When Keyana Sapp, 31, went shopping for a new backpack, the brands he remembered as a kid were just not the same.
He researched the companies, from North Face to JanSport and Eastpak, and soon realized they were all owned by the VF Corporation after a wave of acquisitions in the 2000s. After a Reddit post he made about his discovery picked up traction, he started looking at other types of consumer goods – cookware, shoes, tools, clothing.
“It seems like that was a story that just repeated in every industry,” Sapp told the Guardian.
Try Tom Bihn backpacks. I’ve had my Synik 30 for five years, it’s flown internationally for work shit, and it’s my daily driver to and from work. They’re not cheap though… I got mine as a Christmas gift with multiple people chipping in.
They’re watchlisted, heh.
https://ledger.worseonpurpose.com/brands/tom-bihn
I won’t need another backpack anytime soon though, and I know where to get good ones if I’m willing to drop enough cash. But I like being low budget when possible.
Always good to learn sewing or find a friend that does in this enshittified world
About four years ago we got our kid a used imported Japanese schoolboy backpack. It’s still in daily use, and all his friends have to get new ones every year because the pieces of shit all fall apart.
Edit: they’re called randoseru and they’re perfect