We Love Backpacks

Our favorite adventure buddies are strapped to our backs, cheering us along while we get into all kinds of trouble. 

Check out our backpack reviews to make sure yours is the right fit. 

---

HippyTree + JanSport // Watchtower

This collaboration features HippyTree’s fuck-it-we’re-doing-it-our-own-way attitude with the easy no-biggy functionality and affordability of a JanSport. 

$100 // hippytree.com // Made in China

Topo Designs + Woolrich // Rover

Topo makes gear that turns heads on the trail and sidewalk. Woolrich has made woolen goods for over 100 years. Even though this pack was built to be super-useful up on a mountain, while fly fishing and climbing, it doesn’t mean you can’t use the waterproof zippers and 100% wool shell in the city.

$198 // woolrich.com // Made in the USA 

KAVU // Camp Sherman

KAVU makes things that help you suck the fun out of life. They use the hashtag #busylivin because their backpacks are made for hiking, paddling, sky diving, biking, climbing, surfing, vanning, and fun-making.     

$120 // kavu.com // Made in Vietnam

Pack Northwest // Sunbreak 

Handmade by sailors, skaters, backcountry enthusiasts, cyclists, climbers, surfers, and kayakers in Bellingham, WA. This little adventure buddy has all the pockets you need in sturdy rain-resistant perfection.

$175 // packnw.com // Made in Washington

Roark Revival // The Mule Outfitted by Hex

This pack is luxurious and adventurous! Look at the rubberized PV-coated cotton outer shell, the passport pocket, the faux-fur-lined laptop pouch, the hide-able skateboard straps, and the audio port hole. Look at those things!!!

$180 // roarkrevival.com // Made in China

Timbuk2 // Custom 

Choose your own colors to customize your style on their website or at a flagship store. In a world where most backpacks are made overseas to keep costs low, it’s really nice that this company offers a way for you to get involved with the manufacturing conversation by letting you decide how your backpack is made. Plus these laptop-friendly bags come with an on-strap bottle opener for party tricks.

$134 // timbuk2.com // Made in California 

Drifter // Sky Pack                                                                          

This adventure buddy wants to fly with you. Made from 1.9-ounce parachute material, it’s durable and light as a feather. 

$132 // drifterbag.com // Made in Ohio

Burton // Tinder

This color is called the “Beaver Tail Crinkle,” but it comes in other colors. It’s your basic get-in-the-truck pack with all the pockets you need, plus a side-door laptop compartment and good vibes.

$69.95 // burton.com // Made in Asia

Mokuyobi Threads // Alex

These colors like to eat pizza and want to play video games in a hard-to-find mountain tavern on another planet. Space travelers can fill the many pockets with gifts from Earth. The foam walls work as a cooler, so you can bring some cold ones along for the spaceship ride.

$152 // mokuyobithreads.com // Made in California 

Alite Designs // Willow

This top-loading adventure buddy comes with a lifetime warranty, so you’ll be friends for life. It also has a trampoline back panel, removable hip belt, and all the roomy pockets you’ll need for an epic hike to a secret camping and swimming spot.

$100 // alitedesigns.com // Made in the Philippines

Poler // High & Dry Pack

We love this “Mushy Trees” pattern bag. It’s got a zipped-in dry bag within the splash-proof outer bag—perfect for keeping your wetsuit separate from your drysuit. Easy access to the bottom (hee hee). Perfect for your wallet, keys, phone, or vegan beef jerky. 

$149.95 // polerstuff.com // Made in China 

Element // Weekender

Skaters take care of other skaters. That’s what you do as part of a community. When you buy this backpack or others from Element’s Camp Collection, proceeds go to the skate camp they run with the YMCA.

$89.50 // elementbrand.com // Made in Vietnam

---

Other Bags We Love:

Boreas // Bootlegger

Do you adventure in many different ways? Try this badass on for size. A frame with three different backpack options: a submersible waterproof one called the Scrimshaw, a well-organized daypack called the Hopper, and a hydration pack called the Torpedo. It’s way smarter than these words can express.

$199.99 // boreasgear.com // Made in China

Swift Industries // Polaris Porteur Bag

This Seattle-based company knows what’s up with riding through the shit on the daily! All their biking bags are awesome. Like this Polaris Porteur Bag, or their new pannier that turns into a backpack.

$230 // builtbyswift.com // Made in Washington

Wayward Stock // Roll-Top Board Bag

If you surf, you have a love for simple minimalism, just like you’ll find in this roll-top. Fits boards up to 6’8” in the padded cloth-lined bag with a coated polyester shell.

$149.95 // waywardstock.com // Made in Washington 

Rareform // Daylight Noserider

Responsibly made from upcycled advertising billboards with all the stuff you need from a basic board bag: foam padding, fin slot, strap, and more.

$115 // rareform.com // Made in California

Sons of Trade // Land + Sea Duffle Pack

Dooood, this bag is really, really big. We’ve hiked into remote surf spots with this bag carrying three adult wetsuits, two kids’ wetsuits, towels, water bottles, and a couple of superhero action figures, and it never felt too heavy. The two zippers down the side make it really easy to get at stuff down at the bottom of this bottomless canvas and leather bag. 

$210 // sonsoftrade.com // Made in China

Poler // High & Dry Surfboard Bag

Made from the same splash-proof stuff as Poler’s High & Dry Pack, this buddy wants to get surfy. It fits up to a 6’ 6” surfboard in its padded roll-top sheath.

$219.95 // polerstuff.com // Made in China

Sagebrush Bags // Evergreen

Made with organic fair-trade coffee roaster bags, upcycled fabric, and salty ocean love vibes. The water-/wax-resistant liner isn’t bulletproof, but neither are most things that share your road-trip bed. Sizes range from hand-plane tiny to 10-foot-log large and all lengths in between.

$120-150 // sagebrushbags.com // Made in California 

Make an Art Helmet

Check out Nutcase's art contest called Unframed! Anybody can submit helmet designs for the entire month of November for a chance to win a cash prize and put art on helmets across the globe in 2017. Nutcase might also bring chosen artists to Eurobike and Interbike to create live art to benefit World Bicycle Relief. Check out there Unframed archive page for more inspiration. 

Awesome Sun Block

The sun want's to burn you to a cancerous pulp. No joke! That why a lot of use lather up with sun block to protect ourselves. Sadly most the sunblock we use is made of crazy chemicals that are bad for the environment.

That's why the fine folks at Manda went looking for, "Something that performs and is made out of the best possible ingredients" and they found it in the form of an organic paste.

Even though they've way overshot their kickstarter goal, you should kick in a score yourself some of their sun paste. Manda is giving people a chance to change the way we interact with our environment.

MOTORBOAT

Heavy Metal Booze Cruisin' 

By Jeff Edwards

So occasionally I tour manage my friends band The Shrine. Their bass-player Court and I used to be roomates and I have toured with them since their very first West Coast tour in 2011. The dudes called me up to do a US tour starting in the Southwest heading east toward Florida. The caveat was when we got to Florida we would hop on Lemmy's Motorboat and sail to the Bahamas. Basically cruise ship companies realized they can headline huge bands like Slayer and Motorhead and pack their boats with metalheads and charge $1000+ a ticket. It actually works pretty well because no fans are more loyal to their scene than metalheads. 

We hopped on the ship in Miami and dumped all our shit in our stateroom. Since Norwegian Cruise lines comped our tickets we had to share rooms. Court and I shared a room with our buddy Kris Kerk. The rest of the band brought their wives and girlfriends so they got their own individual pork-shacks. 

The problem with cruise ships is you can't bring your own booze. Luckily since The Shrine was playing on the ship so we got a daily rider and on that list was a handle of Jack Daniels and a handle of Jagermeister. Well equipped for the journey ahead, we set sail to the Bahamas. The schedule was pretty well planned; each band would play two sets, that way if we were too drunk or the seating was packed the first night, we could see them again later on the trip. With almost 30 live acts spread across 4 days this was the perfect setup. 

The first day and night the boat sailed straight through to an island called Great Stirrup Cay. This place is owned by Norwegian Cruise line and is basically a party island. There are cabana bars everywhere and white sand beaches to hang out and swim. In the morning they had Heavy Metal Yoga on the beach, but we were too hungover and didn't awaken until noon. We got off the boat and ate some lunch then spent the rest of the day drinking ourselves into an alcoholic haze. The Dead Deads and Dark Before Dawn played on the bandstand at the beach while we chased after iguanas and stared at hermit crabs in the tidepools. 

Back on the boat some highlights were Kyng, Corrosion of Conformity, Exodus and of course Slayer. Afterward we hit up the 24 hour food bar and fell asleep next to a beautiful sandwich. The boat travelled through the night to the island of Nassau. We actually got up early this time so we stepped off the boat into a downpour of rain. 

Nassau is a pretty sketchy place, when we got past the security gate there were at least 20 people asking us if we wanted to rent cars, motorcycles, busses etc. One dude took a look at us and asked if we wanted "party favors." We tried a sniff of coke and it was horrible, he also wanted $150 for a gram so we walked away. We heard him yell "kiss my black ass you fucking whiteboys." What kinda place were we in? Eventually we found a guy with a small bus who offered to give us a tour of the island for 200 bucks. Since there were 19 of us, we wanted to stay together and this was the perfect solution. He drove us through the rich and poor parts of the island, took us to lunch at his favorite seafood place and stopped at the beach so we could swim for a bit. The shorebreak was easily twelve feet high and crashed into six inches of water, it was actually very dangerous so we only swam for half an hour. Since our phones were roaming and weren't connected to the internet, we had no idea we were about to get hit by Hurricane Joaquin. We got back on the ship at it immediately took off full speed. Over the PA the captain announced we were in for a bumpy ride as we were now trying to outrun the hurricane.

That night Anthrax, Huntress and Motorhead played amazing sets even though all the gear was sliding around everywhere. While we had trouble just standing on the boat while it vigorously rocked back and forth, Lemmy was playing bass, singing and rocking the fuck out of the crowd; pretty damn good for a guy who turns 70 this Christmas. The next day was the "Fun at Sea Day." Hatebreed, Others and Suicidal Tendencies rocked the deck stage while everyone was moshing in the swimming pool. There was a fat guy belly flop contest and a motorboat contest where complete strangers got to rub their faces between fake tits. That night Brian Posehn roasted all the bands and Joey Belladonna from Anthrax lead Live Band Karaoke. 

The whole time we were shit-house drunk and no one cared, I assume because everyone else was completely annihilated as well. The best part of the trip, hands down, was the people. Everyone was so stoked to be on the boat and it's this positive energy that keeps heavy metal alive. While we all look like dudes who are gonna rape your dog, everyone of us has the sweetest, warmest heart. The age-old adage "never judge a book by its cover" couldn't be more true on Lemmy's Motorboat.