Giving new life to old bags courtesy of a Laotian tailor.

[Victor Lin]

I’m so stoked right now. I’ve been stuck in Pakse, Laos for the last 3 months due to COVID-19 but it’s been dandy.

I have a 15-year-old Granite Gear Nimbus Ozone and a 10-year-old REI Flash 22 that are both pretty rough around the edges. Both are top-loading and they have always been a pain in the ass to get things packed in the bottom.

It got to the point where I was just going to chuck out my old, frustrating, tattered gear and drop several hundred dollars to get a Z-Pack Arc Haul Zip and have the best of both worlds – a top loader and a side loader – but then COVID-19 happened and I got stuck in Laos.

Well, a met a local tailor that handmakes handbags made with bamboo fabrics from the local ethnic hill tribes, explained what I wanted, and he expertly put in a double-zippered panel loader into my Nimbus Ozone and two very long side zips put into my Flash 22 (yes, that’s a tripod and selfie stick inside the Flash that I can now get out effortlessly). Plus he patched up all the holes in both bags and reinforced all load-bearing spots like the shoulder strap attachments. Knowing that zippers are a potential weak spot, he strategically located the zippers in areas that are supported by compression straps.

Total cost?

$5 for the Nimbus Ozone.
$5 for the Flash 22.

I gave him $20.

In the end I saved money and saved another couple of items from going into the trash, and an important lesson was learned: always think about repairing and modifying first before throwing away old gear.

 

[Matthew / BPL]

Wow! Very nice work.

[Nick Gatel]

Yes, nice.

Back around 2011 or so, the Kelty D4 pack I had purchased in 1091 had developed a couple problems. First the foam in the shoulder straps had become rock hard. The second problem was the sewn-in lower nylon panel that separated the main bag from the lower built-in pocket had failed. That is the sewing had come apart and sections of this bottom panel had become thin from years of carrying gear.

I contacted Kelty to see if I could buy replacement straps (yes, a newer design was available for $20) and to see if they could repair the bottom panel. I just assumed I would have to pay for the repair, which was fine since I can’t sew. I was just happy to find someone willing to do the repair.

Kelty gave me instructions on how to ship it (remove bag from the frame, remove the u-wire that holds the top of the bag open). I had to fill out a form with payment information — my credit card information.

A couple weeks after sending it in the repaired bag arrived at my house. It included a note that the repair was free, as the pack had a lifetime guarantee.

I always try to buy products with a “real” lifetime guarantee, although I didn’t know Kelty had offered this. The only problem with lifetime guarantees with much of my older gear is the fact my personal lifetime has exceed the companies’ lifetime — that is, I am still alive and many of these companies are deceased and buried in the graveyard of obsolescence.

[Pedestrian]

“….the repair was free, as the pack had a lifetime guarantee.

I always try to buy products with a “real” lifetime guarantee, although I didn’t know Kelty had offered this. The only problem with lifetime guarantees with much of my older gear is the fact my personal lifetime”

I had a similar experience sending in my ancient North Face pack for repair. I figured I’d have to pay but the repair was done for free. I was of course pleased as I fully expected to pay.

But, they put a note with the repaired pack to the effect “the ‘lifetime’ in the guarantee refers to the lifetime of the pack NOT the lifetime of the purchaser of the pack”.

Not that I was going to send that pack in for repair again ten years later but I did get a kick out of that…..:)

 

[Paul Wagner]

Nice story—and beautiful work on your pack.

[Eric Blumensaadt]

Congrats on finding that tailor and on “recycling” you old packs into more useable renewed packs.

I had a similar experience when I was in the Peace Corps in the Philippines. I bought an OD canvas Filipino army  top loading  day pack. Then I took it to a tailor and told him how I wanted a compartment sewn inside the top 1/2 of the pack, with its floor slanting down toward my back do the load was kept close to my back.  He did it perfectly and I used it for years after, finally giving it to a Boy Scout troop.

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