Freitag messenger bags: One-of-a-kind and eco-friendly

If you landed on this page because you want to find out where you can buy a Freitag bag, here is a comprehensive list of options:

• The Freitag online store, which ships worldwide


• One of the real world Freitag stores in Europe, America, Asia or New Zealand - here is the Freitag storelocator.


• Just scroll down and check out eBay Germany or eBay US for bargains.

The Freitag brothers - Photo by Daniel Küenzi

I am actually not sure why they (the bags) are so appealing to me. Options include: I like messenger bags per se, I like the one-of-a-kind concept, the 'used' status of the tarpaulins (purchasing a bag means recycling a piece of a lorry back onto the road), the bright colors and the glossy finish.

Prices are a bit of a setback. My little bag is the smallest of all messengers, and cost the dear soul who gave it to me 95 Euros (F41 Hawaii five-0, like the red-and-white one at the top). They have eight more models of messenger bags that range between 125 and 255 Euros. Their simple tote bag costs 52. These figures might be an inspiration to go hunting for them on ebay... If so, please see below.

Also on offer are the dedicated computer bags LEO and BEN, more comfortable shopping bags, men-only handbags, a hi-volume sports bags, footballs (yes), and a range of things they call 'successories': keychains, shoulder-pads, iphone sleeves, ipod cases, wallets and laptop sleeves.

Photo by Dom Dada

Lassie, Dexter, Dragnet and Top Cat are a family of classic messenger bags. Dexter is smaller than Dragnet, but has number of extra compartments for cell phones, music players etc in its inner and outer pocket. That is why the come at the same price. Lassie is fairly small, so it feels more like a handbag. And Top Cat is super size giant large. In the picture: a Dexter, belonging to Magnus D on flickr.

Joe and Rex are both fairly big, have a padded shoulder strap and a zipper pocket in the lid that is accessible from outside. They do not have a hip belt for fixation during biking, but a different system for the same purpose. And for transporting long thin items they both have extra straps on their bases.

Nightclub is the quadrate one that is different from the others. Vinyl records are quadrate too, and F21 fits 30 of them, but many other things as well.

The more simple messenger models (called 'light messengers' by Freitag) are Surfside 6 and Hawaii Five-O. They do not have the fold-inside-out-extension mechanism as most of the others do, but they are still adjustable in volume due to continuous velcro under the lid. They aren't huge, so they are more like spacious handbags. If you want to transport huge amounts of stuff in your Freitag bag, you should rather choose a different model.

They call it 'A new chapter in the FREITAG book', as well as 'R.I.P. - Recycled Individual Products'. The Reference line is a collection of currently 15 bag models of the style of military and civilian messengers of the 1800's. The material is the same old truck tarp, only that Reference bags are single-coloured. They currently come in shades between grey and white, and in different sorts of blue. Reds have been seen occasionally.

They have their own online store, and are only occasionally seen on eBay.