Finally, the production samples made from reclaimed billboards are in…and they came out sick!  

 

So many of the early prototypes I had to make by hand, so when I went out to test the materials and construction of the pack I was really only testing my ability to stitch a backpack. So, having never even used a sewing machine before you can imagine the prototypes were aesthetically and structurally sloppy.

 

The samples are all black for a reason....The billboards are solid black or white on the back side, so as much as I like the random colors and graphics, it was equally important to have a consistent / standard color option as well.

 

I just picked up 5 Street Packs, and have 5 – 10 more on the way.  I am personally beating up one of the prototypes so I can get a sense of where the weak points are if any.Also, for the first time I am able to test the stitching for water resistance. The packs were initially intended to be heat welded together like a conventional dry bag guaranteeing a water tight submersible pack and after testing the reclaimed billboard is capable of being welded. However, the major problem is cost. Welding the seams will be over twice the cost to stitch. So, some of the fine tuning to the design I’ve been working on in the past few weeks has been testing different methods of keeping the water out with out having to weld the seams.  So far so good.