Instant backpack from coat ...or instant solution to not wear it without having to carry it.

Ever need a backpack or just want to take off that coat and not have to fully wear it? There is a way.

I don't want to wear this coat anymore!!

In the first photo above I'm wearing the coat like a messenger bag. Why? I don't want to wear it. If you don't have a backpack to put it in and you're on a bike you can't really tie it around your waist without having it drag on the back tire or interfering with normal biking operation. With a thin raincoat like the one I'm using as an example you could wrap it around the handle bars or the top tube on the bike but with a thicker coat this doesn't work very well. Wrapping the coat around the handlebars or top tube may also interfere with shifting or brake cables. It might get full of cable grease too.

Tying the sleeves into a knot and wearing it like a messenger bag puts the coat up higher on your body so it wont interfere with riding the bike. I've done this many times when I started to overheat or started with a rain coat and the clouds moved on. It works well and your body will stay cooler than wearing it as intended because air will be able to flow through the back of it.

I need a backpack right now!!

I've also found myself in a situation where I needed a backpack and used my jacket for one. If you have a coat that has pull straps for the hood and waist or some webbing, rope or string you can make an instant backpack and wear it like a bike messenger bag as well. I can think of a multitude of situations where one could use this. If you have an emergency and are out in the middle of nowhere and need to move very fast to get help for someone but still need to carry some essentials such as first aide or water you can drop the heavy pack and use a long sleeve shirt, the shell of another coat or a rain jacket to seriously lighten your load so you can cover distance much faster.

1. Lay the jacket flat on the ground.

2. Tie the bottom of the coat tightly with the drawstrings at the waist or tie it with a length of string.

3. Tie the neck of the coat tightly with the drawstring or a piece of string. If the coat has a zipper keep the string slightly above it so you can use the zipper to easily get into the coat without having to untie the string. If you are using a long sleeve shirt put the contents in before tying the top.