A passport and a spare pair of underwear are among the top items that can be found in the modern male’s “man-bag”, new research suggests.
Other essentials that made the list included umbrellas (19 per cent), aftershave (21 per cent) and mobile phones (33 per cent).
Altogether the average value of items in a “he-holdall” comes to £104.8 (€123), just £4.28 (€5) less than the items in the average lady’s handbag, the poll suggested.
According to the research which was carried out on men in the UK, Northern Ireland man-bags contain the most expensive items (£147.27 [€172] on average) while lads’ luggage in Wales trail behind as the least expensive items (£63.42 [€74] on average).
The study, conducted by Opinion LLP for Direct Line Insurance, interviewed a random sample of 2,021 adults across the UK.
The results have been weighted to the profile of all adults in August 2011.
Stuart Curson, head of Direct Line Home Insurance, said: “Whilst the average man-bag may only cost just over £30, the pieces inside are often worth more than three times this amount.”
He said that adding these valuable items to a policy was simple, and he recommended that men look at and update their policies as soon as possible.