Bringing your crochet projects everywhere

From time to time I like to show you other things than yarn and patterns that still are very useful and comes in handy for our beloved hobby. This time I got in contact with the people at Gaston Luga to see if I could review one of their backpacks! I have had my eyes on them for a while after seeing the amazing waterproof backpacks they have. They gladly sent me one of their bags for review and if you keep on reading you’ll find a great discount code! Grab a cuppa and let’s dig in.

Use code coffeeandcrocheting15 at checkout for 15% off your own backpack at gastonluga.com

Bringing your project everywhere

If you’re like me, you take your project with you wherever you go, and I am always nervous if it starts to rain if my bag will keep my project dry. Especially since I am often out and about with my bike and the weather here in Helsinki can be quite unpredictable at times. Since I am most of the time out with my bike a backpack is a natural choice for me. It is easy to bring and my sensitive shoulders (all that crocheting!) gets the weight evenly. 

Story

Gaston Luga is a company with founded in Stockholm, Sweden. With roots from my home country and Scandinavian minimalistic elegant design I think they’re a perfect match to my style of design. 

Let’s begin with facts about the backpack I’ve tried. It is the 13” Spläsh and described on their website: “Spläsh’s stylish roll-top design lets you tailor your space to suit your needs. With quick-access pockets, secure laptop storage, and premium, easy to clean rain- and snow-resistant material, Spläsh is the travel companion you can take anywhere.” 

Water- and snowproof

The waterproof (and snow proof!) material is what sold me. It’s crucial for me that my projects are safe from the weather. Especially since many are made for clients and not mine to keep.  Since we’ve had an unusually warm summer and not much rain I took the bag to the sea and put it down to see if it holds the water even if it’s dipped in it for a while. It did not disappoint! The cloth I had inside didn’t get wet at all. So now we  know if is safe to put down on damp ground or even on snow. But that is not the main use I’ll need it to be waterproof from. So I had to try it in the rain somehow without it raining. I didn’t see any option but to shower it. And it worked great! No water inside at all. Here I have to add that you need to be careful from the sides since it it’s still open there. They’ve done a great job keeping pockets tight and cover most openings so I have no doubt it will keep rain or snow out. 

Inside

The inside has a pocket for a 11-13” laptop or similar. It also works great as a divider inside the bag. I like to keep my notepads and stuff on one side and crochet project in the other side, which it works great for. The size of the bag is quite small so it is harder to fit a large project together with a lot of other stuff. But I’ve had almost a finished sweater with one  sleeve left to make fitting great in it. I don’t see it as a problem since I anyhow prefer to bring smaller projects when I am out and about. Like the beginning of a sweater or parts of it. 

I got positively surprised when I managed to fit my 15” laptop in the backpack even though it is designed for 11-13”. Since the closing straps have 3 different levels where you can close, it was easy to adjust to git the 15” by using the higher closings. Gaston Luga did however recently release the 16” Spläsh so if you have a larger laptop that is probably a better choice.

Lightness and lots of storage

The bag is really light in it self, if it gets heavy it is just cause I’ve packed too much in it. I love that! That is one of the first things I check for in a bag, we all know the dread of carrying around a heavy bag. Not fun! So that the bag in itself is light is a pro. 

It has 2 pockets on the outside front of the backpack which would be great for keys and phone or other things you want to have easy at hand. My phone is too big to fit unfortunately. But inside it has a larger pocket so definitely space for it. 

Colors

The backpack is available in 6 beautiful colors. Grey with black straps, black, black with brown straps, olive with black straps, white with black straps and mustard with black straps. The colors are soft and neutral and one of the hardest choice was in which color to get it. My sister bought it in mustard at once and I couldn’t help but to snap a picture of it as well when she was visiting. It feels like the perfect fall color.

Summarising

All in all it is a really handy day to day backpack for when you don’t need too much things with you. For example when going to work or university. It has a good amount a pockets for everything you need to bring for your crochet or knit projects and even fits notes and a small laptop. It’s is waterproof fitting the more demanding weather conditions and the backpack in itself is very light!

Your benefits
Right now you can get a 15% discount off your own Gaston Luga backpack using this code at checkout: coffeeandcrocheting15 

Since they also have a campaign where you get a complimentary tote bag and 50% off accessories with every backpack purchase, now is a great time to get yours and take advantage of all the discounts. Also they have free worldwide shipping!

My sister bought the Spläsh 13” in a lovely mustard!