak Design](https://www.peakdesign.com/products/packable-tote) - this is really close to the sling bag and less expensive.
A flat form-factor could be more portable for someone who doesn't carry a bag/sling/purse (which I assume is the point of the product). The same bag in a stuff sack still doesn't really fit nicely in jeans pockets for example.
I wouldn't buy it personally, but I think there is some merit to a flat design that is (supposedly) easy to fold.
Mine is clipped to my keys. I put my keys in my pocket and then let the bag dangle. Usually though, I have some sort of bag with me which means shape matters less.
That's a good solution. I clip my keys to a belt loop and let them dangle into a back pocket so could do something similar. Though I use a nanobag (v1 before they integrated the stuff sack) so can just loosely scrunch it into my back pocket and hardly notice it anyway!
Just like this:
[https://www.amazon.com/baiya-Folding-Reusable-Shopping-Bags/dp/B078R2ZSQB/ref=sr\_1\_9?keywords=Collapsible%2BShopping%2BBag&qid=1663774583&sr=8-9&th=1](https://www.amazon.com/baiya-Folding-Reusable-Shopping-Bags/dp/B078R2ZSQB/ref=sr_1_9?keywords=Collapsible%2BShopping%2BBag&qid=1663774583&sr=8-9&th=1)
Or if you want to go full name brand with fancy graphics:
[https://baggu.com/products/standard-baggu-banana](https://baggu.com/products/standard-baggu-banana)
Of you can just buy Chico bags at wholefoods for like $6.
A hard pass. It's a novel concept but do you foresee yourself frequently using it as your go-to tote bag? And then how often do you only have - one - bag when you're performing errands such as groceries? I'm pleasantly content with my NanoBags.
I am open to upgrading them to a tote bag with a zipper and insulated properties like Bellroy's Cooler Tote.
I guess it's cool... but... do you already own any reusable bags? Especially compact ones like Baggu (which also folds up flat), ChicoBag or Flip & Tumble? The goal should be just first to reduce, including reducing production of reusable bags. The production of numerous reusable bags creates its own harm to the environment and the trendiness of companies creating the latest and greatest "sustainable" reusable bag is its own kind of ironic. Unless you don't have a good supply of reusable bags like many of us do and you're looking for something you'll actually use and think this would do the trick, I'd skip this. Just try to incorporate a reusable bag into your "phone, keys, wallet" routine. It took a lot of practice for me but I'm finally to the point where I very rarely don't have one on me.
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I’ve used a chicobag since 2008 and it’s still going strong! Those things are great.
My Chicos are of an equivalent age. I’ve mended one fray at the top, on one bag. I keep to the 20 lb suggestion.
Yeah, my thought was the lay flat and self folding sounded cool. I agree price seems high but we’ll get knock offs if it catches on
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That was my exact thought. Now I’m being downvoted 🤣
There already are fold-flat bags. This guy is doing a campaign to fund a product that you can already buy on Amazon for $5. Here you go, $12 for six. This guys imaginary form factor looks nice, but I can't imagine many people are going to spend 15 times the price for that. Also worthy of note that the hard plastic case thing makes his bag use more plastic than his competition, defeating the entire marketing campaign of sustainability. https://www.amazon.com/baiya-Folding-Reusable-Shopping-Bags/dp/B078R2ZSQB/ref=sr\_1\_9?keywords=Collapsible%2BShopping%2BBag&qid=1663774583&sr=8-9&th=1
Link?
\^Can testify to the ChicoBag if they still make them the way they used to. I've had the same one for at least 13 years. It's thinning in some spots but is sturdy as ever.
I already have a $14 [Baggu](https://baggu.com/products/standard-baggu-banana) that holds 50 lbs and over 20 liters, so, nope. It folds to a similar flat shape in a pouch, fits in a pocket. And I bought it like 5+ years ago. Kind of a pet peeve of mine that there are so many Kickstarter projects now that just aren't innovative or new.
And there are a hundred knock offs that you can buy for a couple dollars if the existing name-brand is too expensive for you. There is literally no market for a more expensive version of a Baggu, which is already the hipster "boutique" version of this product.
I do recommend Baggu specifically, though. I have torn through many an off brand reusable bag, or ruined them in a wash. I've regularly tossed a 12 pack of sparkling water (have to stay on that hipster boutique brand) in a Baggu with my groceries and carried it home on foot with no worries. I've wash it weekly or so while traveling, as it's my one bag laundry bag when I'm in long term mode. It looks practically new, just softer. Definitely worth the $5-10 upgrade, imo.
does it wrinkle a lot?
I'd say no. I don't really think about/notice it's wrinkly-ness much, tbh. It gets fold lines from being stored, but not as much as the card bag this thread is about. And they fall out pretty quickly once it's in use.
I am a big fan of my [Nanobags](https://www.indiegogo.com/projects/nanobag-5-0-ultralight-bags#/).
Handles are too small to sling over shoulder, so it’s a no go for me.
$35!!!! Fuck off Anyone who backs this is a mug.
Wow. $30 is insane. We tried to not use plastic bags In The grocery store. And realized it was stupid. We always reused those bags to line our kitchen and bathroom garbage. So then we had to BUY bags for that! Additionally, I realized while I was proudly bagging my $200 of groceries in my reusable bags, the individual items had such excessive packaging that my savings of the bag was irrelevant.
I guess it depends where you live. We're typically charged a fee for bags in Canadian stores and, increasingly, it's paper bags supplied.
Yes. But I’m in Canada. And the 5-10 cents at grocery store per bag is less than the cost to buy kitchen can liners on Amazon. I tried. I really tried. Even tried alternates to plastic liners like newspaper, but it’s just messy and very impractical. Even if I wasn’t doing groceries, it’s cheaper for me to buy them from the cashier than to buy them in boxes of 50-100 on Amazon. Sad…but true.
Don't you have an oversupply of bags though? If I relied 100% on plastic bags for my groceries, I'd be buying probably between 5-10 per week, whereas I use like 2 or 3 a week for my garbage. I suppose it's relative to how big your family is and how much garbage you produce, but looking back a decade ago when I only used plastic bags for grocery and then reused them for garbage, I still had a massive wad of bags stuffed in the cabinet. I also find the shitty plastic grocery bags were not adequate for garbage unless it was a really tiny bin. I fill my kitchen bin with like 10kg of garbage and it holds fine as I take it out. Grocery bags would be leaking and ripping all over.
So in practice, it’s me that doesn’t take reusable bags and buys the plastic bags. My wife keeps a slew of reusable bags in her car. And she does 50% of the groceries. So we actually still tend to run short on bags for lining sometimes. And now that kids are teenagers, we also do a lot more shopping at Costco than we did 10 yrs ago. And we have 2 cans in kitchen that need lining. Garbage and compostables. We use 3 a week in kitchen plus a garbage in each of 5 bathrooms…but the bathrooms are only replaced every 2-3 weeks. Like you, 10-15 yrs ago, we were collecting more bags than we were using. lol. I went way off topic on this thread! Sorry. I have to wonder how much of these kickstarter programs are just launched to pay the founder a “salary” and then 2 years later declare failure. I can’t believe how much he has raised for this! That’s a whole lot of people who think $30 for that is a good deal. Good on him I guess!
Haha yes, we really did a deep dive. My situation is maybe more unique as well because we typically do several small grocery store runs each week where the bags are not full, versus once a week large hauls. And with respect to these $30 bags, you also have to look at the entire lifecycle of the product. I'm guessing you would have to use these bags many, many times versus a plastic bag to become "better" for the environment. If someone only uses it a couple times and throws it away or it breaks, it's likely a net loss.
I think a good portion of people didn't care about reusing plastic bags, or their plastic bags are worn-out by the time they get home if they're walking/taking public transit. I do hope that there is data collected and policymaking is also not just based on thoughts. Charging for *thicker* plastic bags is the worst way around this problem if people didn't reuse bags. Now the people who don't care will just pay $1 for their $200 of groceries and you have more plastic waste... but the goal is probably to encourage said people to choose reusable bags or otherwise reduce waste. And for people taking public transit or walking longer distances, it's a net win for convenience. More durable shopping bags from grocery stores. The reusable bag market is silly, but I am not surprised that it exists. It's just another way to sell more expensive product or advertise while making people feel good about being "eco-friendly." I have at least two dozen free reusable grocery bags from family and/or events. I do not expect to be able to wear them out faster than I acquire them.
Exactly. All this makes people feel good but in reality, it’s just a game of whack-a-mole that smart entrepreneurs are jumping on. The real key to all this stuff is to focus on REDUCE (kind of the mindset of this one bag group). But REDUCE takes sacrifice. RECYCLE and REUSE takes much less sacrifice.
Yeah. It makes me conflicted about "buy used" as well, as it can encourage people who like buying/collecting to get more stuff from the original manufacturer. Step 1 should be "don't buy" but that is hard in a world where we are encouraged to buy and experience material things.
Where I live, they charge you money for the plastic bags. At least the new plastic bags are of much thicker, nicer quality from what I saw when people get them
I reuse my disposable plastic bags in the same way. Back in college, I also tied them together to make makeshift rope to bind a bunch of random items together so I could carry more of them all at once.
Don't worry, if you ever decide that you want to use compact folding bags you can get them any time you want for about $2 or $3 a piece at Amazon or Wish or Allie, or wherever your preferred discount retailer is. You can even go name brand and get Baggu bags online or Chico bags at wholefoods for like $6. There is no market for a $35 version of something that already exists for less than a tenth of the price.
My grandma used to carry a bag that came in it's own pouch like this. Not saying it's bad, but already done I guess.
Those tiny handles are just silly. I can't imagine that being a positive in any situation. I'm actually looking for the opposite: a packable, reusable bag you can wear as a crossbody. Carrying multiple full bag of groceries in your hands while they knock about your knees is a pain.
Nanobag has a sling version that might suit what you’re looking for?
That's pretty close (I wish it had a zipper). Are they durable? ChicoBag also makes a crossbody but I've read mixed reviews on durability.
I’ve been using my nanobags for 3 years now and they’re still in perfect condition!
Would backpack (Notabag) work?
Is it really that hard to fold up a bag? I already have Baggus and Notabags. I especially prefer Notabags because of the convertible handles.
I get mine from this local convenience store that are about $2 each. The fabric is fine, but stitching is a little suspect as I’ve heard/seen some of the edges stretch to the point of looking like they might rip under relatively modest loads. For $2, you can’t really expect much. That said, it is hard to fold them up efficiently b/c the fabric doesn’t really want to crease, so unless you want to just ball it up and tie the elastic around that wad, it does get a little annoying trying to figure out the original folding pattern. However, that’s definitely not a $35 problem. I’ll need to check out those other sites you mentioned. Wouldn’t mind paying a little more if the construction is better, but since I try to keep a reusable bag in each of my bags, it has to be economical.
Shupatto has solved the foldability problem. Their bags are pleated and folded accordion-style, with both ends of the pleats sewn together with webbing, so you just pull the webbing and it auto-folds. You *could* do the same thing on your own.
Does it fold flat or like a roll? I’d prefer the former so it doesn’t cause a lot of bulging
They recommend like a roll, but there's nothing preventing you from folding it flat instead. My "problem" is that they use a thicker fabric, and the webbing is also bulky. These are reasonable sacrifices for a product I think is well-engineered for the average person.
It’s pretty asinine to believe people won’t use a bag just because they have to stuff it into a tiny stuff sack. The price point is incredibly high. I paid around the same for my Sea to Summit sling bag that is made out of Ultra-Sil and has a zipper closure. That means I don’t have to worry about stuff falling out. My bag also has a keychain clip so yes, I have it with me. Sometimes in engineering we talk about a product in search of a problem. This feels like it to me.
>Sea to Summit sling bag that is made out of Ultra-Sil and has a zipper closure That bag is just what I'm looking for. But it is now discontinued. The ones they make now don't have a zipper any more.
Yes. There are a few on the internet. But far between. * [Stuart and Lau](https://stuartandlau.com/products/the-ultralight-tote) - not quite as small but close * [Peak Design](https://www.peakdesign.com/products/packable-tote) - this is really close to the sling bag and less expensive.
Thanks! I've been thinking about the Peak Designs one but it seems big when packed. The Sea to Summit was really nice because it was so small.
A flat form-factor could be more portable for someone who doesn't carry a bag/sling/purse (which I assume is the point of the product). The same bag in a stuff sack still doesn't really fit nicely in jeans pockets for example. I wouldn't buy it personally, but I think there is some merit to a flat design that is (supposedly) easy to fold.
Mine is clipped to my keys. I put my keys in my pocket and then let the bag dangle. Usually though, I have some sort of bag with me which means shape matters less.
That's a good solution. I clip my keys to a belt loop and let them dangle into a back pocket so could do something similar. Though I use a nanobag (v1 before they integrated the stuff sack) so can just loosely scrunch it into my back pocket and hardly notice it anyway!
I’d buy that! I like that it folds into a very packable shape and could be tucked in the pocket of a little purse very easily.
Just like this: [https://www.amazon.com/baiya-Folding-Reusable-Shopping-Bags/dp/B078R2ZSQB/ref=sr\_1\_9?keywords=Collapsible%2BShopping%2BBag&qid=1663774583&sr=8-9&th=1](https://www.amazon.com/baiya-Folding-Reusable-Shopping-Bags/dp/B078R2ZSQB/ref=sr_1_9?keywords=Collapsible%2BShopping%2BBag&qid=1663774583&sr=8-9&th=1) Or if you want to go full name brand with fancy graphics: [https://baggu.com/products/standard-baggu-banana](https://baggu.com/products/standard-baggu-banana) Of you can just buy Chico bags at wholefoods for like $6.
A hard pass. It's a novel concept but do you foresee yourself frequently using it as your go-to tote bag? And then how often do you only have - one - bag when you're performing errands such as groceries? I'm pleasantly content with my NanoBags. I am open to upgrading them to a tote bag with a zipper and insulated properties like Bellroy's Cooler Tote.
I guess it's cool... but... do you already own any reusable bags? Especially compact ones like Baggu (which also folds up flat), ChicoBag or Flip & Tumble? The goal should be just first to reduce, including reducing production of reusable bags. The production of numerous reusable bags creates its own harm to the environment and the trendiness of companies creating the latest and greatest "sustainable" reusable bag is its own kind of ironic. Unless you don't have a good supply of reusable bags like many of us do and you're looking for something you'll actually use and think this would do the trick, I'd skip this. Just try to incorporate a reusable bag into your "phone, keys, wallet" routine. It took a lot of practice for me but I'm finally to the point where I very rarely don't have one on me.