Put This On

No Backpacks at the Office

For the past year and a half I’ve been largely working from home, so I forget what it’s like to commute with other fellow city-dwellers on public transportation in the rush periods. But the past few weeks I’ve been up and out early in the morning and was reminded of the all-to-common practice of men wearing backpacks with their suits.

The look is very unprofessional. Seeing a grown man walking to his office wearing a backpack that would be found in a high-school student’s locker strikes me as juvenile. The ballistic nylon, the tactical pouches, way-too many zippers and often-terrible color schemes look tacky on a guy who went through the trouble to wear a suit to make a favorable impression.

If you have items that need to be carried to and from work, then buy a briefcase. You can find them in almost any configuration to carry whatever you need and it will compliment your business attire. And there’s the added bonus you won’t be that guy who keeps his backpack on his shoulders while riding the crowded bus or train that hits everyone else in the face and takes up room (please, at least put it on the ground like gentleman).

And don’t think of this as being against all backpacks all the time. We’ve recommended backpacks in the past, but for more casual attire and situations. But if you’re going to the office, then leave them at home.

-Kiyoshi

(Image via primatage)

It’s On Sale: Kelty Vintage Backpacks

Huckberry is having another sale on Kelty Vintage backpacks. These aren’t real vintage backpacks, they’re new designs inspired by vintage pieces in Kelty’s archives. Still, I think some of them look really nice. I especially like the Mockingbird model you see above, which is on sale for $89 right now. You can read my review of it here. 

If you’re not a member of Huckberry, you can use my invite. New members also get a $5 discount off their first order, which brings this to $84. 

Our director Ben tells me he ordered one of these waxed cotton backpacks from Collective Works. I’m always a bit hesitant to do social marketing for people’s products, but I have to admit it’s a nice-looking bag. At about $400, it’s no bargain, but it’s much larger and more complex than competitors that are less, like the $175 Scoutmaster Daypack from Duluth Pack or Archival Clothing’s $220 rucksack. Filson’s rucksack is $260, and a bit larger, but it isn’t a big duffel with a bunch of pockets like this bad boy.

It’s On Sale: Kelty Vintage Mockingbird Backpacks

Sport Chalet has the Kelty Mockingbird backpack on sale for $74.96, plus free shipping. Tax is charged, however, depending on where you live. You can read my review of the Kelty Mockingbird here. 

If you want it in black, or if the Sport Chalet inventory ends up selling out, you can also get it from Huckberry for $75, though they charge $9 for shipping. Their offer ends in three days. 

My Kelty Backpack

Although I typically use a soft, leather briefcase as my everyday work bag, it’s hard to get by as a graduate student without a backpack. Sometimes I just have a bunch of things I need to lug around, such as books or packages, and the larger compartmental space inside a backpack simply makes more sense. So a few months ago, I bought this green Kelty “Mockingbird” backpack after seeing a picture of Pete Anderson with it outside of a menswear tradeshow.

Most of Kelty’s backpacks are very practical looking – neither horrifically ugly nor very attractive. In the last few years, however, they’ve been releasing designs quite similar to those they had in the 1960s and ‘70s. As many know, this has been a response to the Americana/ outdoor gear fashion trend in Japan. It used to be that you could only get these bags if you were in Japan, or at least went through a proxy shopping service, but nowadays Americans can have their Americana as well.

Kelty’s neovintage bags stay mostly true to their original designs. They just have a few modern updates. For example, whereas the original Keltys used to have just one large compartment, this one has an interior pocket for your laptop (which fits my 13” MacBook quite well) as well as zippered pockets both inside the main compartment and in the fold-over flap that covers it. There are also detachable cylindrical pocket bags you can attach to the sides. I keep one on to hold a thermos I sometimes use when I go to campus.   

My only gripe is that it’s somewhat of a hassle to open and close if you’re in a hurry. There are two metal ladder locks to hold down the fold-over flap, as well as a drawstring closure to keep the main compartment closed. If you’re running a little late, these can be kind of a bother to deal with, but I suppose you could also leave them open without too much danger. The fold-over cover should be enough to deter thieves.

Photos of the bag online make it look kind of silly, but only because they stuff it so much that it looks like some kind of mini-jet pack with thrusters on the sides. In practical use, I think it’s quite handsome. With its vintage inspired design, it’s obviously a fashionable backpack, but not one that looks overly fancy. It also allows someone like me, a 33-year old grad student, to wear a backpack without feeling like he’s on his way to social studies class. 

(As an aside, Jesse was selling this amazing Japanese mountaineering backpack sometime last year. It sounded like it was too big for my purposes, but boy – did it look great). 

It was my birthday + my wife loves me = I’m watching the mailbox for one of these mf’ers.

James at Secret Forts offers a wonderful roundup of beautiful rucksacks.

1 - Lightly padded back panel provides overall structure and protection from awkward cargo. Pack rides closely and load does not sag.
2 - Shoulder straps attach into side seam, curving straps around body for comfort.
3 - Twin outer bellows pockets are easy to access and are nicely sized for smaller personal items.
4 - Single Horween Chromexcel leather strap is light, durable, and convenient.
5 - Dimension is taller and narrower. Loads carry best in this configuration.
6 - Drawstring around top opening keeps load secure and further prevents bag flopping.
7 - Two inch wide webbing shoulder straps are perfectly comfortable for loads up to 25 or 30 pounds.
8 - Convenient locker loop.
9 - Double-layered bottom ensures a long life.
10 - Fully finished inside and out. Seams fully bound in our own waxed canvas bias tape. Stress points are bar-tacked or riveted. Snaps and rivets are reinforced with leather washers.

Those folks over at Archival Clothing are KILLING IT.  Their method is basically: figure out all the different stuff you can do right, then do all that stuff right.  This rucksack is the bee’s knees.