About that "bag of holding"

[Thorsson]

Hire a dwarf.

I recommend one with a few Rogue levels...

Or Dwarfy McDwarfface.

[electric mayhem]

Probably preaching to the converted.
But for those that didn't know. Elminster started life as a young rebel fighter against the magelord regime before taking the fight to the streets as a rogue, before ever learning magic. (One could perhaps argue that he may have well been a master thief in Hastarl for many years considering the success of his escapades, relatively speaking of course). And then he only learnt magic after he underwent a rigorous sex change at the hands of a crazed lady of mysteries and filed for a name change at the Athalantan Department of Births Deaths and Marriages, to become Elmara.
And the rest sounds like a bawdy tale told by one Volo.

So perhaps it could be suggested that El didn't really 'take a dip' into rogue. Even though his official stats say he only took a few levels. But then again in support of the dip , proportionally those rogue years were fractionally small compared to the many decades (centuries?) that he spent practising the art.

Disclaimer: fair amount of artistic sarcasm surrounding the facts here.

Fun fact: very surprised to read that Ed wrote Making of a Mage in a month whilst working a full time job. A sign of his talent!

[Tsidkenu]

Ed's 'full time job' is a librarian