We recently commissioned our friend Karl Roth, who runs Spoken Bags, to make us a batch of special tools rolls out of waxed Canvas for the store. This got us to thinking that it would be pretty cool to do a few features on some of the skilled craftsmen that we have in our neck of the woods. So here is the first of these features. Stay tuned for more soon……

A quick bio on Karl: He is 23, lives in Hintonburg Ottawa. His interests are in Biking, Climbing, Snowboarding and of course sewing.

SW: What made you become interested in designing and making bags?

KR: Began by needing a chalk bag for climbing but couldn’t afford one, so designed one and had mom make one.

SW: Do you only make bags or are you making other items?

KR: Mainly bags, but also have made some Chalk bags, tool rolls etc

SW: Where did you learn to sew and make patterns?

KR: I’m pretty much self-taught. I spend lots of time thinking patterns through. The first design I made worked out really well, but the second one was not so great. It’s been a process learning, luckily so much information/tutorials are available online these days, and that’s been a great help.

SW: Are you targeting a certain genre of products, or a certain user group?

KR: I suppose I am catering to a so called “lifestyle” brand, with cycling undertones. I try not to be too specific. That being said I have some ideas for some more focused products I the future. Perhaps a climbing specific bag….

SW: Right now you work a day job in the outdoor industry, do you see yourself doing this at a full time job at some point?

KR: In theory it would be cool, but I have concerns. I would need much more machinery, stock a lot more materials which means more capital investment. I guess my biggest concern though would be that it would become just a job, and I would not enjoy it as much.

SW: How do you balance a full time job while making bags on the side and still getting time to ride, climb etc?

KR: Well sometimes it can get tough. I work some late nights, and my days off turn into sewing days.

SW: Do you think this small scale or cottage industry manufacturing is important for a North American future?

KR: Yes I think it gets more people thinking about how things are made, they learn about the old trades. That’s something that was getting lost here. Also it allows people to get a product that can be customized to their needs and potentially last longer.

SW: What are your biggest challenges being a small producer?

KR: I would say it’s competing with mass production, trying to get people to understand why they might want to buy from you, instead of the big companies.

SW: Do you think Ottawa encourages this type of artisanal pursuit?

KR: I think since we are a government town and have a relatively stable economy there is a large population who have the means to support small artisans. The challenge is to get them to buy into the idea. I think the appeal of this type of handmade product is starting to grow here. We are seeing the emergence of craft fairs and groups. The other nice thing about the Ottawa area is that we are surrounded by farming towns, and typically the people who come from these areas really appreciate, high quality traditionally made goods.

SW: Are there other companies out there that you think are progressive in their field?

KR: I’m a big fan of companies that have a clean look, simple but well thought-out. The brands Makr and Outlier come to mind.

SW: Any new projects on the horizon?

KR: I really want to make a super light pack, specifically oriented towards climbing. So that might be next.
SW: Any advice for aspiring bagsmiths?

KR: Just do it! I think it’s fairly easy to enter into this type of work if you are the creative type. Initially there isn’t too high a cost, and you can find lots of direction in videos on places like Youtube. That being said you plateau at a certain point, learning the little tricks to make things faster and more economically takes time.

SW: Last question, where did the name Spoken come from?

KR: Originally I wanted to make a bag called the Spoke, and it evolved from there.

Spring came incredibly fast this year. One week we are riding fat bikes on the snow, the next week the trails are dry and we are back on regular bikes. This amazingly early spring has meant our store has been incredibly busy, everyone wants a new bike or their old one tuned up. In other words all of us have been working long hours.

This has left me with little time to finish up winter projects, the biggest of which was leather case, designed to hold a notebook, pens, phone/mp3 player, and other goodies. I dubbed it the “Victory Case”. Why the Victory case you may ask? I took many cues from military bags and cases from WWI-II so I thought the name appropriate.

This case took me the better part of three months to dial in. There were four previous iterations, warped and cracked moulds, a broken sewing machine, wrecked stitching, material changes and the list goes on. I will admit a few fits were thrown along the way, after major catastrophes (ask my wife). I guess this is to be expected though, there are so few people working in leather anymore, especially moulding it, it’s quite hard to find information how to do it. So I was pretty much flying by the seat of my pants the whole time. It’s not like it was my first leather project, not by far, but It was the most complicated.

I can finally say I’m happy with the finished product, I’m a bit of a perfectionist so to say I’m happy means it’s pretty darn good.

Couple things I really like about this case, the pull tabs for the notebook and phone. These allow you to remove the items really easily, no struggling to get them out. The closure mechanism for the case is based on old map cases, which is super slick and simple to boot. Also the closure tab for the phone holder is super simple, but very effective.

The leather is all from the US tannery Wickett and Craig, love supporting the North American Economy when possible.

Now to make a few more, then on to the next project.

Will

There is no better way to say goodbye to winter than a underground nighttime snow bike race, with BBQ, bonfires and a Keg!

This past Saturday night capped off the final installment of Low Pressure Productions snow race series. We certainly lucked out with weather as the icy trail conditions from earlier in the week got covered with a blanket of snow, just enough to keep things reasonably ridable (for most).

Arriving at the race you had to ride/walk a ways into the dark woods, and just when you were wondering where you were going, you started to notice tiki torches eerily flickering in the distance, lighting your way…wow this was going to be good! After few more minutes walking through the woods you arrived at the staging area, two bonfires were already burning, the keg was primed and the bbq was warming up.

After strapping on our race plates (paper dinner plates) and checking our lights we rolled to the start line, dropped our bikes and waited for instructions. Instead of immediately jumping on our bikes and hammering off at the sound of go, we had instead to partake in a scavenger hunt to find mini bottle of cider wine, then run to the organizer and chug it back before we could head off. That leveled the playing field for about five minutes then all the hot shots had left me in their dust.

The course was fast and flowy and we were going so much faster than expected that the course Marshals (thanks to everyone helping out!) decided to run us for an extra lap, much to my chagrin. I used everything I had in the previous lap…that’s my story and I’m sticking to it!

Post race couldn’t have been any better, having fires to keep your feet warm, food to fill your belly, friends all round and refreshing beer to keep your spirits up made us stay out in the woods well into the night.

What a way to send winter off, this week the temperatures have been in the double digits and almost all the snow is gone. So until next year, so long winter.

If you missed this event you need to put it on your calendar next year, this will certainly be a local classic.

We certainly have kept busy these past winter months toiling away on custom bike projects. The first of those labours have started to arrive and roll out the door. This rando bike was the first one out the door. It will get a few shakedown rides before heading off to North Carolina for spring training.