Timbuk2

Buk Wild

Ballistic-Grade Backpacks from SF

None 7 Photos Timbuk2
How much does your life weigh?

Imagine for a second that you’re carrying a backpack. Pack it with all the stuff that you have in your life. You start with the little things, then you start adding larger stuff. All those negotiations and arguments and secrets, the compromises. Some animals were meant to carry each other to live symbiotically over a lifetime. Star-crossed lovers, monogamous swans.

We are not swans. We are sharks.

...

And now that we have that metaphor-filled quote about backpacks from Up in the Air out of the way, let’s talk about some nonmetaphorical bags, shall we...

Specifically: those at Timbuk2, the SF-based maker of backpacks and messenger bags now open inside a converted firehouse in Bucktown.

You’ve probably seen bike messengers jackrabbiting though the Loop with one of these trusty numbers strapped across their shoulders. The brand was started 25 years ago by a Frisco bike messenger with a deep appreciation for the power of a good nylon shoulder strap.

This is one of their first shops outside of San Fran. What you’ll find here: boardroom-appropriate, laptop-friendly numbers alongside those messengers and backpacks. You can also go custom, choosing the all-weather, lightweight, made-from-military-grade-ballistic-fabric backpack of your dreams at a touchscreen kiosk. (You have strange dreams, by the way.)

You should also know they have a little “parklet”—basically, an astroturf-outfitted seating area where you can bring your bike, pump the tires, get free wi-fi... talk inner tubes.

You know, biker talk.

Vitals

Timbuk2
1623 N Damen Ave
(between North and Wabansia)
Chicago, IL, 60647
773-661-4433
website

Extras

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