- We are back with Worth It Lifestyle
Season - Four!
- We did it! - I have not been here
for any of the other ones.
- Oh really? - But I'm taking credit.
- As our co-host we have Jennifer Ruggirello,
my good friend. - What's up?
- Today we're doing backpacks so, we're gonna start with a
What's In My Backpack Tour.
- Alright, hell yeah! - What do you got?
- Well, I always like to keep my toiletries in there,
my laptop, an extra pair of socks
and or underwear, depending on what's happening.
- How did you find that so fast?
- Some type of toy.
I like to keep the essentials.
- Very important products.
You have money from--
- I went to London earlier this year.
(laughs) That's enough out of me.
What happening in your neck of the woods?
- Laptop, of course, my creative journal
which I keep within the plastic wrapping
- Very midwestern mom of you.
It makes me feel at home.
- I have my personal journal and my bible,
and what I carry with me all the time,
this is my protractor set.
- You just never know when you need a straight edge
that's all. - I rarely do.
- You ready to hit the road.
- I'm so ready! - Let's do it!
Oh, by the way, we've got Annie.
Annie loves backpacks.
- She does, she has so many.
- [Steven] She's a backpack fiend.
- [Jennifer] She has as many backpacks as I have kids.
- Today on Worth It Lifestyle we're gonna
trying three backpacks at three drastically
different price points to find out which one
is the most worth it at it's price.
- Worth it baby!
It feels good to hear you say that,
I like knowing exactly what we're doing.
What's cool about backpacks is that
they're a gender neutral option
that I think can be dressed up or dressed down
'cause they're so versatile.
- Off to Flip and Tumble!
(funky techno music)
- Hi, I'm Eva, this is Hetal, we're co-founders
of Flip and Tumble, we're here in our studio today
and we're gonna check out our compatible backpacks.
- Flip and Tumble, great name, where do they come from?
- So our first product compacts down into a little ball.
Basically you're flipping the fabric into that ball.
The ball can kind of tumble around in your purse
or everyday bag, hence, Flip and Tumble.
- I thought you guys were just big fans of gymnastics.
(laughing)
- Sorry, we're not a gymnastic studio.
- Can you tell us a little bit more about the backpack
we're gonna be seeing today?
- So we were gonna show you guys our full size backpack.
The backpack is actually made out
of a material called R.P.E.T.
It's a really neat material made out
of ground-up plastic bottles.
It's really nice because it diverts plastic
from the landfill.
- And it also allows us to make the backpack
using less energy.
- And does it rip?
- No problems with that? - No.
- It actually has a rip stop pattern in the fabric.
And those checkers keep any small holes
from increasing in size.
- It also looks like it's pretty easy to wash.
- Yes, all of our products, we make sure
they're all machine washable.
- Once a bag has hit
an airport bathroom. - Right!
- It's like (groaning) it's a little bit dodgy after that.
- It was really important that this worked for lots
of different things.
Traveling, hiking, if you're heading to the gym
and you just wannnao stash some sneakers.
But we also wanted it to be compatible
so you could just stash it in a suitcase
and you always just have this extra bag handy.
- Designing a bag like this,
can you just walk us through the process?
- So, when we go to design a bag,
we usually start with a need we see.
First thing we do, is just start sketching,
where we can quickly iterate a whole bunch of ideas
and see which ones we like.
And the next thing we do, is we like
to make these little paper models
and fabric models so we can start to see
how those forms look in 3D,
then we'll start making full-size prototypes,
give them out to users and then get feedback.
We just do that until we feel like okay
we've got a good product now.
- Jen, let's try the backpacks.
- Okay. (ca-ching)
- So, we're gonna try packing the backpack now.
- Should we race?
- Let's do it - Okay.
Be a countdown.
- [Producer] On your mark, get set, go!
(rapid jungle music)
- How do you do this?
(laughs)
- You know what's amazing? - I did it!
I did it! (laughs)
- You can put it in a backpack and carry two backpacks.
- And I could put it in my bra.
- I love things like this. (laughing)
It just fits.
(laughing) I could do both.
It's right in there and what's nice is
that it actually frames the face.
I'm actually amazed that how easily these buckles
fit in there, I was kind of worried they're be disruptive
to the process, but it's designed very well,
everything fits.
- I'm gonna put the stuff that I would carry around
on a day-to-day basis.
(fast forward squeaking)
Is that what you carry around with you?
I have more, hold on.
(fast forward squeaking)
Okay.
(upbeat light rhythmic music)
(laughs)
Here we go, okay.
- See versatile! - Good to go!
- Those are good for this little thing.
Oh! (laughs)
The backpacks.
How do I look Jen?
- You look cool!
The silver looks really good because it matches your outfit.
- My outfit, my hair.
- It is crazy how much you can fit in this.
- It is really comfortable, actually.
They actually have this sample backpack
that can hold the maximum weight
and it is a 35 pound bag of sand.
- Oh my god!
(laughing)
- Would you ever pack your backpack this heavy?
- No - Have you ever done it?
- No, I'm not trying to be funny.
This is legitimately hard for me to stand.
(laughing)
This backpack can handle the weight.
I cannot handle the weight,
but the backpack is handling the weight very well.
- Alright, off to New York.
Flip, Tumble, what do you think?
- The fact that it has straps, it had buckles
and it could still be rolled up is pretty cool.
Backpack fact! - Oh, we're doing that?
- We're doing it. - Okay, hell yeah.
An early version of the modern backpack was the "Book Strap"
which was really just a leather belt
that held books together.
- You could then just throw the bundle over your shoulder.
Kids used these for their school books
from the 1900's through the 1930's.
Anyone who's been to a public school knows
that the text books you get are giant,
and always hard cover, and they weight 75 pounds.
- Nowadays, you read textbooks on tablets.
- Yeah, you can ready eBooks now.
- But it's not the same.
- No. - It's not.
So where's our next location?
- We're going to a tech-oriented backpack.
- A tech-oriented backpack?
- That's all I'm gonna say.
- My backpack is pretty low tech
but I do always try to carry around some type of charger,
some type of electronic. - Ooh.
You might like this backpack, Jen.
- You think so?
Okay. - Teaser alert!
My interest, it is peaked.
- [Shayne] My name is Shayne McQuade, I'm the Founder
of Voltaic Systems and today we're gonna look at
the OffGrid backpack.
We started the company about 15 years ago
with a solar backpack.
The original idea, I was actually living in Spain
and I had this big, clunky charger
that I was carrying around in my bag.
Getting lots of sun but never actually pulling
this thing out and I realized somebody should stick
that panel on the outside of the bag.
- If you were to explain to a child how solar works,
how would you explain it?
- AKA us. - Yeah.
- So we start with the solar panel itself.
We're using sun power cells.
When sunshine hits that material, it throws off an electron.
That gets capture by the wires
and those wires channel that electricity back
to a power bank.
All of the bag is designed around that panel
and the battery.
We've got it on a side pocket,
You can sort of swing the bag around, take your phone out,
plug it back in without necessarily taking the bag off.
- This thing is totally rain proof?
You can take it out in middle of a storm
and it'd be like super chill?
- You can, yeah. - Okay.
- The bag is made from recycled soda bottles actually.
So it's a waterproof fabric.
The panels themselves, are really tough.
We threw one off a six story building just
to see how it would go and it was fine.
- Whoa! - We've also driven
my car over the panel and at least on
the flat surface it's fine.
- Who are the clientele that are buying this backpack?
- Well, there's all the Peace Corp volunteers writing
to us everyday saying I'm gonna be in this village with
no electricity for the next year.
And then there's a whole bunch of people doing aid
and humanitarian work.
Doctor's running around after an earthquake.
- Yeah. - Without power,
nothing's working.
They need to be able to communicate
and so it's really useful there.
- So where do you see the future of solar?
- There's still a billion people
that don't have any electricity.
A small panel can run a cell phone and a light,
and really change your life.
(ca-ching)
- First impressions?
- I was surprised at how you don't even know
there's a solar panel here.
- Wow, this is a really deep water bottle holder, too.
- How deep, man? - It's pretty deep.
It's like half way up my forearm.
Also it's just a deep hole.
- This reminds me of your backpack.
- My backpack currently is pretty large,
but it's like a fabric backpack.
This one has structural integrity, I feel like
would make it a little bit more
comfortable when carrying heavy stuff.
(trsschht)
- Wow!
- That's like a big tongue.
There's a lot of pockets in here too
where you could put
pens, little notepad. - Yes, oh my gosh!
- And the side pokets have their own little pouches too.
- Oh wow!
Okay, I have an idea Jen. - Yeah?
- Let's create a hybrid Jen Steven backpack.
- Amazing!
In there. - Do you usually put in
this little compartment here?
- Yeah. - Oh, of course.
Oh, you know where they should do?
Sunglasses pouch.
- Oh! - Of course.
- Yeah, yeah, yeah! - Why didn't we think of that?
- You gotta keep these safe too with
the hard shell exterior.
(zziiipppp) What's next?
- Oh we have a stray Tampon over here, hold up
- Thanks, buddy. - Yeah.
We could maybe put, oh, yes!
- I have some candy.
- Candy!
(fidget spinner humming)
Of course. - I think we can shut him up.
- Wait, my protractor set. - Oh okay, yeah.
Put that in there.
I think the real test is it's ability to actually charge.
- Charge, okay.
Boom!
- String the cords through a little hole.
- And...
(gasp) - Yeah, charging.
- Green! - Yeah, look at that.
It is a big backpack, I will say that.
It's large but the nice thing is there is a smaller model.
So I could get a smaller size if I wanted too.
Do you wanna try it on? - I really wanna try it on.
Yeah, it's the perfect size for a backpack for me.
- Yeah, this actually, I feel like this looks really good.
I wouldn't look twice.
If I saw this, I'd be like yeah, that's a backpack.
- You would look twice. - I wouldn't look twice
'cause I'd be like where can I get me one of those?
What's next buddy?
Backpack Fact!
Oh my goodness, I forgot.
And also, Andrew's here now.
- Hi.
As backpacks got bigger and bigger, so did concerns
that they were hurting kid's backs, so the industry started
making wheeled backpacks.
- Wow, I'm jealous I never had one in high school.
I think my back is eight years older that it should be.
Also fun fact, both of our backpacks that we've seen so far,
the first two are all made out of recycled materials.
- That is super cool.
- What's next on the agenda, buddy?
- Okay, so on the agenda, we're going to take a road trip
all the way to Rhode Island. - Oh!
- To see a very special handmade backpack.
- That's awesome.
- [Both] Yeah, road to Rhode Island.
- [Congregation] Oh! - Yeah.
(classical violin music)
- Hi, I'm Lindy McDonough, I'm the Creative Director
and Co-founder of Lotuff Leather in Providence, Rhode Island
and we're gonna be looking at
handmade leather backpacks today.
We use a fully wet-white based leather,
so that means that there is no chemicals,
no formaldehyde, no chromium.
We guarantee all the bags for life.
- You have a lifetime guarantee?
- Yes we do. - For a leather bag?
- Yes. - That sounds crazy to me.
- Every part of our bags are designed
to be fixed and serviced.
You're investing in one from us and we're gonna take care
of it for life, for you.
We also design them in the way they're gonna patina
and look better, the joke is, when they're brand new
it's the worst they're gonna look
and they're gonna get better
and better as you use it. - Oh!
- That is so cool. - Nice.
- Yeah. - Yeah, oh my god.
- Forgive me for my lack of vocabulary but the word patina,
can you just explain that what that means?
- Patina's our favorite word that we use.
It kinda tells the story of everywhere you've been.
So when you put it down on the ground,
the oils from your hands they'll start to look--
- Yeah, the color will change, right?
- The color will change, yeah.
So we make a couple different backpacks
but today we're gonna go through the making of the knapsack,
which is one of our newer backpacks.
The backpack has 48 pieces in it.
So we're cutting 48 pieces out of one skin.
All the little parts are stitched.
They go over to Turn and Burn.
They essentially are tying hand-tied knots
and then burning the thread,
tucking them back into the hole,
and then they smooth the leather over it
so it holds the stitch forever.
All of the pieces go back and fourth with stitching
and assembly, until the bag is finished.
- All hand made? - All hand made.
- That's insane. (laughs)
- We're not trying to be the biggest company
but we are trying to make the best bags.
The vision behind the company was
to create a great job for artists.
We do a 30 hour work week with full benefits and healthcare,
and then a lot of them have their studio practice
outside of that.
- Whoa! - Yeah.
- This is so cool, it's very heartwarming,I'm just happy.
- Okay, so this knapsack, obviously went through many hands,
took a long time to make, how much does it cost?
- It costs $990.00, but $990.00 for one backpack
for the rest of your life, seems pretty good.
Price of a cup of coffee each day for one year.
- Alright, cool, so you can pay in coffee.
- Are these backpacks that you can bring like the beach?
Is that okay? - Yeah.
I bring my tote bags to the beach all the time.
I think the more you beat up our bags, the better they look.
So I'm not precious-- - Wow.
- about them, they should get used.
- Okay that's good - That's amazing.
- If you buy something that expensive,
I'm always scared to use it.
- No! - Sneakers or I don't know.
- You gotta use it.
- Listen, we came here to beat the crap
out of all your products.
- You should totally do that.
- I'm gonna fight some leather bags.
- Patina!
- Patina! (laughs)
(ca-ching)
- Before we begin, patina.
- Patina. - A new word of the day.
Things that get better with time.
Name some.
Go. - Wine, dogs,
human beings, usually.
Those things. - And?
Leather backpacks. - Leather backpacks.
- Okay. - What a natural transition.
- First impressions of this backpack, go.
- I think it's just a beautiful backpack.
It looks classy, it also just looks very,
very strong somehow.
It smells really good.
- It does smell good.
My backpack smells like old chips.
It's actually not that heavy but it had a heftiness
to it that I appreciate.
- When you pick it up, you respect it.
- Yeah.
Ooh!
When you open it up, the smell comes out even more.
Let's fill her up.
- [Jennifer and Steven] Laptop.
- I'm gonna put my travel bag, which is vibrating right now
'cause the razor is on.
- Why is the razor on?
Turn it off.
Some snacks.
(laughs)
Let's see how it feels.
- It has all the essentials.
The protractor set, tampons, and a laptop.
- Okay, so we're definitely gonna have
to adjust these straps a little bit.
Can you do it?
I can't see.
- You wanna make it shorter right?
- Yeah, a little shorter.
- Okay. - Thanks!
I can't totally see it but I feel like it's gotta look cool.
Yeah, it's cool.
Could definitely do some damage to this thing too
if I really wanted to.
You wanna try it on?
- Yeah I do actually. - Okay.
- I really want to try it on.
- It is just a beautiful backpack.
It's hard to say anything else.
Functional and beautiful, just like us.
- It's really bad 'cause I really want this bag now.
I hate this show.
- If this one isn't for you, there's just a range
of different backpacks you can get.
So here's the zipper backpack.
It's got more of a youthful feel.
I can picture student using it
or very wealthy young children.
I'm just gonna say, I think this is the most beautiful
blue color I've ever seen in my life.
- Right! - This is so beautiful.
It's more of a grab and go type bag.
- Okay. - Oh,
and you can pull the straps like this,
and then you have a little sling.
- Bada-bing-bada boom! - Am I doing it,
this doesn't feel right.
I have a lot of confidence in these bags in terms
of their utilitarian purpose,
but I also just feel it's very special,
the emotional investment you'll get out
of getting something that's handmade,
and is done with such care, it just becomes more special
for what it means to you as time passes.
- Yeah, it becomes a part of you.
- Yeah. - Wow, this backpack adventure
took us from California to New York,
to now Providence, Rhode Island.
I think we've learned a little bit in our patina.
- We've patina'd up hard, baby.
- Alright, I gotta ask Jen, what backpack
was the most worth it to you at it's given price point?
- This is a really, really hard question.
If I'm honest, it's probably Lotuff, just because I tend
to keep things for as long as possible.
So, if I were to get a bag like that
I know I would take very good care of it
and just grow with that bag, as silly has that sounds.
- I get it. - I just feel so bouchie.
What is your Worth It Winner, Steven, please?
- Okay, Voltaic.
That bag I feel is me as a backpack.
- That's true. - Fun, functional,
cool, tech, chemistry.
But I live in the Big Apple.
- These's big apples to you.
- There's energy everywhere and for that reason
Flip and Tumble is the best bag for me right now
- Totally. - And it is my
Worth It Winner.
- You gotta be economical about space
when living in a place like New York City.
- Right? - Annie?
- Worth It Winner? - I want to hear your
Worth It Winner.
- Lotuff
- Thanks for taking me on this journey, friend.
- Hopefully we can have you back.
- I'd love to come back.
Alright, cool, we're gonna walk home now.
(laughs)
- Oh my god, oh my god.
No, come back!
(funky rock music)