I truly hate the look and feel of these types of bags. I think they’re bulky, impractical, inconvenient, ugly, and frankly, stupid-looking. Lots of people at our pool club have the Bogg bags and they look ridiculous lugging them around, always with at least one if not both straps falling down, with plastic pouches hanging off the outside of them getting stuck on things they’re walking past. I use a Bigger Trolley Dolly in a pretty aqua print for our family pool bag and it’s so much more convenient. So I did not want one of these bags. At all. But now my son is starting swim lessons at the indoor pool at our club, and the family locker room in there is always covered in water. So I put my beloved, hardy, trusty 5-year-old Geckobrands pool bag down to help my son change out of his suit, and the bottom got soaked. Of course, since Geckobrands is so good, my belongings inside didn’t get soaked, but the exterior of the bag was, and it’s not fabric that you can dry immediately. So it got my dress soaked on the way to the car and then the carpet in the cargo area of my Volvo got soaked too, which of course irritated both me and my husband. The Trolley Dolly is unnecessarily huge for just my son’s two towels and a change of clothes when it’s just him swimming, so here I am, looking at these ugly bags because I could just dry it off with a towel and save all the hassle of getting everything wet from the pool to home. I looked at the Bogg bags, which are okay-ish (the straps are terrible), but I really don’t want to spend quite that much on something I hate the look of. Then I looked at the Sport Brella ones at Sam’s, which are deeper than this one but also narrower, with thicker straps that are even worse at staying up, and then I ordered this one to try. This one is several inches shorter than the Sam’s one, but a bit wider, and comes with a nice large pouch for my phone and keys to stay dry. I like the handles on this one better than all the others because not only do they not stick up annoyingly when you’re trying to store it, but they’re a little more flexible so they stay on my shoulder a bit better. I also much prefer the navy (I like the tan too but I always get navy if it’s an option). I do wish this bag were a bit taller, but that’s really my only complaint. This is by far the best-looking of these bags. Really this one doesn’t bother me at all to look at. It’s actually cute. I really really wish they’d offer an add-on cross body strap that could plug into the little holes, because the straps still aren’t great at staying on, but again, better than the others. I’m going to return the Bogg XL because it’s both ugly and way overpriced, and return the Sport Brella one to Sam’s because though it was a little less than this one, it doesn’t have a pouch or a way to add a pouch and seems a bit too narrow, plus the straps are the worst of the bunch. This one is the winner. If it were offered in a bigger size I would do the bigger one (pool towels are thick these days and take up a lot of space), and if there were a crossbody strap upgrade I’d definitely do that, but this will work fine I think, and they have managed to make a truly hideously ugly trend downright nice-looking. Props to Simple Modern, the winners of my begrudging search for a waterproof pool bag.
Kelsey Peterson
Anna
The Abad's