OT--JanSport Founder passes away...

[paredown]

Maybe a PNW thing, but there was a lot of stuff going on in the late '60s/early '70s to change the way that we hiked, climbed, stayed dry and rode bikes--and Murray McCory (who was a recent industrial design grad from U of Washington) started JanSport in 1967 with his Mom, Dad and his soon-to-be wife Jan.

A garage start-up to a major company with one of the first aluminum frame packs, and the first good small backpack that got launched in the UW bookstore and became a thing...

https://www.nytimes.com/2024/11/04/b...smid=url-share

[charliedid]

The entire American outdoor industry owes a lot to those folks.

RIP Murray

[72gmc]

The UW Bookstore also owes a lot to those folks! As do I, and my back. It's nice to think about the heyday of that bookstore--these days it's hollowed out by ecommerce.

RIP.

[SlowPokePete]

I've still got my Jansport D3 backpack from the 1970's when, as a kid in Port Chester, NY Boy Scout Troop 11, we went to Colorado and spent two weeks backpacking in the Rocky Mountains.

I was only around 11 or 12 years old.

SPP

[Tandem Rider]

Originally Posted by SlowPokePete

I've still got my Jansport D3 backpack from the 1970's when, as a kid in Port Chester, NY Boy Scout Troop 11, we went to Colorado and spent two weeks backpacking in the Rocky Mountains.

I was only around 11 or 12 years old.

SPP

Same here, mine has taken me through many weeks on the trail in my teens and 20s, it's well worn but going strong. JanSport and Kelty were the two choices available, JanSport flexed and the Keltys were rigid. It was one of the few things I didn't part with on our last move, too many memories.