Modern Backpacks for the Urban Adventurer

The Adventure Backpack

Port and Hide is a small, two-man operation based in Brisbane, where they design and manufacture motorcycle leather gear and select lifestyle pieces.

“When it comes to the design aesthetic, I like minimalism and simple lines with more traditional/classic finishes. I feel like there are tasteful leather products and there are really dorky and over the top leather products… that’s why I like to keep my designs simple, I do not want my pieces to be too loud,” says designer Denny.

The Adventure Backpack was created to fill the void for riders, in the Port and Hide aesthetic. So well-received outside of the riding community, they are now looking at designing a smaller version.

“Josh and I have been at it for a few years now designing and building in our garages. We try to source as much material as we can locally and look for the best that we can get,” Denny says.

The Adventure Backpack is made from 2mm thick cowhide. The rivets, buckles and other hardware finishes are made from Brass, utilising different colours and effects. The bags are sewn with high quality thread, consistent with that used for outdoor furniture making the bags extra tough for the elements.

“It takes about four hours to assemble our backpack from the start of the process which is laser-cutting and engraving the design from the leather, to cleaning and assembling. We have done pretty well to really get our efficiency dialled in with this piece by using our laser cutter to accurately cut and engrave the leather to really reduce how much waste material we have, and we have two sewing machines that we use as well.”

Available from Port and Hide.

The Ultimate Rucksack

The Ultimate Rucksack was one of the first items made by Western Australia’s Ghost Outdoors, whose collection includes attractive and functional items for those who like to travel from the office to the swag and back, effortlessly.

“We wanted to create a backpack that simply gets the job done and looks good doing it. A quality product without any fluff. We sat down, discussed all the places we wanted to take this thing and what we wanted to put in it. The result is a streamlined bag with multiple access points and handy pockets for quickly stashing things like your phone and water,” says designer Elizabeth Parker.

“Customers have told us one of their favourite features is the sneaky side access which is super convenient for air travel (whenever we get to do that again).”

There’s even a padded laptop sleeve to quickly whip out your tech that’s particularly helpful when going through airport security.

The colours are custom dyed. WADES REPORT loves the ‘ochre’, a signature Ghost Outdoors look.

“We are now in our fourth production of the rucksacks and whilst the bag may look unchanged, we continue to field test our gear and have made minor changes each production run to make it stronger, better.”

Available from Ghost Outdoors.