#HTE

A Backpack With Power… And A Face 

There’s a lot of competition going for daily carry backpacks, and it’s rare that a new design adds much to the field. The wildly Kickstarting Backpaix takes on known needs of the urban commuter, and adds a couple surprising details hidden inside… and on its face.

The pack itself looks good, designed with the modern walker or cyclist in mind. It’s reasonably ergonomic, weather resistant, and commendably made from a fully recycled material. There’s a familiar laptop sleeve, main compartment, and small stuff pockets, plus a bottom-accessed shoe pocket and a zip-hidden luggage loop. 

Inside is the first special detail: an optional built-in 10,000mAH battery, allowing you to recharge on the go through a small side pocket.

It’s a nice block of charge, and with it comes the bigger unusual perk: a weird medallion to show your subtle steez or graphic personality. This medallion can be a customized metal badge or, if you’re a flashier sort, a custom programmed LED emoji button activated through a matching app. This emoji “smart badge” can also be tracked, and if enabled, will vibrate if you go out of range to help locate it.

If the idea of emoji-ing strangers when you’re out and about sounds silly, they’ve also come up with some more pragmatic uses. The clearest one would be to use it as a bike turn signal, activated with a Backpaix handlebar dongle. This is a fine (if twee) idea, but I’m less charmed than I could have been since I’m still trying to figure out if they left off a bike light loop (undebatably the most useful single inch of webbing on every bag I’ve used in the last decade) entirely. The addition of desirable objects to the bike itself is also a consideration if you have to park somewhere other than your startup office.

The other proposed uses of the badge are interesting too: a bike light, data storage and more are in the works. This gets interesting, since the the campaign lists the option for a second mount to add a GoPro hookup to a shoulder strap. These apparently use the same “smart badge” twist-in attachment hardware which leads me to wonder whether theft or accidental loss of your fancy glowing (and bag theft-detecting) badge would be likely. I’ve lost a number of bag-mounted lights to theft… and just sitting too aggressively on park benches.

The other niceties are straightforward but plentiful. There are bottom-facing straps for your yoga mat/tripod/rolled jacket/very long baguette, and a question-provoking bike lock strap. (Is it elastic? Adjustable? Because locks come in in more than one size.) It boasts waterproof zippers, chest and side compression straps, it comes in two sizes, and (of course) the clasp is a bottle opener. The clock is running down, but you can still grab one at the early bird price of $179. 

What do we think: stylish and modern? Smart yet gimmicky?