You were doing good & then you wrecked it again
By Sea Bag, you mean a ditty or duffle style bag? What works for you is great, and bags really do need to fit personality types. But here's why the opposing reaction to one open non-compartmentalized bag may be so strong among some players...
Over the years, I've used things similar to just about all of the items mentioned here. I've used ditty bags, I've used cool thrift store suitcases from 50's, I've used soft suitcase style cases like Tamrac, and I've even used the plastic folding-lid tubs mentioned here. I used to like to carry things in my teens and twenties. Was in a band where we carried a Hammond B3 and a Leslie to every gig, even no-elevator second floor gigs – but I was nuts, and I also used to like moving pianos in three story walk-ups in Boston.
I play upright. And over the years now, more and more, the goal is to get high-end gear as compact, light and easy to carry in one trip if possible. And for me, that means ideally without carts, which are really just another thing to have to deal with, and don't hold the upright with the other stuff all that well...
Years have left me with the following criteria for my gear bag:
1. Consolidated – It needs to hold ALL support items other than amp, bass. (It contains mic, XLR & 1/4" cables, power cable, in-line tuner, iPad, page turner, first aid for fingers, and a few other essentials).
2. Easy Carry – It must be soft and padded for over the shoulder carrying.
3. Compartments – Have JUST enough compartments to keep things separate so they don't jumble, and to make sure I can easily
see if something is missing in a glance.
4. Small and lightweight – so as to hide on stage behind my amp for quick access.
5. Protective.
The problem I had with my ditty bag, duffles, cool suitcases and plastic containers, is that items shift constantly.
Suitcases especially, because you pack them horizontally but carry them vertically. And plastic containers basically take two hands to carry, and are jumbled also. And they take up floor space.
In all of these, cords become a jumbled mess. You constantly have to shuffle through or empty the contents in order to get at what you need, which is ALWAYS at the bottom. As in #3, you can't simply glance at your case to know something is missing. That's a big deal to me. Doing 50-60 + gigs a year, it gets really old to have to fumble through and around gear to see if you have everything.
Also, because I have my expensive old mic in this bag, tuner, page-turner etc., I don't want to simply dump my bag. And I don't want them rattling around loose in the bag. When I used to use my ditty bag I always had to empty the contents to find my mic pouch. Arghh. (I'm in a second band that uses gym style bags, and are constantly rooting them to find all their mic pouches, and they never can. It's a royal pain.)
So, finally after experimenting with most all of the permutations, I now use a $29 soft black laptop style briefcase bag with shoulder strap, that I picked up from Marshall's. (It has just enough compartments for the few cords I take on stage.)
I now arrive at the gig with my upright, my Acoustic Image Ten2, and the briefcase bag over my shoulder. Done. When I pack up, I can see if I packed everything with one glance into my bag, no fumbling. And it's right where it needs to be for the next gig. Packed and ready – same place every time.
(I do keep an emergency backup cable bag with extra long extension cords, power strips, in my truck.)
Having seen the Cablefyle bags in this thread, I might just spring for one of those at some point... BUT I really don't need that many pockets, and the footprint of the bag is quite a bit bigger than my padded laptop bag, so I doubt it's as easy to carry over the shoulder through narrow passages, and has a bigger stage footprint. But I still want one, just because they are kind of badass.
