This is longer than our usual ones, but it covers changes ATD Supply operations that i felt needed to be shared with customers and followers. Thank you for taking the time to read it.The correct markup: a necessary obsession. I primarily started designing bags because I am a gear nerd and have been obsessed with adventure equipment since I was a kid. Plus, I’m presumptuous enough to think I’ve figured out how to make a couple of things work a little better compared to what was available, and that my design choices could have made travel and carry in general better for some users. These were undeniably the first drivers, but they could no longer be the most important ones once...
On April 2nd, US Government officially introduced tariffs on imported goods, directly impacting ATD Supply operations, together with its sales to US-based customers.After a few days, tariffs toward EU (including Italy) were withdrawn and are now suspended for 90 days, making our bags tariff-free for US-based customers as they were before, but the damage was already done: they didn't even need to be actually introduced to influence markets, since just announcing them weeks before was enough to make sales fall and make some raw materials prices increase. This isn't the best place to discuss if a global free market is the best system or not, nor to determine if the distortions it can generate are a fair price to pay for...
Let’s be honest: the carry industry is far from being green, and ATD Supply as a company is no exception, using non biodegradable synthetic materials and singularly shipping, almost entirely internationally, most of its products.With a degree in Human Environmental Sciences and years of experience traveling in remote areas, I know what the effects of plastic related pollution are on the environment and the communities living in it. Plus, since I was a teenager, I've always been interested in the complexity of environmental topics and really conscious about what consequences on the environment consumer choices could have. The tall cliffs north of Nam Hinboun river in Laos. Picture taken by the author.That said, when I started making bags, I decided to focus...
After shipping 4th production run of ATD1 backpack, the biggest run we've done so fat, it's time to breath and think about the direction future steps should take. Let's speak about multiple drops, inevitable price increase for the ATD1 and the release of ATD2 backpack.
As soon as ATD1’s Kickstarter campaign came to an end, i started feeling the need to put the whole journey on paper. It’s been a huge, completely new thing to me, fully managed by myself: i learned so many new things and i wanted to be sure that i wouldn’t have forgotten anything. On the other hand, i was so tired of everything related to crowdfunding that i just wanted to dive into production and fulfilling: they aren’t less stressful, but i already knew how to handle them, so I just postponed this recap. Now, waiting for my manufacturing partner to complete ATD1’s 2nd production run and working on new products, i feel this is the right time to sum up. Obviously,...
