Hi this is Todd, Founder of Dry Farm Wines.
I am obsessive about design, form and function. I also have this strange obsession with well made backpacks. I’m very particular about them, and I find most backpacks are just not well designed. In the hopes of being helpful to you, I’d like to share 4 different backpacks I love.
Like many of you, I enjoy eating out. And because I travel, I eat at restaurants quite a bit. Of course, when I go out to restaurants, wherever possible I like to bring Dry Farm Wines. Two of my favorites are purposed for this.
Carrying multiple bottles of wine into a dinner is not the most elegant way to show up, so I started a search for an incredible wine bag. I did not want a regular fancy wine bag, I wanted something more discreet, and functional. After my search, I settled on four bags.
Discloser: I am not compensated in any way for these recommendations.
Four favorites, for four different missions.
- My daily elegant wine bag for up to 6 bottles
- My extra large wine bag for up to 12 bottles
- My daily gym bag and light work day bag
- My heavy duty travel backpack for trips
Two of my backpacks are specific for my use as wine bags. There are many fancy wine bags out there, but I like the discretion and practicality of a backpack.
First, my go-to daily wine bag.
Smythson Zip Around Panama
Elegant, discreet, and handcraft in Italy. It can easily transport 6 bottles (we drink a lot of wine). If we are transporting 2-3 bottles there is also ample room for an iPad or magazine. It is designed by Smythons of Bond Street in London, and handcrafted by artisans in Italy. It also has a wonderful front zip pocket perfect for wine keys.
I am super excited to share this find with you, because many people are not familiar with Smythson. They have for many years been my #1 choice for leather goods, because of their timeless design, artisan craftsmanship, and good value. I own many things from them, including wallets, journals, desk accessories, and even a pencil case. I gift them often and you will never be disappointed with the amazing unboxing experience and packaging that say to your gift recipient “you are special and this is when only the finest will do.” I simply love opening every package I get.
Next up, my large wine bag.
Timbuk2 Parker Commuter
This bag holds 12 bottles comfortably. This comes from my favorite nylon backpack company TimBuk2, in Los Angeles. In addition to being a wonderful and sensible design, it has a number of terrific features I love, like the tricot lined upper front zipper pocket – perfect for your phone or eyeglasses.
Then, my very favorite feature is the generous front pocket that has a secure magnetic closure. I keep wine keys, my wallet, and keys in here. It is secure and super easy to access. I love the magnetic closure - very clever.
It has all the other features you would expect in a well designed backpack. It's also black and discreet, so if I am carrying 12 bottles of wine in a restaurant, it's quiet and simple.
Now, my daily bag. 
Timbuk2 Lane Commuter
This bag has a dual purpose for me: I use it both as a gym bag and a light day work bag. It's the smaller version of the Parker Timbuk2 backpack. It has all of the features in the larger bag I mentioned before, but in a compact size. This is important for me, it’s feature rich, but medium small. It’s my go to gym bag and I also use it for local day missions, like to the coffee shop. It is just the perfect size for my laptop, a couple of journals, glasses, pens, my iPad and a magazine. Just big enough, but compact and sleek.
Finally, my big travel bag.
20L Nomatic Travel Pack
Nomatic. My travel backpack for road trips! As you know, I travel a lot to Europe and all over the world. This is the most feature rich backpack I have ever found. I don’t use it daily for two reasons, it’s just too big, and I keep it filled with all kinds of things I need on road travel, making it too heavy for daily use. Items like an extention cord, a tape measure, black tape to cover annoying appliance lights in hotel rooms, crazy glue, multiple pairs of glasses, several portable batteries of different types, my passport, and extra credit cards, a extra drivers license, and cash (in the event my wallet goes missing), pencil case with assorted sharpies, my go to writing pens, duplicates of all my home keys, multiple cables and international converters, my Bose headset, my wireless travel speaker (bose nomad), 11” repel windproof umbrella, a light rain jacket, a ultra-light goose down very compact Uniqlo jacket, small flashlight and a sewing kit, cork screw, Macbook Pro, iPad and spare phone.
Thanks for giving this a read. I hope you found it helpful for your future adventures.
With gratitude,
Todd
