I have been overly obsessing about getting a new backpack for the past week without any reasonable way to move forward. I came across this bag because I was searching for something that holds my lunch box and laptop in a tinier volume. Here is what I found from Decathlon UK which not only fits my needs but looks stylish as well! Now, although I can work around with other backpacks for my use case, I really want to get my hands on this one.

Although the same backpack is available in other countries like Ireland, Italy and other EU countries, I have been unable to obtain this on the US site. Writing to the customer care has not been helpful as they asked me to get it from a third-party forwarded from elsewhere.

While I have acquaintances in EU, I wouldn't consider them close enough to have it shipped to the US as a gift (de minimis rule is going away by 29th August, so there will be extra tariffs!). I looked into it getting from a forwarding service and eat the cost, but it is stupid expensive and overall I am looking at about 80-100€. As a student, that is not viable either.

I kinda grew too attached to the idea of using this for my everyday carry for college since I only carry a laptop, a notebook and a lunch box. And I love small backpacks. At this point, I am giving up on getting it :(

Do you have any suggestions on how to get this backpack to the States?

Hi Tildes, I would like to share a DIY backpack repair I recently completed.

I have had the LTT backpack since it was launched. It has been incredibly durable, but I have used it so much that some parts wearing out is to be expected. I got one of the zipper replaced through the warranty, but the bottom of the back side was wearing out too. Here is a picture showing the damage. The white fabric sticking out is some internal padding. The stitching didn't come out, the black fabric just wore down enough to start disintegrating. Right after that picture, I secured the worn edge with a simple whip stitch to prevent it from falling apart more.

I considered a few different repair methods, but nothing seemed too appealing. I considered trying to learn how to darn for this repair, but I thought that I wouldn't like the edges of the darn patch. Also, the fabric in that area was so thin that I didn't think it would hold a direct darn repair. I also got a quote from a local repair shop, but they wanted to just cover the area with a new piece of fabric, which wouldn't have looked good.

Around this same time, I bought myself a cross stitch kit for Christmas, to pass the time on the many train trips I was taking. I got quite interested in the hobby, and that got me thinking: maybe I could make a cross stitch repair? Cross stitch isn't very durable, or used for repair, but if it only lasted a few months, it would at least be a fun project.

At first, I was looking into simple cross stitch border patterns like this one. I ruled those out simply because most would have been too tall for the repair I was hoping for. I also liked the idea of creating my own pattern. Since it was an LTT backpack, I wanted to keep with the tech theme. I was also inspired by the dbrand circuit board pattern that was released around the time I started this project. I liked how it evoked the design of a functional circuit board. So I decided to make my own cross stitch pattern.

I eventually came up with this pattern. I liked the idea of the central chip being rotated 45 degrees, since many geometric cross stitch patterns focus on 90 degree angles. I also wanted some different symmetries in different places. The traces connected to the central chip are rotationally symmetric, then a dissimilar patch, and then mirror symmetry traces after that, and dissimilar edges. The left side was meant to represent a USB or similar port soldered to the board. The right side is a wireless chip, with a PCB antenna.

For anyone who is experienced with cross stitch, there is already some unique features of this pattern. Cross stitch typically deals with complete X stitches, shown as pixels in the pattern. My pattern has a bunch of partial stitches, where the X has half of it with a different color. I wanted to use partial stitches to make what looked like thin PCB traces without having everything be 90 degrees (and 90 degree angles are a big no-no in PCB design). I also have some singleton stitches that are off the standard grid for the rest of the piece (supposed to represent vias).

Next for the materials. Originally I considered metallic filament. It is shiny and sparkly, which would fit in with the PCB aesthetic. However basically everyone on the internet says that metallic embroidery filament is incredibly annoying and difficult to use, and that it should be used sparingly. Then I stumbled onto DMC étoile, which means star in french. These are standard embroidery filaments that also have a plastic sparkly thread with the cotton threads, so they give some sparkly effect without being too loud. The effect is quite difficult to see on camera, but looks very good in person. I also decided to use 28 count linen in black. (The internet also heavily recommended against using black, and it definitely made the stitching experience more difficult.)

Et voilà ! I think it came out absolutely fantastic. Also, bonus pic of the back so you can critique my stitches. The partial stitches weren't too difficult once I got the hang of it. I buried the start and end threads under as many other stitches I could for extra strength, and didn't cut/restart stitches if possible. I also experimented with different floss thread counts, but I decided on 3 instead of the standard 2. Then I washed it and applied an iron-on interface backing material to try and keep the floss from coming out.

Finally, after a few months of having my backpack in the repair shop for the zipper (long story), I had it back and could try and finish the repair. Sewing it on was surprisingly difficult, mostly because I didn't have access to the back of the work piece. I managed to get a sloppy stitch in that would at least hold it in place, and went back to add a secure whip stitch with a curved needle and double thread. But I think it came out very nice. Final picture 1, and final picture 2. The black fabric doesn't exactly match the black of the backpack, but it isn't too noticeable in person.

And now I have probably the most unique LTT backpack in existence!

Every single backpack I've seen that is functional and has at least some basic organizational features (see Bellroy, Peak Design, Alpaka, etc.) is usually pretty ugly and makes you look like a weird tech bro. And every single backpack that looks good is usually made by a fashion company (eg Zara, Pull&Bear or luxury brands like Prada) and don't have any utility features, only a single big pocket and maybe a laptop sleeve if you're lucky.

I have managed to find one backpack that looks awesome and is actually useful - Sympl Day Backpack. However, I'm out of luck here, because it has been discontinued by the company, and their other backpack models also have that "tech nerd" look to them (although they're not as bad as some other options)

Do you, by any chance, know some backpacks that both look fashionable AND have more than two pockets at the same time?

Edit: there's also Topo Design Daypack Classic which looks good in the black and white variant, but it does lack some useful stuff like laptop sleeve padding

Edit 2: I managed to find another awesome looking backpack! The ISM Bag. I might actually get this one, although $300 is somewhat expensive

Recently I've found myself with my previous backpack running through its life, and its not something I'm confident I could repair myself. As such, I'm on the search for a new daily bag. I'm curious what others look for in a daily bag for work or school, and what options people like right now.

In my infinite wisdom I posted this to r/myog yesterday, just before the blackout started. I'm going to repost it here as a way to gauge how well it fits in on Tildes – this type of post is pretty central to the r/myog community and I am hoping some of us can migrate here.
 

Goldilocks Pack

 
    In April of 2021, lo these many years ago, Reddit user savvlo posted in the r/myog Swap Thread that he was placing a wholesale order for Ecopak Ultra EPL200 and was wondering if anyone wanted a few yards. I had heard of this material and was eager to get my hands on some; none of the major UL pack manufacturers had started offering it yet and the only way to have an Ultra backpack was to build it yourself. I had the skills (4 or 5 packs already under my belt) and I aimed to be one of the first.
 
    Well, so much for that. I fell out of love with MYOG for a year or so, and by then the project seemed so insurmountable that I didn't even know where to start. I did plenty of designing and redesigning (because that's the fun part) but the truth was that I just didn't really need another backpack, so there was no motivation to start a project that would consume dozens of hours. And then finally, this spring, my trusty old Hyperlite started showing its 4000+ miles and gave me the kick I needed to actually make this damn thing.
 
    You can guess from the title that this pack fills a hole in my lineup – for years my two pack options were my 40L Windrider and my 27L summer pack, and most often I found myself wishing I had an in-between option in the 33L range. The MLD Burn fits right in that pocket and after seeing one in action on a high route trip with a friend I knew that was going to be my model. The overall dimensions of my pack match the Burn exactly; the main modifications I've made are to the pockets, straps, and components. The comments in the Imgur album go over the specifics.
 

*this is just my best guess, I don't have a good way to measure volume
 

Thoughts

    I'm from the Midwest and I hate tooting my own horn so you'll know I speak truth when I say that this is, undoubtedly, my finest work. Other than a few trivial mistakes everything pretty much fell together perfectly. This is not normally the case with my projects and naturally it makes me quite nervous.

    The one thing I can't get over is this fabric! I can't believe this stuff only weighs in at 3.5 osy. It feels so much tougher than the Hybrid DCF I'm used to working with; it's so hard to cut through even with my sharp sewing scissors. Only time will tell if this pack really is as tough as it feels, but my hopes are sky high. Thanks for reading and looking at my pictures!