Making the perfect backpack (for me), part 1

One day, with no sewing experience, I went down a rabbit hole to build myself a new “do everything” weekday backpack.

1+ year and ~5 tries later, I think I finally did it.

My new daily driver

About my backpack needs

I live in Oakland and bike + BART to work. I didn’t own a car for 11 years. I’m usually gone all day – out of the house within an hour of waking up and asleep within an hour of coming home. I really don’t like switching between backpacks, so one bag has to accommodate basically my whole life.

That means carrying my bike stuff, work stuff, and climbing stuff, which occasionally means bringing a 40 meter rope. I also grab groceries on my way home, and I like buying lots of fruit and vegetables. Since I’m biking, it all has to go into the backpack, a grocery bag won’t cut it.

Interestingly, while this sounds like a lot of stuff, I usually don’t need more than 12L on a daily basis, so I like to carry small bags that can turn into big bags when I need them to. I’m also 5’5, so small bags fit my frame better.

I found the Ultimate Direction Fastpack 15 many years ago and it’s mostly perfect, although it’s gotten increasingly raggedy over the years. While I still use it, I wanted to start finding its replacement before it completely fails. It also feels a little silly to bring a bag in this condition to work even though my coworkers are incredibly gracious about it.

I’ve loved this bag to death over the past ~8 years

Why I became an amateur bag maker

I wasn’t necessarily attached to making a backpack at first. I tried to buy another Fastpack 15, but it was discontinued. I considered something in UD’s current lineup, but they’re for ultrarunning and the Fastpack 15’s laptop carrying capability was a happy accident, not a conscious feature. I also wanted to be able to find something that could carry a climbing rope.

I started looking in the alpine/fastpacking world since I knew those bags had ropes in mind, but they also didn’t carry a laptop well, which is the #1 most important feature for me. And commuter bags that can carry a laptop aren’t light or able to double in size on a whim.

After trying the incredibly expensive HMG Aero 28 and not liking it, I realized that throwing my money at the problem wasn’t going to solve it, so I decided to put matters in my own hands and make my own.

Stay tuned for Part 2, which will be about my sewing and make-your-own-gear (MYOG) journey.