If you’ve followed any of my posts on Facebook, it will come as no surprise to you that I am a huge, huge fan of Namaste bags. In the past year, I’ve added quite a few bags to my collection. I thought you might like to know how I use each of them.
Today I’m going to talk about the Monroe bag. At the moment, this has to be my favorite of all the Namaste products I own. I’ll give you all the basic information, then talk about why I like it so much.
Colors: Red (as shown), Black, Caribbean Blue, Eggplant, Pumpkin Spice
Materials: PVC-free, animal-friendly faux leather
Size: 5″ W x 11″ H x 16″ L
Price: $89.00
When you open up the big cardboard box you receive in the mail, it’s like unwrapping a present. Your bag will come beautifully wrapped in a Namaste storage bag:
You’ve already seen the outside of the bag. I don’t think you can see it clearly from the photo, but the underside has little feet on it, so when you set it down, the bag itself is never actually touching the floor.
The bag features 3 very large storage areas. One outer pocket has a zipper as well as a magnetic closure. There are two pockets on the outer edge and one zippered pocket on the inner edge.
The middle storage area also has a zipper and magnetic closure. I use this middle pocket to store my iPad:
The other large outer pocket has only a magnetic closure. It features two open pockets on the inner edge and a zippered pocket on the outer edge.
The other outer side features a large pocket, practically across the whole width of the bag, that is perfect for a magazine, pattern, etc. This picture also gives you a better look at the feet on the bottom of the bag, as well as the handles.
Why do I like this bag? For one, all the different compartments help keep me organized. I use one outer compartment to hold things like my Jemma pouch and Devin wristlet (both Namaste products) with all my credit cards, checkbook, ID, etc. I also use that side for things like my cell phone, sunglasses, lipgloss, and personal toiletry items. I tend to use the zippered outer pocket for these things.
The middle compartment, as I said before, is where I keep the iPad. It’s cushioned by everything in the other pockets, and it’s zipped in nice and tight.
I use the other outer large pocket for crochet projects. I have the Skinny Mini bag that holds all my hooks and the Better Buddy bag to hold scissors, tapestry needles, stitch markers, and other small things. There’s plenty of room to stash small crochet projects in there as well, usually safely protected in an Oh Snap! bag.
I use the outer side pocket to hold a magazine, pattern, even a paperback book. If I really need to, I can even slide a water bottle in there.
This bag easily fits under a seat when traveling by plane. If I have a very short connection time, I can even manage to fit a change of clothes and a few 3-oz-or-less toiletries in there, if I’m afraid my luggage might not make it with me, and I don’t want to bother with a separate carry-on bag. Sometimes you just need to bolt from the plane, right, without even taking time to retrieve something from the overhead bin.
I have only been able to find ONE problem with this bag: it’s large enough that I can easily stuff in enough things that it hurts my shoulder to carry it for long periods of time. But that’s not a fault of the bag!
Right now, I am using this as my standard bag when out running errands. I also take it with me to conferences and trade shows as my bag of choice.
Disclaimer: This bag was provided to me at no charge for review purposes by Namaste. We publish reviews only of things we actually like and use.
Related Namaste Reviews (coming soon):
Hermosa Bag
Bring Your Own Binder
Assortment of Accessory Bags