OUR INVOLVEMENT WITH THE NATURE BAG™
A few years ago while visiting a remote area deep in the jungles of Asia , a friend who lives nearby gave me a beautiful but flimsy-looking carry-bag as a gift. Initially it seemed only a souvenir: a trinket to show friendship and help me remember my exotic adventure. It appeared too small and too fragile to be a practical cargo container for regular, long-term or heavy use.
I travel light – a single carry-on suitcase and perhaps a small bag max – even for trips to the other side of the world. Had the primitive bag not been extremely lightweight and easily foldable into a very small nearly flat bundle, I would have left it in rural Asia . But it it came to Iowa because it was an insignificant addition to my luggage.
Not being big on souvenirs, I put the gift aside. About 6 months later the reusable canvass supermarket bag I use to tote tools, parts and supplies on handyman projects was not large enough to carry everything needed to do a roof project. My Asian souvenir seemed to be sized right for what could not fit in the apparently larger and stronger canvass bag.
Being of a practical rather than a sentimental inclination, I decided to use the “souvenir,” thinking that if it could get its contents onto the roof before failing, enough of the supplies and parts would be consumed during the roof installation that the canvass bag would be large enough to carry remaining items back to the ground.
To shorten a long story, not only did my “souvenir” not fail, but it held much more cargo than expected, expanding around its contents, gently gripping to keep things in place. It had other special qualities: It did not slide down the sloping roof like the canvass bag tended to do. And it kept its contents in place, securely enclosed, protected from sliding down the roof and falling to the ground.
The next day I began frequent use of my “souvenir” from the Asian jungles. It challenged me to see what extreme uses it could handle and to discover how long it would last. Nearly every day for 2 years I used that Nature Bag™ for shopping, hauling workout equipment to health clubs (and carrying sweaty clothing back home), transporting books, audio/video equipment and DVD 's, picking up trash, hauling stacks of newspapers for catch-up reading on extended journeys, harvesting fresh fruit and vegetables, carrying picnic food and supplies, collecting bottles and cans for redemption and recycling, as a laundry bag and as an “overnight” bag for short trips. It was exposed to lots of moisture, sun, heat, cold, rain, perspiration, leaking liquids, snow, ice, you name it. It required no care, and when empty, it easily slipped into a pocket if I didn't want to rest it on a shoulder not even realizing it was there.
After several weeks a sharp object snagged and severed one of the jungle vine cords. My initial reaction was that the fabric soon would unravel and the Nature Bag™ would be useless. To my surprise, the small hole grew very slowly. Other holes that developed because sharp corners or edges severed jungle vine cords became significant factors only after months of subsequent use.
That Nature Bag™, with some holes now large enough that carrying small items requires special packing or is impossible now hangs on a Bangkok wall as a piece of memorabilia and work of art Its remaining in-place JungleVine™ cord seems as strong as ever. The seam, strap and strap attachment techniques show no signs of wear or failure. The decorative colors applied to the JungleVine™ have faded or disappeared entirely, although the colorful threads continue to entertain and the black stripes of jungle vine cord are as they were the day it came to me. The original light tan has become more gray, but the color change was so subtle that you can detect it only by comparing it with a new bag. I never thought of the Nature Bag™ as being soiled and never attempted to clean it).