I’ve been a big fan of Timbuk2 for decades. Their bags have always been stylish, very functional, of excellent quality and materials, and very well made overall. The only problem with that is, because they’re so well made, there’s pretty much been zero reason for me to upgrade a bag. I’ve been using the same small custom classic messenger bag since 2003. But, I took advantage of this year’s Black Friday sale to finally look into picking up a replacement, after over 2 decades.
My old reliable was starting to look a little worn, particularly in the inner lining where age caused brittleness which lead to rips & tears in some parts, particularly where the strap were sewn onto the bag.
Also some threads on the center panel fabric that rubbed the most against my body was starting to loosen and unravel.
Of course, it wasn’t until AFTER I placed the order that I discovered that Timbuk2 has a sustainability program where you can send your bag in for repair (if possible). So I decided to send my old bag in for them to take a look. Assessment was rather quick and they concluded that the damage wasn’t covered under warranty (I assume because it was just super old) but that it was repairable. And the repair fee? $25. $25??? Heck yeah, sign me up. Turnaround time was actually really quick although I think I thought so because in the emails that they sent to me they said repairs “usually take 6-10 weeks.” In reality it only took a week.
So I was pretty excited to get my old bag back. Unsurprisingly they only repaired the inner lining (by replacing the entire thing). I wasn’t really expecting them to be able to fix the outer center panel since that particular fabric was most likely long deprecated. And they unfortunately didn’t replace the inner liner w/the same gold color one that it had originally; it was now grey. Apparently custom liner colors aren’t part of their custom bag builder anymore which is unfortunate. The liner color that they used was also a darker grey compared to the liner on my new bag. One other difference that I noticed after I got my old bag back was that the inner organizer pocket that’s flush against the outward facing wall of the main pocket is bigger and roomier in the old bag. In the new bag that pocket is stitched flush (and integrated directly) with that wall but in the old bag, that pocket is more like a separate piece that they stitched just the top and bottom edges against that wall. Plus the old pocket has more varied organizational compartments. The old bag also had a larger outside center section with 3 zippered pockets instead of just two. The new bag has a thinner & smoother shoulder strap though and the strap release/lock mechanism is easier to use in my opinion.
So now I have 2 nigh-indestructible messenger bags to use for another few decades. I discovered that I also have a camera insert that fits into the bag perfectly so now I use the old bag as a small camera bag and the new one as just a regular messenger. But anyway, my point of this post is really to say that if you own an old Timbuk2 that’s showing its age but that you still like, it’s well worth it to go through the repair process to see if it can be refreshed. Even if it can’t, you can leave it with them to be donated and they’ll send you a 20% off coupon/code for your next purchase.