If you love to walk and travel freely, and stay organized, and wear natural fibers…this backpack is for you. Here’s the story of how it developed… now featuring beeswax treated cotton for superior water repellancy!
It’s all about Body Mechanics and Ergonomics
I live a very active on-the-go lifestyle and because of that my daypack is one of my most important pieces of equipment for organizing my life. And especially as a walker, biker, traveler my daypack became an essential part of my overall personal material culture system. I have drawn a lot of my inspiration from nomadic cultures who were specialists in rewilding and minimalism trying to bring my life ever closer to a merging of the modern and the ancestral.
Over many years I thought about what I would like for the perfect daypack because non of them seemed to really work well. They weren’t comfortable or they weren’t well organized and almost always synthetic.
What I wanted was a lot of small closable pockets, natural material, and the exact perfect size. But what finally got me to break down and design my own pack was I had a theory that a new strapping system would be far superior and worth the effort.
I designed this daypack after making a major discovery—The Cross Chest Strapping System™
The way this happened was I was trying to figure out why a bicycle messenger bag felt in some ways more comfortable than a backpack. What was the mechanism for this? I sometimes carried my messenger bag while walking and would then slide it to my back like a backpack and the one strap would be sitting across my chest. This wasn’t perfect because it would of course slide down from time to time and restrict movement. So I thought, why not combine the best qualities of the messenger bag with the best qualities of the more secure and balanced backpack?
I had to devise a way to put it on and off, because the straps no longer just get strung inside the arms/shoulders. I went through several prototypes over several years until I came up with the current design.
There are several major synergistic advantages to the cross chest strapping system.
1—More efficient movement patterns which means you get more energy from your walking. Meaning you can walk faster and further with less effort.
This is due to
a) As you walk your daypack moves up and down. This system keeps the pack more secure to your body so there is much less moving of the pack.
b) This is partly due to how the weight bearing part of the pack is closer to your center of gravity (your breast bone instead of your shoulders) and
b) Freeing up your shoulders from the restriction placed on them from a standard daypack with straps which constantly pull back on your shoulders.
c) If your shoulders are bearing the weight, the pack will move constantly as your arms are swinging as you walk. Eliminating that movement creates much more efficient body mechanics.
d) Traditional shoulder straps cut into the skin around the shoulders. This pack frees up circulation to the shoulders and thus also neck and head because no strap cutting into that part of your body.
2—So comfortable you often forget you are even wearing it because there is so little material touching your body.
Much cooler to wear for same reason.
Doesn’t need padding on the straps because the weight is distributed so well which means less material getting in your way.
3—Doesn’t need an extra strap to hold the two shoulder straps together because they stay together by their efficient design, which means less work getting the pack on and off and less material making you hot.
4—They also readjust themselves as you move in different ways without you needing to manage it yourself.
5—Doesn’t slide around but stays put because of the dynamics created by the cross chest system. The pack realigns itself with natural physics without you needing to shrug your shoulders to do it.
6—When moving through the forest, climbing boulders, crawling…the pack won’t slide as much as a shoulder strapping pack, but will instead hold tighter to your body.
7—Zippered pockets and tight drawstring top closure allow contents to stay secure even when moving in unusual ways through the forest like crawling, scrambling, climbing.
8—Can swing the pack around in front of you to get things out of it without taking the pack off. Do this by unclipping one strap then swing the pack to your front like a kangaroo. Extremely handy when checking out at a store.
9—Multiple pockets for easily organizing all your important belongings.
I keep water bottle and rain gear in the two outer side pockets.
Valuable things like wallet and change in inner pocket.
Phone in outer upper pocket since need to have easy access when getting a call.
10- The Perfect Size for most day trips.
After testing many backpacks over the years I came to the conclusion there is a certain size that is the most efficient being not to small or too large. I want enough room to stuff extra clothing and maybe also foraging things I find along the way.
If too large things move around and it doesn’t fit well on the body.
If too small…of course it just doesn’t work.
This pack works for the city as well as the trail.
I have one for each so I will be ready to grab the trail pack and save time repacking/organizing for my hikes. I keep it stocked with first aid kit, rain gear, water bottle.
Why not have multiple daypacks like we have multiple drawers and cabinets?
For the city I can carry my 15” laptop, along with all my other stuff. Any bigger pack would be in the way.
On the trail there is room for my first aid kit, maps, snacks, water bottle, rain gear, field guides, notebook, and extra clothing.
The minimalist design with top loading drawstring closure system keeps things simple.
11—Saves unhealthy shoulder stress created by slinging on a traditional shoulder strapping daypack.
Quick and easy to unload your pack when you need to with less body movement. Simply unclip the straps and the pack is off. Especially handy at airport security.
12—Can also use only one strap at a time if the load is light. This makes it a little simpler when not walking far for getting it off and on.
13—Stylish natural eco modern look.
14—Durable organic canvas with water-repellant beeswax treatment will last many years with heavy use.
15—Machine washable to keep it looking green and clean!