Gravis Yoga Bag A Pricey Loser

You know, this bag should work, if you consider its features on paper. But dealing with the actual item is another story. I am on my second, a replacement thankfully provided by the retailer for the original bag. One of its two snaps which hold the mat onto the bag gave out in under a year.

Between the first and the second bag, Gravis increased the size of the product. The new size is just too big, unless you are trying to use it as your only luggage on an overnight yoga retreat. For zipping off to class and back, especially on a bicycle, it's big and bulky.

Gravis may have intended this bag to be knapsackable, actually, given that the straps have a snap-connector, so if you've got each arm through one of the straps with the bag vertically oriented on your back, you could connect the straps and not worry about the bag flopping around. But if this was the intention, the design is well conceived but poorly executed. The straps are thin and rigid and centered on the bag, so the gravity/ergonomics don't work.

Another feature I suspect was intended to delight but instead dismays is the dual-zips attached to a pull handle, the idea being you open a broad lid into the bag rather than a slit. Again, something about physics or ergonomics is thwarting this, as the handle invariably pulls one side more than the other and you need to fuss around to get the thing open.

My biggest beef with the bag is the price, also significantly altered between my first and second version of the product. I purchased my bag for close to $40, nearly double the average price of bags at that time. But it looked stylish, it had more features, and I felt a bit brand-y about Gravis at that point, thanks to beloved kicks that were living on my feet. Now the bags retail for more like $70, and I'm sorry, that's just too much to spend on a gym bag, even one that holds up and functions as it was intended. But with shoddy workmanship and unrealized design, it's ridiculous.