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I recently bought a new backpack — it was a supposedly nice name brand backpack and pricey — 300 dollars or so. I didn’t like it — it’s dofficult to pack for t
by breatheoften 8y ago
I recently bought a new backpack — it was a supposedly nice name brand backpack and pricey — 300 dollars or so. I didn’t like it — it’s dofficult to pack for the loads I carry and just very far from my optimal design.
I randomly came across a backpack in a used gear store in the mountains in Colorado, being sold on consignment — it was ancient, clearly a bag that had seen a lot of use with several patches. It’s a huge u-zip backpack with quality padding, good hip/chest straps, three (useful!) fully exterior zip pockets — two clearly well suited for water/coffee, and nothing dangly. Intrigued by this packs design, so different from all the clone backpacking bags on the market now - I bought it used for 20 dollars. This is the best backpack I’ve ever owned! I use it as a rock climbing day pack and for longer trips with air travel - I can fit everything I need in it for multi month climbing trips to Europe.
But it’s clearly very old. I packed too much weight into it and accidentally tried to pick it up once while accidentally standing on the hip strap — putting an enormous strain on the shoulder strap — which broke. This made for an unpleasant train journey in Wales until I arrived at my destination but fortunately I wasn’t too far off. And also fortunately would be staying there for several months so didn’t really need the bag for awhile.
During that time I went on a long fruitless search across the internet and brick and mortar stores to find a replacement. I searched everywhere and could not find a backpack that offered even a quarter of the joy I get from this old packs design ...
Fortunately — it turns out that mending expertise still exists in some part of the world and smallish town Wales is one such place. A friend suggested I check out a tailor to see if they could fix my broken backpack strap. Long story short — 13 pounds later — they did it!! I also asked them to reinforce the other strap.
Result: I couldn’t be happier. The love and admiration I now have for this tailor is substantial. Fixing things is still possible — and fixing that are worth fixing is enormously valuable. Honestly I feel guilty to only have paid 13 pounds for the work of that expert seamstress - in the future I would pay 300 dollars to keep this bag going if I could rather than buying a new bag that is not fit for purpose from day one ...
- deanclatworthy 8y agoI recently invested [1] in a leather backpack, that's hand-made here in Finland. These things are built to last and I expect to get far more lifetime out of it than any of the lightweight crap I've bought from major-brands in the past. I've generally had poor experiences when dealing with clothing/equipment manufacturer warranties. Some claim lifetime warranties, then don't stock parts for repairs. Others will just say they can't help after a year or two. A lot of modern products aren't designed to last. [1] https://kasperi.net/shop/backpacks/fold-top https://kasperi.net/shop/backpacks/fold-top
- stickfigure 8y agoA weird kind of porn, but I'd love to see a picture!
- breatheoften 8y agoNot the best picture — but here’s the pack resting by a river in Chateauvert... https://twitter.com/ibreathetweets/status/1097462269787717632 https://twitter.com/ibreathetweets/status/109746226978771763.... Perhaps as they say, It doesn’t have to be pretty to be beautiful ... And one Fully Loaded for checking before a flight - https://twitter.com/ibreathetweets/status/1097464141281923072?s=21 https://twitter.com/ibreathetweets/status/109746414128192307...
- ghaff 8y agoI've had very good luck with cobblers for fixing hiking and camping gear. They have all the heavy needles and so forth needed to do repairs of thick materials. (And I suspect most are not completely overwhelmed with work.) There are also specialty places that do outdoor equipment repair. Rainy Pass in Seattle was a name given to me for a backpack zipper repair but a friend ended up doing it for me.
- Declanomous 8y agoThe nice thing about outdoor gear is that the repairs don't have to be very aesthetic. I repair my own camping gear using my grandmother's old signer sewing machine. It's maybe 100 years old, but unlike modern sewing machines, the frame is cast iron and it can push a thick needle through almost anything. It can't do the fancy embroidery stitches, but with some chalk, a seam ripper, and some thread you can repair almost anything. I had an old jacket where the outer shell was more empty space than fabric, and I was able to disassemble the coat, trace the pieces that needed to be assembled onto new fabric, and reassemble it again. The argument that "it isn't worth my time to repair stuff" always grates on me. It makes sense to a certain extent, but there is a lot more to life than pure economic efficiency.