Super light but doesn’t sacrifice comfort: the padded handles, dare we say, rock.

"Can you please, please, please make a reusable grocery bag? Yes, I already have ones that I've been given for free or bought for cheap at the store. The trouble is that the thin straps dig into my hands and shoulders and the bags themselves wear out pretty quickly. I want a Tom Bihn grocery bag." – K.M.

How could we refuse?

We present to you the Original Large Shop Bag. What you'll notice first is that the Shop Bag has comfortable, PORON® padded handles that will never break down or lose their padding — no matter how many trips you take to the store. These padded handles prevent that awful hand-slicing experience of the traditional non-padded fabric handles, and they're extra comfortable on your shoulder. The handles have been designed to be an ideal length that will allow most folks to wear the bag over their shoulder or carry it in their hand. The handle length of the Original Large Shop Bag is 26" / 660 mm.

The Shop Bag had to be made sturdy enough to hold beer, wine, canned goods, and other heavy items, but the bag itself needed to be light — something you'd want to carry with you everywhere just in case you were stopping by the store. The Large Shop Bag is tough, but it's also extremely light in weight. We've piped the seams with a stiff plastic material (the material used on hat brims; we cover it with 400 denier pack cloth), which gives the Shop Bag enough body to stand up while you are filling it. The structure the piping gives the Shop Bag also keeps the bag looking smart.

The Original Large Shop Bag can fit two dozen-egg cartons side-by-side in the bottom of the bag, and it's close to the size of the traditional paper grocery store bag with handles. The inside of the Shop Bag has two deep, open-top pockets designed for items like wine or water bottles. The pockets are contoured and pleated so they have volume enough for even a 24 fl oz mineral water bottle, and also so that, if you want to carry the Shop Bag inside your larger bag and conserve space, you can fold the Shop Bag itself into one of these open-top pockets, reducing the overall size of the Large Shop Bag to 8" x 9".

Here's an example of what a fully loaded Shop Bag in size Large can fit: a large head of lettuce, bunch of kale, a pound of yams, two medium apples, four canned goods, two boxes of pasta, bag of chips, 12 oz coffee bag, large loaf of bread, four (yes, four) Toblerone candy bars, 25 fl oz mineral water, 24 fl oz beer, and two pints of ice cream.

The Shop Bag is easy to clean — dirt is discouraged from adhering to it and water will roll right off. You probably won't need to wash it that often, but if you do, put it in the kitchen sink with a little bit of mild dish soap. Rinse it out, shake off the excess water, and hang it up (or on a doorknob) to dry.

For extra organization, one can add a Stuff Sack to separate hot or cold foods (like deli soup or ice cream) or toiletries (like soap) from the other items in the Shop Bag. You'd use the Stuff Sack instead of the small plastic sack they would normally give you in the grocery store — saving yet another plastic bag.

Clear Organizer Pouches and the Clear Organizer Wallet are additional optional accessories. Clip the Clear Organizer Wallet to one of the two O-rings inside the bag and use it to store your grocery store "club cards" (that way you'll never forget them). The various sizes of Clear Organizer Pouches are a smart way to store shopping lists, recipes, coupons, or other small items.