The full line of bags from Nepenthes brand South 2 West 8‘s Fall/Winter 2011 collection. Made in America and sold in Japan with the exception of the Nepenthes store in New York, unless there are other shops that I am unaware of that deal Nepenthes goods. The collection touches on just about every rugged bag archetype: the Jansport/Kelty daypack, Duluth canoe, Filson satchel, etcetera. See the entire lookbook here.
Rivendell Bicycle Works was founded by Grant Peterson in 1994 after Bridgestone USA went under due to a steady loss of sales. Inventor of the mustache bar (XO series!) and the very first cyclist accused of being a retro-grouch. For those not familiar with this term a retro-grouch is a cyclist who prefers an older standard of parts- leather saddles over padded synthetics, quill stems over threadless, steel frames over aluminum or carbon, and so on. Pictured: a Rivendell Quickbeam and Romulus owned by the author of vélo-flâneur.
Rivendell Mountain Works is a pack company known for it’s frameless Jensen pack (named after climber Don Jensen) that has been brought back to life after dying out in 1981. The packs are still cut and sewn by hand in America and the company is operated by just one man. A real great value for a lasting American product available with a handful of extras on both their Jensen packs and smaller daypacks. Pictured: the current offerings from RMW, a Jensen pack in use in the North Cascades, and the Mariposa daypack.
Suggested reading: What The Hell is a BOB? & Interview with Eric Hardee
A gift from my new sponsor Countyline General. Clips right onto any zipper pull for the unexpected shower.. taped seams, nifty zippers, and all that good stuff.
Filed under gear, private collection
Kaufmann Mercantile’s take on the Duluth Scout pack: a couple inches wider and longer in size, an added top handle, copper/nickel hardware, and the brand patch removed. Available for pre-order.
Filed under gear
A good camera bag is hard to come by and personally I’ve never really found or owned one I particularly liked very much. Why not just turn a good bag into a good camera bag with a help of a padded insert or do it yourself?
Filed under gear, photography, usa
Illustrations by Ben Lamb for a full spread Oi Polloi advertisement found in issue 4 of Manzine. Reminiscent of the ads found in the back pages of old Backpacker magazines with a modern twist. Love the “Crampons not included!” label on the Fracap boots.. as if they could handle them!
• Oneupmanship Journal: Manzine, Oi Polloi
• Cold Splinters: CAMPMOR
Vintage daypacks from Bridge of Sapporo, they’ve got quite a collection of them as well as boots, parkas, fleeces, everything! Must have been an interesting time when these companies were so experimental with their designs, walk into any store today and you’d be hard pressed to find gear this fun.
cork grips 