Monster Truck: A thought? I dunno....Maybe I'm crazy

[TheLibrarian]

So I've been loving my Monster Truck but I had a thought yesterday when I was making a trip to Costco (and JoAnn's and Target because some evil genius has absolutely NO respect for my bank account and put them all in the same mall).

What if the interior separators had zippers like the end pockets on the A30/45?

There's no denying that it's a great for trips to the bulk stores but some larger boxes don't fit as well in the compartments (or say, stacks of card stock and fabric.....). But for trips to the regular market those compartments are perfect to keep things separate and/or upright. Allowing them to zip into place when wanted and out of the way when I need to pop something larger in seems like a great solution.

Maybe it would be too difficult to build them that way? Or it's over kill? I dunno, I guess you have strange thoughts when trying to stuff 20lb of chicken breasts, 8lbs of pasta, and 3 bears of honey into a bag.

Am I crazy and the bag is perfect as is?

[lindsay]

I've actually had the same thought when transporting gifts over the holidays so you are not alone!

[aedifica]

I can see how that would be really useful sometimes! But I suspect it would be overkill for most people. Who knows, though, you may spark an idea for Tom or Nik!

[SKIMT]

No! Don’t go there! Doing this would render our bags obsolete and the urge to upgrade would be undeniable.

[TheLibrarian]

I can see how that would be really useful sometimes! But I suspect it would be overkill for most people. Who knows, though, you may spark an idea for Tom or Nik!

I feel like, it would be more useful to some people than others. Like I know a couple of people who don't bulk shop so it probably wouldn't be as much of a benefit. But I use it for more than just shopping. It's also become my go-to bag for road trips, I stuff a blanket, pillow, snacks, whatever I'll need in there, (and in that case the compartments are perfect because it keeps the pillow/blanket from crushing the snacks).

The other thing I could foresee being an issue is whether it would affect the strength of the bag? Depending on how you structured the zippers you would either have a gap at the bottom (zippers only on one side) which might mean stuff could shift out of each compartment or the zipper would have to take some of the weight (zippers going along the bottom and up the side). One of the things I love is how much I can load into it weight wise (see aforementioned 20lbs of chicken) so I'd hate to lose that.

Maybe if there were 2 zips, one on each side and the flap laid flat against the bottom? But then again, how much of the load baring strength is in those divider strips and could (even an extra tough) zipper hold?

As I said, I love the bag and I'm even considering buying a 2nd but it's kind of hard for me to justify that when I need to keep a 2nd different bag to carry the large oversize items that can't fit because of the dividers. (Really though, who am I kidding, I'll probably still buy another one anyway because even as is they're super handy, lol.)

[Generic Industries]

I don’t own a Monster Truck (yet) —mines a 2006 Toyota Tacoma.

But seriously, I don’t have one of these bags but I like the idea of having the separators move out of the way. Like the bottle insert in the Luminary.

Overkill? Maybe for a tote. But not for a TB tote! These bags are made to be multi-hyper-functional and adaptable and I think this is not a bad idea.

Hard to say of course if this is at all practical from the perspectives of cost and manufacturing.

[Buffalonian]

I can't speak to your question, but every time I see "Monster Truck" here I think someone needs to organize a TB Monster Truck "Rally".

[BWeaves]

No! Don’t go there! Doing this would render our bags obsolete and the urge to upgrade would be undeniable.

I clicked like, and then realized I'm part of the reason the old shop bags are obsolete. I wanted them to zip close, so I replaced mine with the zip versions.

[BWeaves]

So I've been loving my Monster Truck but I had a thought yesterday when I was making a trip to Costco (and JoAnn's and Target because some evil genius has absolutely NO respect for my bank account and put them all in the same mall).

What if the interior separators had zippers like the end pockets on the A30/45?

There's no denying that it's a great for trips to the bulk stores but some larger boxes don't fit as well in the compartments (or say, stacks of card stock and fabric.....). But for trips to the regular market those compartments are perfect to keep things separate and/or upright. Allowing them to zip into place when wanted and out of the way when I need to pop something larger in seems like a great solution.

Maybe it would be too difficult to build them that way? Or it's over kill? I dunno, I guess you have strange thoughts when trying to stuff 20lb of chicken breasts, 8lbs of pasta, and 3 bears of honey into a bag.

Am I crazy and the bag is perfect as is?

I think the interior walls are what give the Truck its structure. Take those away, and you'll won't have a flat bottom bag but a sack. It'll sag and you'll loose its structure. The stiff section is only a square in the middle.

[organicfarmer]

So I've been loving my Monster Truck....What if the interior separators had zippers like the end pockets on the A30/45?

I am on the fence about the monster truck for the same reason and wish for the same concept. My reason is what is if I have a large item that doesn't fit in the main compartment? I have to revolve my shopping around the main compartment size, not bag capacity. A large open compartment would help for use as a large laundry bag. the flexible compartments or no compartment would be great. I see how the dividers may help with the structure. I am happy with how my original Large Shop Bags stand open for loading, The 2 layers in the fabric walls of the Truck I assume would help hold it upright compared to the OLSB.

I join Team TRANSFORMER Truck.

[backpack]

I am on the fence about the monster truck for the same reason and wish for the same concept. My reason is what is if I have a large item that doesn't fit in the main compartment? I have to revolve my shopping around the main compartment size, not bag capacity. A large open compartment would help for use as a large laundry bag. the flexible compartments or no compartment would be great. I see how the dividers may help with the structure. I am happy with how my original Large Shop Bags stand open for loading, The 2 layers in the fabric walls of the Truck I assume would help hold it upright compared to the OLSB.

I join Team TRANSFORMER Truck.

Transformer Trucks are a great idea!

Let's see if Tom and Nick with Darcy's input can come up with a real Truck with those additions or, if it is no doable with the Trucks and calls for yet another version of TB famous totes!

The 3 Musketeer (Mousquetaires) of Fab Bags Designs do get some of their inspiration from this forum.