I watched Hosoi as a kid and now I’m packing his backpack as an adult.
When I was a child I would go to our local Blockbuster video store and rent all the videos they had on skateboarding and composition videos –really anything I could get my hands on. I loved playing on my skateboard and had a few heroes as a kid — Steve Caballero, Matt Hensley, Tom Knox, and the great Christian Hosoi. When watching vert skaters in the 80’s most people think of Mike McGill and Tony Hawk but I always enjoyed watching Christian Hosoi. My first time at the skate park in Louisville, KY I was in shock to see the size of the halfpipe but as a kid I watched Hosoi rock them like it was nothing so I decided to drop in and see if I could do it, too.
I learned quickly why I was a street skaters and that I was not a vert skater. I smashed hard and haven’t tried that insanity of a ramp since. Now, that never stopped me from slashing around the concert park. I can rock around that part of the park like its nothing and the crappy metal park in my town but that halfpipe in Louisville just wasn’t my cup of tea. Needless to say, my experience on that ramp made me really appreciate what the skaters I looked up to did on these ramps. So when I saw that Christian Hosoi had a backpack with Hex brand bags, I was super excited to try it out. It’s been years since I’ve skateboarded but being able to revisit my past with this backpack has been incredible.
DETAILS
The Christian Hosoi Skate Pack from Hex Brands is a limited edition collaboration and it has enough space for a 13-15″ MacBook Pro (or comparably sized laptop). The bag features skate straps and durable Molle loops for carabiner or accessory attachments. The backpack is made with heavy-duty abrasion resistant material so that it’s protected from grip tape wear. The bag is water resistant thanks to the nylon shell. There is a generous main storage area, top zippered accessory pocket, side storage pockets, and a side water bottle pocket. The skate pack measures 19″ x 12.5″ x 7″ and has a volume of 27L. In addition to the skate pack, Hex also offers a Christian Hosoi Roller Duffel as a companion piece.
USER EXPERIENCE
The Christian Hosoi Skate Pack is large enough to be an overnight bag but versatile enough to use as a tech bag, too. There is a padded pouch inside the main compartment for a laptop but the bottom of the compartment (and the pouch) isn’t well padded. If there are other items in the bag then that can help cushion the base of the laptop pouch but because of the size of the bag, I don’t feel comfortable just using this backpack for my laptop only.
Last month, I had to travel two hours back to Louisville from my hometown because they are the closest town with an Apple store. I was lucky enough to be able to swap my MacBook Pro out for the newer model with the Vega Pro GPU. Anytime I make a trip like that I always overpack in case I will need to stay overnight for whatever reason. The Christian Hosoi Hex bag was my bag of choice for this trip because not only did I need to pack my laptop that was being exchanged but I also had to carry its box, a change of clothes, my iPad Pro, an external battery and a slew of other gadgets and nicknacks. What I really liked about the bag was how the center of it is just a big open compartment. I had plenty of room for everything and I hadn’t yet used the waterproof zipper pockets on the sides yet. I ended up using them to store my wallet, keys, and cables. It was crazy to think how much I was able to pack in this bag.
The graphic design of the bag is quite unique. In fact, it sort of looks like a red urban camouflage. While in the Apple store one of the reps really liked the bag and wanted to know where he could get one. It looks like a designer style and that’s what you get with Hex bags. They are very classy and made well.
CONCLUSION
While I really love this bag for tossing bunches of stuff inside I don’t like it for just an everyday laptop or camera bag. It’s a great bag and holds a large amount of gear, it just doesn’t feel like it can protect my laptop and camera the way other bags do. However, if you are using a separate case for your camera and a good sleeve for the laptop the Christian Hosoi bag would work great.
For more information, visit hexbrand.com.
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