带 means ‘bring’ or ‘take’ in the sense of causing something to move with oneself to a destination. In that way it's more general than 拿, and doesn't have any implications about how the thing is moved.

Taking to and from with 带

As with 拿, whether 带 is translated into ‘bring’ or ‘take’ in English is decided by the direction of the movement. Chinese uses 带 for both directions:

你带这个去送给他们吧。

Nǐ dài zhège qù sòng gěi tāmen ba.

Take this and give it to them.

我把这个带走可以吗？

Wǒ bǎ zhège dài zǒu kěyǐ ma?

Is it alright if I take this with me?

一个人去很危险，带上这个吧。

Yīgè rén qù hěn wéixiǎn, dài shàng zhège ba.

It's dangerous to go alone — take this.

The important difference to 拿 is that these sentences with 带 don't imply how the object is being moved. The person might be carrying it, putting in their bag or putting it in their car, for example.

Bringing to and from with 带

if the direction is towards the speaker, then 带 becomes ‘bring’ rather than ‘take’:

我没带在身上。

Wǒ mò dài zài shēnshang.

I haven't brought it with me.

你带伞了吗？

Nǐ dài sǎnle ma?

Did you bring an umbrella?

带上你的男朋友吧！

Dài shàng nǐ de nán péngyǒu ba!

Bring your boyfriend!

Like 拿, 带 is often combined with 着. This is often used to state that someone ‘has’ something, i.e that they have it with them. It could mean that they have it in the hand, but they could just have it on them or otherwise with them at moment.

For example:

她带着枪。

Tā dàizhe qiāng.

She's got a gun.

She's got a gun on her.

She's carrying a gun.

This sentence is very ambiguous because 带 doesn't specify in what way exactly she possesses the gun, just that she's got one. If you were to use 拿 instead of 带, it would be much clearer that she's holding the gun in her hand.

Also note that the sentences above could all be in the past. Like other aspect particles, 着 is about the time frame we're talking about, and not the time frame we're talking in.

她带着枪。

Tā dàizhe qiāng.

She had a gun.

She had a gun on her.

She was carrying a gun.

Some more example sentences with 带 and 着:

带 can be used with abstract / intangible things

Finally, another difference between 拿 and 带 is that 带 can be used with abstract or intangible things, whereas this doesn't tend to be the case with 拿.

Have a look at some examples:

他带着奇怪的眼神看着我。

Tā dàizhe qíguài de yǎnshén kànzhe wǒ.

He looked at me strangely.

她说话是带着浓重的美国口音。

Tā shuōhuà shì dàizhe nóngzhòng dì měiguó kǒuyīn.

She spoke with a thick American accent.

[This would often be said with 操着.]

他脸上带着灿烂的笑容。

Tā liǎn shàng dàizhe cànlàn de xiàoróng.

He had a beaming smile on his face.

“我们成功了！“ 她带着快乐的语气说。

“Wǒmen chénggōngle!“Tā dàizhe kuàilè de yǔqì shuō.

"We've done it!" she said happily.