A backpack with a 25 YEAR guarantee

I was browsing through Kickstarter campaigns late at night (dangerous thing to do) and stumbled across this.

The Quarter Century Backpack



This thing is already ridiculously overfunded, but the cool thing is that there's still 17 days left in the campaign, and they're doing some deep discounting on these bags during that time.

There's still 4 duffel bags left at the $95 level, and 81 of the early bird priced backpacks at $159.




I mean seriously, a 25 year guarantee. My husband SHREDS backpacks all the time, just loads them down with tons of weight and takes them everywhere with him. Seriously, I might be in trouble here This is a pretty cool campaign.

Someone talk me down.

Looks interesting, but what are the odds that "a small product team in Los Angeles, CA" is going to be around in 25 years (or heck, even 3 years) to honor the guarantee?

I'm a great fan of ex-military backpacks.  I paid £12.50 for mine several years ago and it still looks brand new.  I strongly suspect it will outlive me!

For carrying much lighter and smaller stuff, I bought one of these Quechua Arpenaz 10L Hiking Backpack which unbelievably comes with a ten year warranty.



I dread to thing about how ethically they've been made though.  I'm much happier buying used stuff.

John Wolfram wrote:Looks interesting, but what are the odds that "a small product team in Los Angeles, CA" is going to be around in 25 years (or heck, even 3 years) to honor the guarantee?

This is my concern too - it's a bold promise to make, but 25 years is a long time for a company like that to survive.

My last backpack lasted at least 25 years ( a not very expensive Gregory by REI) but just recently whatever they lined it with, some sort of waterproofing I guess, has deteriorated and become a sticky goo.  Other than that it's looking good and been through a lot of hard use at times. I just threw it in the washing machine to see if that would change the sticky stuff and it did seem to make it less tacky.

There's much to be said for natural materials through out though......Lovely as it is, I'm afraid that kickstarter backpack is way out of our 'budget'.  

I'll probably be shopping at the nearest army surplus for my next one, and figure this time I'll be passing it on to the grandkids, doubt I have another 25 years of carrying a backpack

Judith Browning wrote:There's much to be said for natural materials through out though......Lovely as it is, I'm afraid that kickstarter backpack is way out of our 'budget'.  

Yea, me too if I'm over here being a responsible adult. I actually one a $100 backpack in a work thing a couple of years ago that was our bug out bag, but I've since handed it over to my husband in the hopes that it will survive him Poor guy, he just works a lot and takes a backpack full of stuff with him to get him through his long days.

Those natural materials are what I'm a sucker for there though - waxed canvas and leather...I have some cheapo $20 faux leather bag I've been using as a diaper bag that already needs some repairs, but this might be a bit big for those purposes too.

Destiny -

Have you ever heard of the Duluth pack company? Duluthpack.com

They are manufactured right in Duluth, MN. The bags I have seen were amazingly well constructed. I am a seamstress and those bags rival what I would do for my own if I had the right machine.

Good luck in your search

Osprey


http://www.ospreypacks.com/us/en/customer-support/all-mighty-guarantee

Lifetime warranty by this company.  My first choice for performance, but they are an investment. Then again you get what you pay for.

Another great company that makes pretty durable bags is Maxpedition. They have a Limited Lifetime Warrenty. I've never had to cash in the warrenty. But, I use the Thermite bag as a purse, and I've had it for three and a half years, and it's still going strong. No problems with the zippers, or buckles or threads coming loose--and I pack that thing to the max. It was $47 when I ordered it through amazon, but now it's selling for $61, with the grey one on sale for $40.



They have a lot of other really neat bags and backpacks, too. They all have great compartmentalization from what I've read (my little bag sure does!). Some of them are said to make excellent diaper bags. A lot of their bags are on closeout sale right now, with the cheapest backpack (the Pygmy Falcon II) being $79. Their shoulder bags are also on closeout sale, selling as low as $60.

As for where they are made, as far as I can find out, they are made in Taiwan (that's what this site said: http://www.militarymorons.com/misc/maxgear.html). They are also made out of nylon, not natural fibers.

So, while I'm sad they aren't made here, they really do seem to be excellent, hard-wearing bags.

Edit: Editing to add that the prices I quoted are from their site. They may be cheaper on Amazon, and have a wider range of colors. I noticed that the bag I have is going for $50-58 on amazon (https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B001BTTC26/ref=oh_aui_detailpage_o00_s00?ie=UTF8&psc=1) and comes in two more colors than they sell on their site.

Ugh. My cheap Target backpack I was using as a diaper bag finally broke this past weekend. I need to find a way to sew new straps on it. But for that I need leather needles and thimbles. Grrrr.

Destiny Hagest wrote:Ugh. My cheap Target backpack I was using as a diaper bag finally broke this past weekend.

Did you repair or find a new one? We have an old one.

Jerry McIntire wrote:

Destiny Hagest wrote:Ugh. My cheap Target backpack I was using as a diaper bag finally broke this past weekend.

Did you repair or find a new one? We have an old one.

I ended up just buying a proper diaper bag backpack new not my favorite solution, but I didn't have time to fix my old one, and I think because of the material, it would have just ripped in the same spot again. It's in my sewing room awaiting my attention after I get caught up on my insulated roman shades.