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04/27/2001 Archived Entry: "ATB"

Recently, I reverted back to using my good old 'Head' bag instead of the newer PriceWaterhouseCoopers freebie I'd had. Mostly it was for practical reasons; the Head bag could store more and looked better. But besides those reasons was the sheer experiences I've had with the Head bag. I first got it about eight years ago now, and I remember getting it simply due to its ruggedness. Over the years, it first lost its solid bottom sheet, then its plastic front cover. There was a period of a few years where it stayed fine, but then in the space of one year, one of the front clips was ripped off (the person who did it had the wit to realise the magnitude of the mistake he made) and then the other clip was broken.

Right now, there are a few holes in the smaller pockets, but what's important is that the bag is still holding up, after eight years of heavy usage. Lesser backpacks have fallen at these hurdles, but it still lifts my heart every time I see a similar Head bag to mine - invariably they're in a battered condition with bits of plastic torn, but they're worn with pride by their owners.

In perhaps a clever move by Head, they seem to have discontinued this line of indestructible backpacks in favour of producing more attractive yet shorter-lasting bags, to get more money. This is indeed a sad turn of events, but when I look upon my backpack, with its mysterious 'ATB' word emblazoned on the front (the provenance of which is still unknown - some wags believe it means 'All Terrain Bag'), I think - 'truly, I would not exchange this bag for any other.'