My Go-To Ah Beng Pouch

You might have seen the average Singaporean Ah-Beng carrying a variety of brand-name shoulder bags. I’ve always wondered what they carried in those bags and I like to imagine it’s cigarettes plus a wad of cash.

Examples:

Beng Starter Pack by Zula
Tropic Monsters Facebook

More recently you would have also seen more Singaporean males who are not ah-bengs also carrying a shoulder bag, possibly because it is way more fashionable than a fanny pack. Also because it is very important to be carrying a power bank on you nowadays because we are so reliant on our mobile phones and cannot go anywhere without using our phones to do safeentry or tracetogether.

If you are not an Ah-Beng or not high SES enough to afford a brand name shoulder bag, but have always wanted a sturdily built and practical shoulder bag, the Ozuko shoulder bag is probably a good choice.

Compared to a lot of shoulder bags I’ve seen around and about, what I really liked about this shoulder bag is the amount of volume it offers without being overly bulky or impractical as a shoulder sling bag.

I’ve been using it for over a year now and I am very happy with it. So if you are in the market for an affordable shoulder bag, this is one that you should consider.

Curious about how much it costs? Scroll down for the answer.

First Impressions

I was honestly impressed by how sturdily the bag was built when I first opened it up.

I’ve had previous experiences with buying bags on Taobao only to feel sibeh sian by the poor built quality that may come in the form of loose threads or flimsy, sub-par material that feels like it will tear off the moment I treat it a little rougher than a museum artifact.

There was no such problem with the Ozuko Shoulder Bag when I first received it and I remember being impressed by its sturdy potential for the wear and tear it will come to endure.

It comes with a number of other nifty features as well as well-designed compartments and pockets of space you can use for a variety of use-case scenarios.

Security

In terms of security features, the Ozuko Shoulder Bag comes with an inbuilt number lock and the external shell is fabricated from a slash-proof canvas material.

I have not taken a knife to it yet to test these claims because I don’t have a parang knife on me to pia-zui with.

The number lock is similar to what you will find on most luggage bags. Having set my key code for the number lock, I’ve rarely ever found myself in the situation where I’ve needed to use it because I’ve always had my bag with me or on me if I was carrying out in public.

Having said that, knowing that such a security feature exists can provide you with some peace of mind if you ever had to leave it somewhere in public for a short amount of time either at the pool or at the gym and you are just too cheap to pay for a locker. (Don’t cheapskate lah, just pay a 20cents for a locker lah)

Habitually, I tend to front sling the shoulder bag most of the time, and rotating it to a back sling from time to time. It may offer you a greater sense of security knowing that the number lock feature exists when you are back-slinging the shoulder bag. 

Weather-proofing

Besides being slash-proof, the external shell is also water resistant. In my experience so far, the contents within my bag have been kept dry whenever I’ve been caught in the rain (but always with an umbrella on hand because the bag is big enough to house a foldable umbrella).

Bro, water-resistant does not mean waterproof ah, don’t go and take this bag go swimming as if it is the waterproof bag you take with you when kayaking.

In addition to the water-resistant nature of the fabric, you can tell that there was a level of care and thought behind how the piece was manufactured by the waterproof lining that is present on the zippers.

This provides an extra layer of protection for the items you carry in the bag.

Volume & Compartments

Let’s talk a little more about the practical shit you can carry about in your shoulder bag.

  1. Portable Recycle Bag (Black)
  2. Fat wallet that is filled with everything else except for wads of cash if you do not wish to carry it around in your front or back pocket
  3. Waterproof Canvas Wallet / Card Holder
  4. Red Foldable Umbrella
  5. 100ml bottle of alcohol spray (because covid)
  6. 20000 MAh Power Bank with extra-long USB charging cable
  7. 500ml SIGG Water Bottle (make sure you get a slim bottle that doesn’t leak)
  8. Deadpool parody Mask Pouch with extra disposable masks because COVID (From Naive Studio Taiwan – eh not everything Taobao k)
  9. Plenty of hand sanitizing wet towels that you get in restaurants but never use and your family just hands them to you to keep because you have a bag.

I’ve stuffed my phone inside the bag with the charger to charge as well when I do not need to use it.

In the top compartment, I keep the following because they are the best easy access compartment.

It is great for things like keys, car / door remotes, a quick access hand sanitizer and a pen.

Yes, a pen. While there are two well-designed spaces for you to slot your pens into within the main compartment, in terms of practical usage, I find it easier to fish for a pen in the top compartment instead of trying to navigate through my umbrella, water bottle and power bank just to delicately pick out my pen from the pen holder.

It makes it easier for me to know exactly where my pen is.

I am even less interested in having to take my bag off me, put it on the table and open it up fully to expose all of its contents in public in order to take out a pen when I need to use one.

This is the compartment where you will most likely keep small items you will like to have quick and easy access to, without being concerned about having them lost in the jumble of what’s inside your main compartment.

There is a card slot that is built into the shoulder strap of the bag. As you can see from the GIF below, the card slot is actually well designed and your Ez-Link / Credit Card is unlikely to fall out of the slot on its own without you intentionally making the effort to slide it out / in from an angle.

Card Slot in Action

There is also a sturdy looking band from which you can hang your sunglasses on.

I wouldn’t know because being bespectacled precludes me from wearing a standard pair of sunglasses and hanging a pair of sunglasses on you while you are wearing a pair of spectacles doesn’t quite have the same effect.

External USB Charging Port

Honestly, I’ve never ever used the external USB charging port on the bag. This is mainly because the connection always felt a little flimsy to me with too many points for failure. It works by connecting your power bank to an adaptor port protruding from the service end of the bag from which you plug in your USB charging cable. It sounds good in theory but doesn’t work out as well as intended.

Furthermore, allowing the extra-long charging cable to poke through the zippers do the job just fine.

Comfort

Let’s talk about comfort next. In terms of comfort, the padding on the strap and the back of the Ozuko should bag is generous enough to make it comfortable for the user to carry the shoulder bag throughout the day.

Your personal level of fatigue will definitely be determined by the weight of the load you are carrying and the duration of which you are carrying for (carrying a full 500ml metal bottle definitely adds to the weight).

Comparing it against a shoulder bag from adidas which I have used for a short while, you can really feel the difference between a padded shoulder bag as opposed to an unpadded one if you carrying it throughout the day.

Will it stink?

If you are planning on braving the elements with the Ozuko Shoulder bag, there is a chance that it might start to stink after a few months of intensive usage.

I for one have not carried these for outdoor hiking or braving the elements with it as a shoulder bag while riding a motorcycle.

If you tend to sweat a lot and your clothes will stink if you don’t wash them after wearing them for a day, then logic dictates that your bag will also stink if you don’t clean it lah.

I’ve only personally used it as most every day Singaporeans would – for walking about in shopping malls, on public transport / inside a grab car or walking from point to point when not inside the air-conditioned confines of the office or mall.

After 1 year of usage there is no discernible odour or foul smell coming from the straps or the back padding.  I have not washed the shoulder bag at all and the only form of cleaning I ever remember doing was a few quick sprays of 70% sanitizing alcohol on the straps and back padding which I have only done once or twice in the entire one year of using it.

Conclusion

Ozuko Shoulder Bag (S$18.83)

Overall, I am really happy with my Ozuko Shoulder Bag which was purchased in Sep 2019. I have used and ‘abused’ it for a little over 1 year now at the time of writing this review and the bag is still holding up very well to almost everyday usage.

If you are someone who doesn’t give two shits about carrying only branded goods and are interested in a practical, well-built shoulder bag, this is definitely value for money.

For S$18.83 it is damn cheap lah

This is as good a deal as you will get from Taobao Shopping and I rate this 4 out of 5 carrots. Why not 5 Carrots leh? Because I am Asian and we never give full marks for anything.

Get it HERE

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