Original and Compact Ragtotes

admin — Wed, 04 Jul 2007 13:34:00 +0000

Having been raised to refer to periods as “The Curse,” and plagued by years of heinous female problems, I have never been one to celebrate my menstruation. The Original and Compact Ragtotes are bejeweled, appliquéd plastic celebrations of the flow cheerfully announcing their use in a wavy font.

First problem: I could not get them open. Angrily, I finally popped the latch. Next, they seemed small. I am a backup woman. The Original fits one regular-sized tampon exactly. The Compact appealed to me more, and I packed it with three minis, giving me a sense of reassurance.

The hand wipes are the best! Cute and functional, these things rock. Ever the trooper, I loaded my totes - one for my purse, one for my knitting bag - and hit the world. Funny thing happened, my audacious Original Ragtote became one of my essentials.

I always hated how my pads would slide around in my purse getting tainted with blush. I hated rooting fruitlessly, realizing I was all out of napkins. My sequined companion told me I was covered. Since it only carried one tampon at a time, it had to be filled, or I would leave it out of my purse.

Imagine to be never caught out again empty-handed. Never to search for quarters to feed evil, broken feminine hygiene product dispensers. The Curse has ended! Long live the Tote!

Written by: Regina Raiford Babcock, July 4th 2007

Sports Ragtote

admin — Tue, 12 Jun 2007 12:52:00 +0000

By Ragtotes

The Sports Ragtote is a six-inch long hard plastic case marketed as a tampon holder. It comes with a snap clip for attaching to things, and it’s made from acrylonitrile butadiene styrene. The company website asserts that it “will support 200 lbs. of weight” and is “crush-proof under most circumstances.” I squeezed the container as hard as I could, stood on top of it and even hurled it against a wall. Despite all the abuse, no cracks, splits, chips, or breaks developed.

Another perk of the Sports Ragtote is that it floats, which means there’s a chance for recovery if it ends up in a river, creek or ocean. The Sports Ragtote is waterproof too. Everything I put into both the main compartment and the bottom area designed to hold pills stayed dry, even after being held under water. The caps screw on to the container and snug up against a rubber ring designed to keep water out. The website says the caps are “guaranteed to last through 100,000 open/close actions.”

I managed to squeeze four long tampons into the Sports Ragtote. I estimate at least twice as many short ones would fit into the 1¾-inch diameter main compartment. Since I don’t use tampons anymore, I checked out the Sports Ragtote’s compatibility with other menstrual products. Two rolled up super long, ultra thin pads fit in snuggly, as did my folded Diva Cup.

Maybe I’ll carry pads in my Sports Ragtote, but it would also make a great travel first aid or sewing kit or could easily hold cash, lip balm and house keys. The Sports Ragtote is a good carrying case for any small items that need to stay clean, dry and intact.

Written by: Chantel C. Guidry, June 12th 2007