There seems to be a small movement toward locally made (or at least North American made) more durable long lasting products. Smaller homes and with gas prices I’ll bet smaller vehicles too. I like buying good and often expensive but long lasting good fitting hard wearing stuff. Function over form.
But we are all slaves to fashion. You have to wear the right stuff to fit in and not stand out. It’s why riders like to wear flat pedal shoes and clothes that look like they may have doing something other than riding when they go to a coffee shop after a ride. Wouldn’t want to be identified as a cyclist in cycling clothes. Oh the shame.
Packs are a funny thing. No pack is more comfortable than no pack at all. So we see this unending search for the perfect pack. Might be why people buy packs often. They are searching for a comfortable pack when none exists. There have been advancements recently though. The running vest has caused many packs to suddenly fit better and have good pockets on the straps. Why that didn’t happen years ago is beyond me. Years ago as in 40 years when I was a geologist we all wore cruiser vests or mapping vests. We needed pockets for notebooks, compass, bug juice, magnets, dilute HCl (for testing for CaCO3. It fizzes) if the article you want is handy, you are far more likely to use it. Like a small saw to clear a bit of slide alder. Or bear spray or bug dope, sun screen etc. buried in a pack somewhere means taking off the pack and searching for the item. And these days of Trailforks you won’t that phone handy to check trails.
The real advantage to frame or bike stored tools is that one can use any of their packs or no pack and repair stuff is ready. No need to own multiple tools and tubes and such for each bag or to transfer items to each pack one might own.
May 19, 2022, 9:10 a.m. - Andy Eunson
There seems to be a small movement toward locally made (or at least North American made) more durable long lasting products. Smaller homes and with gas prices I’ll bet smaller vehicles too. I like buying good and often expensive but long lasting good fitting hard wearing stuff. Function over form. But we are all slaves to fashion. You have to wear the right stuff to fit in and not stand out. It’s why riders like to wear flat pedal shoes and clothes that look like they may have doing something other than riding when they go to a coffee shop after a ride. Wouldn’t want to be identified as a cyclist in cycling clothes. Oh the shame. Packs are a funny thing. No pack is more comfortable than no pack at all. So we see this unending search for the perfect pack. Might be why people buy packs often. They are searching for a comfortable pack when none exists. There have been advancements recently though. The running vest has caused many packs to suddenly fit better and have good pockets on the straps. Why that didn’t happen years ago is beyond me. Years ago as in 40 years when I was a geologist we all wore cruiser vests or mapping vests. We needed pockets for notebooks, compass, bug juice, magnets, dilute HCl (for testing for CaCO3. It fizzes) if the article you want is handy, you are far more likely to use it. Like a small saw to clear a bit of slide alder. Or bear spray or bug dope, sun screen etc. buried in a pack somewhere means taking off the pack and searching for the item. And these days of Trailforks you won’t that phone handy to check trails. The real advantage to frame or bike stored tools is that one can use any of their packs or no pack and repair stuff is ready. No need to own multiple tools and tubes and such for each bag or to transfer items to each pack one might own.