"How Much?!"
We're normal folk. We get that our bags really aren't cheap. But there's good reason why they cost considerably more than your average bags...
We know that our bags are not for everyone, and that’s ok. But nonetheless, we are proud of why they are expensive. We are certainly not trying to be elitist or to price people out. In fact, far from it. Instead, we are simply doing what we think is right – for the planet, for the makers, for you, and for the love of fine craftspersonship.
None of which is cheap.
Cheap is mass produced. Cheap is impersonal. Cheap is bad design. Cheap wears out, not in. Cheap is environmental pollution. Cheap is poor pay and bad conditions. Cheap is a race to the bottom.
And, we’re not taking part.
A better way
Our way is very different, and through it we hope to encourage people to think more closely about what they buy; to reevaluate what expensive really means.
We hope they might begin to see that a lower cost to them usually means a higher price elsewhere. Often to the planet, and to others, but not in pounds and pence.
In contrast, our ambition is to create masterpieces of forward-thinking sustainable product design. Backpacks that outshine and outlast all others.
To us that means working only with the very finest, most durable natural, organic and recycled ingredients – ingredients that we've turned every corner of Britain to find.
It means every bag being individually handmade – slowly, carefully, beautifully – by Lesley, in her studio at the bottom of her garden. And that, when she is finished, she signs like an artist signs their work.
There are no factories, no vague QC checks, just great passion and high-grade skill and dedication.
This approach to making takes time. Sometimes people have to wait weeks, even months, to get their pack. Not because we have our feet up – that level of quality and detail simply takes a while.
Plus, your pack will last a lifetime; you’ll find it’s worth the wait.
Better with age and adventure
By investing in one of our packs, you’re helping support a well-paid master maker and keeping traditional skills alive, rather than helping keep an unknown someone, somewhere, down.
And, by using your pack day after day, year after year, seeing it get better with age and adventure, growing in character, fixing it when needed rather than sending it to landfill, your pack is not only performing for you as a trusty companion, but sustaining the environment, too.
And that’s all got to be worth something, right? We certainly think so.
Better in the long run
To make our backpacks here in the UK costs a pretty penny. We know they are not cheap. But we also know that the difference in price is the difference in values and the pinnacle level of standards we achieve.
So, we stand by our prices. We are not from privilege and nor are we here to get rich. We are here to shine a light on a different way. To give people new choice, and also great joy.
By sharing our methods we hope to challenge others’ thinking. Better still, we hope that from now on you might always choose to invest in something extra special.
Buy less, buy better.
In the long run, it benefits everyone.
View British Made Backpacks
Dan Fowler
More adventures
Making a wooden surfboard
A little while ago, I headed to the rugged north coast of Cornwall to spend a week making my own wooden surfboard...like you do. It'd been on my bucket list to do an Otter Surfboards workshop for...well, since I found out that it existed! I met the wonderful human that is founder James Otter at the Do Lectures back in 2015. We became good pals and all the more so since we upped sticks from Sheffield and moved down to Cornwall in early 2019. There's a few more waves rolling in down here than in the Peak District you see....
Forest living
Ahead of moving house and becoming parents, we were well ready for some downtime. So we escaped to Campwell Woods for a few nights...
Our Time to Mull
It was a spur of the moment thing. We were staying in the van, just making it up as we went along. So, with no expectations, we booked ferry tickets across to the Isle of Mull.Kudhva: 'Hideout'
Kudhva means 'Hideout' in Cornish. Tucked away on the north coast of Cornwall, we couldn't wait to get a taste of the hidden treasure for ourselves.