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.
Then my obsession started again. I tracked the G+ posts, I watched the YouTube video, 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…
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 Dice
- 3 sets of Fate Dice
- A QCC d6 (wild die)
- A Yellow Sign d6 (another wild die)
- A pair of Writer’s Dice
- 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, but it also the right size for a Noteboard (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…
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. 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?
I’ve been following them on G+ myself. I’m glad to hear from a customer.
I’ve been wanting to do something similar. I have a design, I just don’t think I have the fabric or money right now (long bout of unemployment is finally ending). I want mine to look a little less festive, though. 🙂
We have many designs – and an expanding range. ‘We Are Gnome’ has a colour scheme that might appear ‘festive’, but that’s just the sort of thing gnomes like to wear.
We have taken a bit of a leap ourselves bringing All Rolled Up to the gaming world. We very much appreciate the support of the whole gaming community – and plan to tread the boards of as many conventions as we can over the coming months to raise awareness of what All Rolled Up has to offer.
This is brilliant. I now require one.
Also, how did I not know about the Noteboard until now? That’s also on the top of my wishlist.
I’m sorry, I’m very interested in this product, but I found most of the ARU designs ugly, or ridiculous (galaxina is stupidly sexist, for example), or too much ironic (hipster ?) for me (like the kittens)
The only I could see myself bring to the table is the poison potion one, or the chalk premium (but I’m not interested in its premium).
Since you’re commenting here, can you do a boring ARU ? Leatherlike, or looking like a medieval purse ?
You were expecting that, named after Galaxina, a movie largely about a sex android, it would be demure and tasteful perhaps?
http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0080771/
It’s worth remembering, Guillaume, that we have to appeal to a wide range of tastes – and everyone’s taste differs. We have an expanding range of designs and finishes for the ARU, and we certainly plan to offer plainer options as well as those with a themed or character base.
When we attended our first major event, at UK Games Expo, we had gamers, goths, geeks, geekettes, and parents considering our All Rolled Up selection – some who planned to use them for gaming, but others for make-up or as pencil cases.
If you really want an ARU, but you can’t find any fabric that suits your tastes, we will happily consider custom orders with your own choice of fabric:
Custom Made Orders
Don’t feel badly Paul about posts with proclamations that Galaxina is “stupidly sexist” – they just ensured an extra thousand hits on your website to see what all the ruckus is about. 😉
You’ve got some great designs on there.
Cheers, Sean!
I’m interested in your stuff as a gamer, not as a parent or a geek. So, I was just surprised you didn’t do some basic design like an elder sign, or a dragon on something looking like leather.
I don’t want an ARU enough so that I would buy a custom order.
I have sent links for the ARU site to a fair few people already, hoping to grab one as a Christmas present. Since I’m a bit skint, it will have to wait until someone else buys me one, but I have seen the design I want – more than one actually – and can’t wait to pop my Noteboard into it and take it for a game.
Very best of luck with your Festive Wish List, shortymonster!
I just received my first dice tray (geo-dungeon, compact) and couldn’t be happier. The design is very appealing, resembling a classic underground dungeon map (think Keep on the Borderlands). The build quality is excellent. My fellow players have the larger felt trays, which are also terrific, but took up a bit too much table-space for my tastes–I use spell-cards, so I am already pretty spread-out. I was so impressed by the design and quality that I immediately ordered a Platinum series ARU. I think I will hang on to my ancient leather dice bag for now, but the ARU and the dice tray, along with some fancy new mechanical pencils, will really round out my playing and GMing kit!