I am All Rolled Up

Somewhere between a fetish and a compulsion lies my love of gaming accessories, especially dice bags. Ever since I put my basic set, crumbly, orange polyhedrons into a black felt pouch, I have been been drawn to things that help me to pack up and organize my gaming components. I am always on the lookout for new and novel ways to pack up my gaming gear, and this week I have found just that…All Rolled Up.

Quick Disclaimer – While I purchased my All Rolled Up, the fine folks at All Rolled Up paid for my shipping.

It’s kind of a sickness

At Gen Con 2003, I walked the dealers room on and off for three days looking for a new dice bag, in the same way someone might search an entire mall for a new purse. My best friend who was forced to accompany me for several sorties out on the convention floor was about to kill me, until I settled on a dice bag Sunday afternoon. Some years later, I found a great three-level lens case that allowed me to carry my dice in separate compartments (sick I know). For some time I thought I had found the pinnacle of my gaming containers, until a few weeks ago on G+ when I first heard of the UK company All Rolled Up ^[1].

Then my obsession started again. I tracked the G+ posts, I watched the YouTube video ^[2], and I waited until I could get one of my own. My antics attracted the attention of one of the owners, and I got to be the first international order.

I Keep on Rollin’ Rollin’ Rollin’

All Rolled Up is a UK based company which just recently opened up a website selling its signature product, the All Rolled Up. The ARU contains a large velcro compartment, a large pocket, and four pen size pockets, which then rolls up and ties closed. It has the look of a tool roll (which until I did a Google search, my non-mechanical self had no idea was a thing you could still buy).

The ARU ties closed with ribbon which is sewn into the roll. If you are not into tying the ARU you can pick up a cord lock at a fabric store to secure it closed. There is also a loop where one can hang it off a carabiner. The loop looks to be plenty solid.

It is clear that the ARU is hand-made, in a good way. I am no sewing expert, but the stitching is solid and neat and all the edges are clean. The fabric is solid feeling and does not feel cheap. The ARU’s come in a variety of fabrics, but when I saw this pattern, I knew that was mine…

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My Loadout

After I got my ARU, I opened it up and set out to fill it up. I emptied my current dice container and moved my dice into the velcro compartment. The pouch was large enough to hold my normal set of dice:

• 20 Gamescience ^[4] Dice
• 3 sets of Fate Dice
• A QCC ^[5] d6 (wild die)
• A Yellow Sign d6 (another wild die)
• A pair of Writer’s Dice ^[6]
• A d12 Hit Location die

That did not even start to fill the capacity of the pouch.

The large pocket is perfect for Index Cards ^[7], but it also the right size for a Noteboard ^[8] (if you don’t have one of those get one). It also fits a Moleskine notebook if you want something more than loose cards. For me, I stuck with index cards because I use them quite a bit when I run games.

The four pen-size pockets are for just that, your writing implements. For me, I like a mechanical pencil as well as three clickable sharpee markers (no having to deal with caps).

Here is what my ARU looks like fully loaded and  All Rolled Up…

^{[9] [10]}

Why You Will Like It

If you are into custom dice bags and have more to transport to a game than just some dice, the ARU is a great way to gather and transport your basic set of tools. I could easily run a game with the contents of my ARU and my iPad.

For conventions, the ARU has everything you need to be a prepared player or GM. You can fill it with dice (enough to be able to have extras), add some extra pencils in there, and index cards or a small pad of paper. If you want to go super light, just take a carabiner and hang the bag off of your belt loop.

Roll Your Own

You can find out more about the All Rolled Up at their website ^[1]. If you are in the US there are two things you will have to keep in mind. First, the price is 15 (GBP) which is currently around $23 (USD), and the second is international shipping. I paid for my ARU using PayPal (which does the currency conversion for you), and I received my ARU via AirMail in less than a week, which was not bad at all.

If you have a gaming container fetish like me, the ARU is a novel solution for transporting some of your game gear. I love mine and I am looking forward to taking mine out this convention season.

Do you have a gaming container fetish? Does the ARU have you curious? What is your current favorite way to transport your dice and gear?