Topo Designs · Colorado
Topo Designs Backpacks and Bags
The morning commute, the Saturday trail, the Friday-evening train. Topo Designs was born in 2008 in Fort Collins, at the foot of the Rocky Mountains, and has designed flap backpacks, bum bags and crossbody bags for town and trail ever since. Sorted here by use.
The morning commute, the Saturday trail.
The flap backpack
A flap that buckles down over a drawcord: the backpack for every day.
The Rover Pack Classic takes a 15-inch laptop and everything for the day; the Mini, a tablet and the essentials. The Tech and the Klettersack add a second sleeve, reached from the outside; the Klettersack has leather tabs.
20 L · 0.7 kg · 15-inch laptop
The flap buckles down over a drawcord; one zipped pocket on top, another at the bottom.
25 L · 16-inch laptop
Full-grain leather tabs on the flap, one sleeve inside and a second on the outside.
Bum bags and small crossbody bags
Round your waist or across your body: the essentials on you, your hands free.
The Mountain Waist Pack, one litre in two zipped pockets, goes round your waist or across your body; the Moonlight Crossbody Bag holds 4 litres for 160 g; the Block Bag has two front pockets. Flatter: the Mini Quick Pack, the Mini Shoulder Bag and the All Adventure Accessory Bag.
1.7 L · 5 cm deep
Flatter than the Waist Pack: an envelope pocket inside and two compression straps underneath.
The commute and the office
The morning commute, with the laptop kept separate.
The Commuter Backpack has two compartments that open on U-shaped zips; the Global Briefcase goes from your hand to your back; the Mountain Cross Bag takes a 14-inch laptop across your body. The last two slide over a suitcase handle.
25 L · 15-inch laptop
Two compartments with U-shaped zips, two bottle pockets and a removable sternum strap.
20 L · 15-inch laptop
By hand, on your shoulder or on your back: the straps tuck away, and it slides over a suitcase handle.
14 L · 14-inch laptop
Crossbody or by hand, two bottle holders, and a luggage pass-through for a suitcase handle.
Rain, fabric by fabric
A shower, yes or no: it all comes down to the fabric.
Each bag is sorted by what its fabric can handle. None is waterproof: for a day in the rain, anything that mustn't get wet goes in a pouch.
Not made for rain
Recycled nylon fabric
In steady rain, water eventually gets through: anything that mustn't get wet goes in a pouch.
Water-resistant
Water-resistant fabric
The water-resistant fabric copes with a shower; in steady rain, water eventually gets through.
Water-repellent
PFC-free water-repellent finish
A PFC-free durable water repellent (DWR) finish makes water bead up on the fabric. It doesn't make the bag waterproof: in steady rain, water eventually gets through.
Water-repellent doesn't mean waterproof: water beads up on the fabric, but steady rain still gets through.
Day hiking
Water within reach, and the whole day on your back.
The Rover Trail Pack has room for a hydration bladder, lunch and a jacket, plus a hip belt with pockets; the Mountain Hydro Hip Pack carries two bottles round your waist; the Mountain Hydro Sling, one water bottle across your body.
24 L · hydration sleeve
Moulded back panel, load lifters and a hip belt with pockets: the Rover built for the trail.
4.4 L · 360 g · 2 bottles
Two pockets for 650 ml bottles, an adjustable belt and a moulded back panel.
1.7 L · 1 water bottle
A water bottle of up to 950 ml across your body, a mesh pocket on the front, a zipped pocket on the back.
One-bag travel
A few days to a week in a single bag that opens like a suitcase.
The Global Travel Bag 30L reaches 35 litres when fully packed, with a removable hip belt; the more compact Global Travel Backpack goes from 25 to 27 litres. Both open wide and slide over a suitcase handle.
The brand, as Eiken sees it
A sewing machine in a Fort Collins basement, in 2008.
In 2008, Jedd Rose buys a sewing machine and sews the first bags in his basement in Fort Collins, Colorado; Mark Hansen asks around for people who can make them. The two founders wanted gear like the kit they grew up with: tough, practical, classic. The fabrics are recycled nylon, and our Topo Designs bags are made in Vietnam.
Topo Designs guarantees its bags against defects in materials and workmanship for a reasonable lifetime, excluding normal wear, accidents and lack of care, and would rather repair than replace. For a bag bought from Eiken, the claim goes through us. On top of that comes the 2-year legal guarantee of conformity.
Eiken's take
- Why we chose it
- For every day, the Rover Pack Classic. For hiking, the Rover Trail Pack. Hands free in town, the Mountain Waist Pack.
- Worth knowing
- No Topo Designs bag is waterproof: a few have a water-repellent fabric, but in steady rain, anything that mustn't get wet goes in a pouch.
- Who it's for
- Anyone who goes from the office to the trail in the same day, with the same bag, and keeps it for years.
Baptiste, Eiken
Questions
Before you choose a Topo Designs bag.
Which Topo Designs bag for every day?
The Rover Pack Classic: 20 litres, a 15-inch laptop, a flap that buckles down over a drawcord. Smaller, the Rover Pack Mini takes a tablet; bigger, the Klettersack goes up to 25 litres. To keep your hands free without a backpack, the Mountain Waist Pack.
Are Topo Designs bags waterproof?
No, none of them is made for a day of rain. The Rover Trail Pack, the Commuter Backpack, the Global Travel Backpack and the Moonlight Crossbody Bag have a PFC-free water-repellent finish: water beads up on the fabric, but eventually gets through in steady rain. The Rover Pack Classic has a water-resistant fabric. For the others, put anything that mustn't get wet in a pouch.
Which Topo Designs bag for a laptop?
A 15-inch laptop fits in the Rover Pack Classic, the Rover Pack Tech, the Klettersack, the Commuter Backpack, the Global Briefcase, the Global Travel Bag 30L and the Global Travel Backpack; a 14-inch in the Mountain Cross Bag. The Rover Pack Mini takes a tablet.
Rover Pack Classic or Rover Pack Mini?
The Classic, 20 litres and 43 cm tall, takes a 15-inch laptop and your working day. The Mini, 10 litres and 34 cm, takes a tablet: for the city, or for a smaller frame. Both have the same flap buckled down over a drawcord.
Where do Topo Designs bags come from?
The brand was founded in 2008 in Fort Collins, Colorado, by Jedd Rose and Mark Hansen. The bags we sell are made in Vietnam, in recycled nylon, in Fair Trade or Fair Wear certified factories depending on the model.
What guarantee comes with a Topo Designs bag?
Topo Designs guarantees its bags against defects in materials and workmanship for a reasonable lifetime, excluding normal wear, and would rather repair than replace; for a bag bought from Eiken, you write to us and we pass it on. On top of that comes the 2-year legal guarantee of conformity, and you have 30 days to change your mind.
