Image via Pad and Quill. Back stateside, in , another outdoorsman gave a go at redesigning the indigenous backpack. Lloyd Nelson, inspired by the sealskin and wood packs used by indigenous people in Alaska, attempted to create his own version.
Unaware of the advanced ergonomic designs of the Bergans company, Nelson sought to do something similar, albeit with a wood frame instead of a metal one. Named the Trapper Pack, it was one of the first mass-produced backpacks and was even featured in the first ever REI catalog in Leather, canvas , wood, and sometimes light steel implements were the materials of the day.
Various designers made intriguing and long-lasting contributions to backpacks over the years between the invention of the Trapper Pack and the dawn of academic backpacks. A Padawan carries his master in a technical backpack. These changes were all important, but they were small potatoes compared to the invention of nylon. Nylon was stronger than canvas and totally revolutionized the backpack world. Gerry Cunningham, the man who first added zippers, can be credited with releasing the first nylon backpack.
His Teardrop backpack was released in and opened the nylon backpack floodgates. Despite initial skepticism by the administration, the bags all sold out. Improvements in design came and went like backaches - backpack genius took millennia to strike. Hiker and rock climber Gerry Cunningham created a lighter, more practical backpack in , with zippered compartments to provide easy access to an outdoor enthusiast.
In , Gerry and his wife started making "Gerrys," well-designed rucksacks and climbing packs for skiers and mountaineers. They ran a thriving mail order business and opened their first bricks-and-mortar store in Boulder in , continually improving on Gerry's model, focused mainly on outdoor sports.
By , when the company pioneered a sturdy, featherweight, tear-drop shaped pack in nylon , Cunningham had revolutionized the modern backpack. If you're looking to hand backpack credit to a single inventor, Gerry Cunningham is the closest you'll come.
Kids had been lashing their schoolbooks together with leather straps for years until Nena and Dick Kelty grabbed some old rip-stop parachute fabric , buckles and other surplus materials left over after WWII and whipped up a few backpacks.
They padded the straps, added a hip belt for better weight distribution, and made indestructible but light carryalls. Dick tried slipping the frame ends into his jeans back pockets to redistribute the weight, discovered the trick was really comfortable, and adapted his homemade models. The new design worked so well that an American Everest expedition used Kelty packs on a successful climb in The Kelty's were ahead of their time in soliciting customer feedback to drive their design process, which is how they came up with framed backpack child carriers that let you schlep your toddler and your stuff around together.
Kelty still makes serious sport and expedition backpacks - tough enough for the classroom when you're fresh out of mountains to climb. The student who labors under a load of books almost always hauls around an overstuffed backpack. Today, that pack very likely wears a JanSport label. Skip Yowell, Murray Pletz, and Jan Lewis started JanSport in to make and sell sports day packs, which appealed to college students who need a way to haul around books.
Jumping on that bandwagon, Gary Kirk and Marcia Briggs turned out a squarer-shaped pack specifically to hold books, and partnered with L. In , Henry Miriam came up with a solid structure for the backpack. He called his design the rucksack. This design would eventually go on to inspire the backpack design in years to come. Henry Merriam had discovered that it was possible to create something more handy and comfortable for travelers.
He undertook a process of conceiving the idea for the backpack and structuring it into a solid design. This design included wood, iron frames for a more rigid structure, and some soft rucksack. He called it the knapsack. The bag was adopted by the US Military.
He aimed at creating a more comfortable bag that was not too heavy or stiff. Most of the bags made in those times weighed a great deal. They also had this way of causing pain to the shoulders and to the back in general. His design was a huge success. The backpack was widely received by a great number. It also eventually set the pace for what was to come. Henry Miriam had created something remarkable, but that was not to be the end of it.
In , a man named Camille Poirier pushed out a new and developed backpack. This bag featured an additional buckle. It also featured some added straps which improve the firmness of the backpack on the body. The s witnessed the most notable revolution of backpacks.
Companies that provide the best backpacks now had their beginnings in this century, and they owed their quick progress to the designs that hd already been made in the previous century. Among the men that made the most notable impact on the backpack was Ole F. Bergman called his backpack the Sekk Med Meis. Pretty strange name, yeah? Anyway, he introduced a new and dynamic property to his bags- the option to compress them on long journeys. Travel was getting really easier.
When the First World War was about to start, the United States military began its search for anything that could put them ahead in the war. They already had the firepower. They had an army that was willing to fight to the death. But they were still on the lookout for more.
This more came in the form of more advanced designs to the backpacks. These backpacks were modified to hold supplies like ammo and other vital equipment. As small as that might seem, it gave the army an advantage over the rest of the world. They were more mobile than the rest. When the world war had passed, there was relative peace. With no need for more military backpacks, a man named Lloyd F. Nelson was able to create something casual- for hikers.
He, like Bergman, found an interesting and personal name for his backpack. The Trapper Nelson , he called them. It was only when the first zippered backpack was created- in Colorado. Gerry Cunningham, like every other creator before him, had believed that things could be different in terms of structure. He, therefore, decided to create his own nylon bags and implement zippers into the design. Things became peaceful after the world war, and the world began to develop at a rapid rate.
There was room for recreation. More use for the backpacks. Schools were being built. Students needed the backpack to hold all of their textbooks and notebooks. Travelers needed backpacks to explore the new world.
Archeologists wanted to uncover what had been buried in the old. It was more demand everywhere. A lot of updated designs for the backpacks emerged. Ake Nordin came up with the cotton bag with wooden frames. Limited-edition buds, smart wallet, and a travel-themed mug set, pack these From reading equipment to a portable alarm, here is a list of 5 things you need From bags and travel kits to shoes and jackets, here is all the travel gear you Now in its 23rd year Outlook Traveller.
Log in Name YO! The History of the Backpack. This is how the backpack came to be as we know it, Photo Credit: Shutterstock. Sahana Iyer December 02 , Related Articles. Travel gear. Sahana Iyer. History of the backpack. Here to there Explore Directions Routes and more
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