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Caraa's Baby Bag Has Saved My New-Dad Ass Too Many Times to Count

Photo credit: Timothy Mulcare
Photo credit: Timothy Mulcare

From Esquire

SHOP $295, caraasport.com


Welcome to The Esquire Endorsement. Heavily researched. Thoroughly vetted. These picks are the best way to spend your hard-earned cash.


Having a kid is an exhausting, dislocating, harrowing—and, yes, utterly amazing—experience. Maybe you just had one. Maybe you had more than one (good lord, I wish you luck). Maybe you're having one soon, or you've got friends or family about to take the plunge into parenthood.

For whatever reason, baby bags are on the mind. And they should be. Carting around a freshly baked human is an endeavor, and if this is all new to you, then the sheer multitude of stuff said human requires is downright shocking. You need a good bag. Like, now. And if you're hunting for one that keeps your life in order, holds everything you need it to, and actually looks cool, I've got very good news: I found it. It's by Caraa, and here's why I want you to have one, too.

Photo credit: Timothy Mulcare
Photo credit: Timothy Mulcare

It doesn't scream "bro."

If you haven't delved into the baby bag search—bless you, you innocent thing—then you have not yet encountered the phenomenon of Baby Bags for Bros. They are declarations of masculinity so brazen and over-loud that they immediately invert back on themselves (like a Hummer, but make it a bag). It's male fragility in diaper-ferrying form, with all the camo and unnecessary hacks you'd expect. The Caraa bag is not that! It is black, and sleek, and not emphatically masculinized. It is emphatically unisex. My wife and I switch off, and it looks right on both of us. That's nice, and rarer than you might think.

SHOP $295, caraasport.com

Photo credit: Timothy Mulcare
Photo credit: Timothy Mulcare

It's built for this shit.

Make no mistake: When I say "shit," I mean that in both the literal and figurative senses. This bag is made to deal with the task of having a tiny, screaming, puking, pooping creature in your care. There are so many interior and exterior pockets that it seems comical at first. And then, you start to fill them. With burp cloths and blankets. With bottles and pacifiers. With toys and hats and extra socks, because they always lose a sock. And, crucially, with diapers and wipes and hand sanitizer, because the kid will deliver a blow-out at the worst possible time, and rooting around in a giant main compartment when that's happening just ain't the move. Organize your shit, so you can be organized in the event of a shit.

Photo credit: Timothy Mulcare
Photo credit: Timothy Mulcare

It won't blow up your whole vibe.

I know I already explained that this bag doesn't feel aggressively masculine or feminine, but you should also understand that it looks genuinely good IRL. It's the kind of piece that doesn't demand attention, but doesn't feel tacked-on, either. The not-quite-shiny nylon shell (which, as it happens, is also really light and can stand up to a little rain) feels elevated, not fancy. The boxy shape isn't utilitarian, but it's not precious, either. It's a bag that fits in with your look, whether you're putting in some effort for a day out or clad in sweats and covered in spit-up stains. The latter might be more common, especially at the outset, but trust that when life begins to normalize, insofar as it can with the new addition, your bag will be right there with you.

SHOP $295, caraasport.com


Prop styling by John Olson

Photography by Timothy Mulcare

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