Listen, we can dance around what to call the best fanny packs—a.k.a. sling bags, crossbody bags, bum bags, shoulder bags, etc. But let’s not kid ourselves about what they are. Even the best fanny packs are, simply, fanny packs—and they’re useful as hell. Once shorthand for a whole era of ill-advised style decisions, the fanny pack has re-emerged into our good graces, a product of menswear’s gorpy overhaul and the realization that there are many funkier, weirder, wilder ways to dress (or carry a bag) than a buckle-on pocket in 2025. Its selling point is fairly obvious: The fanny pack is functional and versatile. When a backpack is too sweaty and a shoulder bag of some sort cramps your [pharmaceutical ad voiceover] active lifestyle, the fanny pack steps in to store all your necessities: keys, ChapStick, sunglasses, hand sanitizer, AirPods, backup AirPods, and more. Wear one around your waist like a dad trying to puzzle out where the visitor’s center is on a large map, or sling it over your body in, like, 13 other …