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Answer: My place of work over a five-year period.
Sewing shops are never depicted as pretty or easy places to work. And, yes, it is hard to sit at a sewing machine for an entire day, putting heavy-duty materials through the needle and thread. However, the people I worked for and with were
I have a daypack and an adventure racers pack designed to be durable but weigh as little as possible no matter the water weight accumulated. I love these packs and if you ever try to abscond with them, you’ll be in trouble! Even so, my favourite Ostrom products are my briefcase, custom made to my specs, because after working in a pack shop for five years I knew exactly what I wanted, and my massage bag.
The briefcase is made out of ballistics cloth, the kind used to make bulletproof vests. A vest takes quite a number of layers of the black cloth. A briefcase takes two. I expect, because of its durability, that my tantalizingly textured briefcase, will probably outlive me.
My massage bag replaces one that had originally come with my massage table. The table itself, made of Canadian maple, is of the best
After working at a high-quality pack company for years, I expected good quality and this wasn’t it.
I decided if I couldn’t get it from others, I’d go back to the source and order up a custom-made massage bag. So I talked with Bill Ostrom, who worked out the design, then the girls at the shop whipped me up a bag.
Ah the delight of again owning a product that did what it should, didn’t fall to pieces each time the second hand on the clock moved, and was pleasing to look at and handle.
Ever on the cutting edge, Bill Ostrom has been part of the Canadian Army’s Clothe the Soldier initiative for a number of years now. Bill has helped with the design and manufacture of military packs made to specs defined by the Defence & Civil Institute of Environmental Medicine (DCIEM), which includes the Ergonomics Research and Clinical Mechanics Groups of Queens University and ergonomics consultants at Human Systems Inc. The military packs undergo scrutiny by ‘extensive focus groups and trials with the soldiers themselves.’
As a result of years of rigorous military testing and pack improvements, Ostrom’s now offers an innovative internal frame expedition pack suspension system. As well, with the aid of biomechanical assessment tools, which ‘helped to identify and eliminate hotspots and pressure points in early prototypes,’ Ostrom’s has developed comfortable hip belts and shoulder straps.
This is no little achievement to have comfort and fit. Anyone who’s ever had the burden of carrying a badly designed or fitted pack for any length of time will tell you, ‘Never ever scrimp on your pack.’
I’m not recommending Ostrom Outdoors because I worked there and Bill and Anne are the best bosses ever, they really are. I’m recommending it because it’s the greatest little pack company you’ll ever find.
You can contact Bill & Anne Ostrom of Ostrom Outdoors at 1-807-473-4499 or 1-877-678-7661 or email bill@ostrompacks.com. Check out their website at www.ostromoutdoors.com where you can download a pdf catalogue. Or head on down to the Ostrom Outdoors and Chaltrek’s store at 404 Balmorial Street in Thunder Bay, Ontario where you’ll find a huge range of outdoor and geological products from canoes & kayaks and accessories to tents, tarps, and sleeping bags to maps and metal detectors.
And just remember when it comes to briefcases, ballistics cloth is oh, so nice.
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Photo Credit: Angela Granger & Kevin Smith
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