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A cowhide underarm bag in 2 published sizes and 2 colours, with the larger one big enough to take a compact tile set.
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Flat $9.95 shipping · 30-day returns from delivery
Most bag listings give one dimension or none. This one gives both sizes properly, and the difference between them is not cosmetic.
The smaller at 27 cm is a handbag: phone, wallet, keys, glasses. The larger at 35 cm crosses a threshold, because a compact mahjong set fits inside it. For someone who carries a set to a weekly game, that is the difference between one bag and two.
Coated or bonded leather looks identical when new and behaves completely differently after a year: the coating cracks at the fold lines and lifts, and there is no repairing it.
Full grain cowhide does the opposite. It creases where it is folded and the creases become the character of the bag. It is the reason a good leather bag is worth more used than a coated one is new.
Sits high and close, does not swing, and stays put when you bend down. It is the shape for somebody moving through a room rather than standing in one.
A hasp closes with one hand and holds firmly, which a magnetic closure does not once it has aged. It is slower than a zip and more secure than an open top.
If the bag is for daily carry and the mahjong set travels separately in its own case, the 27 cm size is the better object: neater, lighter, and correctly proportioned as a handbag.
If the point is to carry a compact set and everything else in one bag, take the 35 cm and accept that it is a large bag rather than a discreet one.
Dry cloth, conditioner twice a year, and away from direct heat. If it gets soaked, let it dry slowly and away from a radiator, which is what cracks leather permanently.
| Sizes | 27 x 9 x 19 cm, 35 x 10 x 23 cm |
|---|---|
| Material | Cowhide leather |
| Closure | Hasp |
| Colours | Elephant grey, sea anemone purple |
| Weight | 1.3 kg (2.8 lb) |
Orders are processed within 1 to 2 business days, with tracking on every parcel. Delivery across the United States takes 10 to 25 days and costs $9.95, one flat rate charged once per order whatever the number of items.
Changed your mind? You have 30 days from delivery to request a return, unused and in its original packaging. Approved refunds go back to your original payment method within 3 business days.
Nobody knows what's inside
Cowhide, suede, straw. Carry it to your friend’s place, then carry it to lunch.
Big enough to matter
Sizes that take a compact tile set, which handbags almost never do. Capacity is on the page, so it's a choice and not a gamble.
Take mahj with you
The reason your set leaves the house instead of living in a closet.
It is the reserve at the end of the wall, 14 tiles set aside and not dealt in the normal run of play. When a player declares a kong, 4 identical tiles, they draw a replacement from that reserve rather than from the live wall. It is also called the dead wall. Knowing where it sits saves a small argument in most beginner games.
Weight and hand work. A full set is 144 tiles plus flowers, jokers and blanks, each one cast or cut, engraved and colour filled, and the finished set is heavy enough that the case and the shipping cost real money on top. The same logic sits behind this bag: 1.3 kg of full grain cowhide costs more than a coated leather of the same shape because the material is the expense.
Rather than rank retailers, judge what arrives. Look at tile size, whether the engraving is cut or printed, how the colour is filled, and how the case closes. Then measure that case, because it decides what can carry it. The 35 x 10 x 23 cm size here takes a compact set; the 27 x 9 x 19 cm one is a handbag and will not, whatever the listing photograph suggests.
Start by asking whether they already have a way to carry their set. If they do, a bag for everything else is the better present, and the 27 x 9 x 19 cm size here is the neat everyday one. If they still travel with tiles in the box they arrived in, the 35 x 10 x 23 cm version takes a compact set alongside a phone and a wallet. Cowhide and a hasp keep it wearable well beyond game nights.
A mahjong set is handled more than almost anything else in the house: every tile passes through four pairs of hands, several times a game.
That is what we select for. Tiles that read clearly from the far side of the table, edges that stay clean, and a case that still closes after a few seasons of being carried around.
Sets differ in ways that only show at the table: the weight of a tile in the hand, how a crak reads from three seats away, whether the case survives the trip to a friend’s house.
When we have the figures, we publish them: tile count, tile size, weight and material. When we do not have one, we leave it out rather than guess.
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