After 29 years, these are my last ready-made backpacks
After 29 years, these are my last ready-made backpacks
Since 1997 I have made bags ahead and put them on a shelf. I am stopping. What stands in my stockroom now is all there will ever be.
Me, in the stockroom, with what is left.
The shelves in my stockroom are emptying, and for the first time in 29 years I am not going to fill them again. From here on, every bag I make is made to order, for one person. So this is my farewell sale, and the last sale I will ever hold. The Harrogate, the backpack people ask me for most, is £107.95, against its usual price of £540.95.
I have put off writing this for longer than I would like to admit. But I would rather you heard it from me than read it on a banner.
Since 1997 my days have had one rhythm. Cut the canvas. Stitch the leather. Check every buckle twice. Wrap the parcel. Start the next one. There was always a next one. This time there is not, and I notice it every time I walk past the gaps on the shelves.
The gaps on the shelves stay gaps this time.
I want to be plain about what is ending and what is not. My shop goes on, and so do I. What ends is the ready-made bag: the one made ahead and left waiting on a shelf for whoever comes along. I have carried this decision around for a long time. It is the right one. It still does not feel like nothing.
What is left is not a pile of leftovers. These are the last bags of a line I have made for most of my working life, and I would far rather they were out in the rain on somebody's back than standing in the dark in a stockroom.
1997
Today
The Harrogate is the one people ask me about most, so it is the one I describe below. It is not the only backpack leaving. Here are five of the last ones on my bench, and the rest are further down this page.
Five of the last ones on my bench: the Harrogate, the Connemara, the Annapolis, the Flagstaff and the Kinsale.
Canvas and leather that are allowed to age
I chose waxed cotton canvas and crazy horse leather because a bag should look better for the journeys it has carried, not worse. It marks, it softens, it becomes yours. In 29 years I never wanted to make a bag that had to be kept for best.
"The quality of my Jack Reid bag is unparalleled. The leather is incredibly soft and the attention to detail is impressive."
A laptop with a place of its own
The laptop gets a quilted sleeve, not a hopeful gap in one big compartment. On a weekday train it stays where you put it while everything else moves around it. A small thing, and I have sewn it in every time.
"Jack Reid bags perfectly combine style and functionality. The design is sleek and the compartments are well thought out; my laptop and notebooks fit with room to spare."
Small things, found at once
A zipped inner pocket for the valuables and slot pockets for the everyday things. I put them in because the people who write to me kept describing the same scene: a whole bag tipped out on the doormat to find one set of keys.
"I was looking for a timeless, handcrafted bag and Jack Reid exceeded my expectations. Its durability, design and craftsmanship make it my go-to bag for both work and travel."
A front pocket that earns its buckles
Papers and the things you reach for twice a day go flat in the front flap pocket, where a hand finds them. In an airport queue that is the difference between calm and a small panic. I never made one without it.
"What sets my Jack Reid bag apart is its versatility. Whether it's a business meeting in London or a weekend away, it adapts to any occasion effortlessly."
One simple way in
A drawstring under a buckled leather flap, and side flap pockets for whatever you want without opening the whole bag. No clever mechanism that fails in year five. I kept it simple for 29 years because simple is what lasts.
"Ordered on a Monday and it was on my doorstep in Ennis by Thursday, beautifully wrapped with a handwritten note from Jack. You can tell this was made with care."
A hidden pocket against your back
There is a zipped pocket against your back for what you would rather not have on show. People tell me they have stopped patting their coat pockets on a crowded platform. When the last Harrogate goes, that pocket goes with it.
"I bought this for my husband's birthday and it arrived in Cork beautifully wrapped, with a handwritten note from Jack. The leather is gorgeous and the stitching is perfect."
The Harrogate, against the backpacks you have been buying
Looks tired after two winters.
The laptop shares one big compartment.
Keys sink to the bottom.
Restocked next month, the same as the last lot.
Waxed canvas and leather that age well.
A quilted sleeve of its own for the laptop.
A zipped inner pocket and slot pockets.
The last of a line, never made again.
For 29 years there was always a next one. After these, there is not.
Why the last ones are priced like this
I could hold these back and sell them slowly at the usual price. I do not want to spend the next year guarding a stockroom. I want to begin the new work with empty shelves and a clear head.
So the Harrogate is £107.95, down from its usual price of £540.95. It is the same bag it has always been: same canvas, same leather, same hands.
When a shelf is empty, it stays empty. Nothing here will be made again in this form. The other backpacks from the same shelves are further down this page.
The other backpacks leaving my shelves
Every backpack below is final ready-made stock, like the Harrogate. When one of them is gone, I will not make it again.
The ConnemaraCanvas Hiking BackpackSee it →
The AnnapolisCanvas Laptop BackpackSee it →
The FlagstaffVintage RucksackSee it →
The KinsaleMen's Canvas BackpackSee it →
The AlgonquinWaxed Canvas Camera BackpackSee it →
The AlnwickCotton Canvas BackpackSee it →
The MontrealMilitary Canvas BackpackSee it →
The SkyeRetro Canvas RucksackSee it →
Jack Reid bags perfectly combine style and functionality. The design is sleek and the compartments are well thought out; my laptop and notebooks fit with room to spare. A luxury item, but also practical for everyday use.
Wrapped by hand, with a note, the way I have always sent them.
I wrote it on a piece of cardboard first. It was easier than this letter.
I spent 29 years hoping each bag would outlast the day it was bought for. These last ones have to outlast the line itself.
To everyone who has carried one of my bags, and to everyone who wrote to tell me where it had been: thank you. The 4.9 stars across 1247 reviews are yours, not mine.
If one of the last backpacks belongs in your life, have a look while it is still on the shelf. I would rather you found the right one than simply the last one.
See which of the last backpacks are still here
- Final ready-made stock, never made again
- The Harrogate: £107.95, down from £540.95
- 30-day returns
- 4.9 stars across 1247 reviews
The high-street backpack that lasts two winters, against the last Harrogate at £107.95.
See the last backpacksAbout the writer. Jack founded his shop, Jack Reid, in the United Kingdom in 1997. After 29 years of ready-made bags, he now makes every piece to order.