by "CCC (formerly CyclistCarCoexist)" (ccpbb)
Published 02/16/2017 at 03:10
by "CCC (formerly CyclistCarCoexist)" (ccpbb)
Published 02/16/2017 at 03:10
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One of my favorite backpack companies is closing its doors. They’re like the GoRuck of Australia, but less pretentious and less macho. They were functional and got the job done. Like my new Pebble Time Steel, it’s now a product that will be forgotten into a sea of homogeneity. More of my thoughts on enthusiast brands.
Hi
I had a Columbia Half Track bag throughout middle and high school. It was made of the finest material the Koch Brothers could provide but seemed to survive many levels of abuse. It managed to fit (awkwardly) a fire extinguisher loaded up with water when me and my buddies thought we should film a horror movie. A clarinet was crammed in there one too many times, testing the strength of the zippers and material. It survived without issue.
By my senior year of high school, this bag was very...tired. Countless tosses to the ground had resulted in the 600 denier fabric on the bottom to be drastically thin. The straps were getting to be quite unbearable with books and a laptop. A buckle was broken and cracked from it being caught in a middle school PE locker. The back was nasty and full of dust from a hyperactive teenager lifestyle.
I came across BOGear when I was on some Specialized designer’s Instagram. At first glance, it was distinctively military but was approachable. It was full of colors that were not solely came or a fatigued sand color. It was what I needed.
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BOGear is a weird company. Their Youtube page is full of the affable founder explaining the little weird helpful features of their bags. They ranged from the hidden fold in the bags for the hydration pouch to literal demonstrations to how the bag was used. They had a staff of 7 and did custom orders to an extent I’m not sure other companies would do. You could get a bag exclusively made from Cordura scraps. You could theoretically micromanage the thread colors on your MOLLE webbing. If you had some Kangaroo leather, they could make a sick bag with Cobra buckles. It was at the grassroots level and had the capacity to customize a bag to your taste.
My experience with BOGear
I actually gave in and bought one of their bags. I’ll spare you the details, but it’s a Spare Camel. It was an incredibly complex backpack; and it was obviously advertised to enthusiasts. It had features that made no financial sense to put into mass production. They didn’t outsource their production of their bags (I’ll go into that later).
The one thing I admired was the “Australia Made” label. It gave me some sort of hope this bag was made by someone who wasn’t getting paid squalid wages in Vietnam. It harked back to the era in the United States where things were made to last and how design did not take a seat behind mass production. They were doing what Jonathan Ward wanted to do. Unadultered production of the designer, combined with the most durable materials on the market.
My bag had some issues when I received it, as the MOLLE stitching was highly inconsistent in quality. Dave (the founder/owner) replied to my email about this and wanted to send me a replacement. I refused, citing how the bag was 2 months old and how people abuse return policies in the retail sector. I only requested QC be tightened, and Dave made an initiative to talk to his team about preventing this issue.
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OnePlus, Pebble, Porsche, and BOGear share one thing in common: they were originally “enthusiast” brands. They served niche markets with specialized products to fit such a product.
OnePlus : they made 349 dollar phones that steamrolled over Samsung’s flagships. Their “One” phone ran Cyanogen builds, and rooting was not penalized with bricking. OnePlus phones are also built to last.
Pebble: they made one of the first smartwatches which was functional. The Pebble had an open API and was extremely simple. It was aimed at developers and Silicon Valley people. It has few functions, but the open API and hackability overcame the general crappiness of the product.
Porsche: they make sports cars with the engine behind the rear axle. They took a flawed concept and tried to make it work.
There is a crucial step in any company when they pivot from niche enthusiast markets to the mainstream market. OnePlus has been doing that with the OPX and the OP3/T. They are heavily advertising in Europe and online but still are trying to undercut their competitors. Pebble tired to pivot with the Time 2 and the Core. They failed when people realized how the Apple Watch made the Pebble look like a plastic toy and how improvement was extremely marginal. Porsche started cutting costs on their cars, they made the 911 drivable by normal people, and they have created the Cayenne.
BOGear bags cost around 200-350 dollars a piece, and there was consumer demand for a cheaper one. They ended up developing the Subbie, that would not be made in Australia , but would be made in Vietnam. It would be cost 100 dollars and would be able to bring BOGear to the masses. I presume this experiment failed, as BOGear is winding down.
I recall my dad looking at my padded SF-Bay Area made laptop sleeve. He inspected it and asked “how much did it cost?” I lied and said 50 dollars. He scoffed at the price and said they were losing money, as it usually cost around 60 dollars an hour in production costs for custom items.
Let me leave you with this video.
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"DipodomysDeserti" (dipodomysdeserti)
02/16/2017 at 07:55, STARS: 0
The US was actually pretty flush in high end, American made backpack/textile brands about ten years ago. The problem is most of them made military type stuff and thus are ugly. When the Iraq and Afghan wars were in full swing, it was pretty easy to find high end domestically produced Cordura packs as the companies had to stay Berry compliant in order to sell to the military. Some of the really successful brands ended up being bought out by larger companies which then started producing their consumer stuff overseas. I still have an old, American made Eagle pack which has been the most most durable backpack I’ve ever owned. I’ve had this thing for almost ten years, and have used it as a 1-2 day desert backpacking pack for all of that time. It’s also my primary motorcycle pack. It’s held up to desert rock and sand very well with no noticeable wear. The only brands I can think of off the top of my head that is still 100% made in the US is Tactical Tailor and SOTech. I have a few So Tech med pouches that have been bulletproof for about a decade.