Talkback: Tales From The Crypt - Karrimor's Boma...

I'm glad I stuck to the Lowe Alpine North Peak 24, only a mere 1.9kg. Unless it rains in which case the "air stealth" back system absorbs another half kilo of water.

Enjoyed the talkback, a chucklesome read!!

I bought one of the first 'Bomber'rucksacks from the Karrimor shop next to the factory in Lancashire, many years back. At the time I thought it looked great, all stealthy. I used it for climbing etc, but did find it too heavy and the smell of rubber did get on my nerves and others. Ended up selling it on eBay. It was well made, a great bit of kit, but too heavy.

Well, if you want to re-live those days, there's a strong smell of rubber in the OM editorial office...

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OutdoorsMagic Editor | jon@outdoorsmagic.com 

I lugged one of these around the TMB.  I fell for all the macho toughness hype and it seemed like a good idea at the time.  Got at least half back on Ebay, though.

I now use a 520g 20 litre OMM Adventure Light for the same thing, although I've obviously gone a lot lighter since then.

It's definitely a creature of its time. The funny thing is that you can pinpoint almost exactly when mainstream lightweight kit really arrived and it was when GoLite appeared on the scene with a whole bunch of super-minimalist products along with a sort of infectious, revolutionary zeal.

Since then lightweight has been absorbed more and more into the mainstream, I think. Ironically GoLite, which started the ball rolling, has actually backed off from extreme minimalism towards slightly heavier, though still light, but arguably more practical kit.

I guess ultimately you could theoretically use an original GoLite Gust for pretty much the same thing as a Boma/Bomber, albeit with slightly different results, strengths and weaknesses...

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OutdoorsMagic Editor | jon@outdoorsmagic.com 

Got one of these off ebay a while ago, it has served me very well.


Mine does say "made in china, 2003". My memory may deceive me, but I thought it was much more recently that karrimor had problems and moved production to china...anyway if it's fake its a bloody good one.

Nope, the "factory" in Lancashire had been a warehouse (I think) for some time before they went down in 2004 with some, if not all, production elsewhere.

This reminds me - when they did go down there was a warehouse clearance sale  with all sorts ridiculously cheap. Included were a pair of 3 or 4 season boots for £15! I cant remember much about them apart from they were purple and maybe yellow and so heavy I just put them bac!

Just saw this and brought back memories of the days when Karrimor sacks were still made in Britain. I'll take it off your hands if it's going calling, as a memory of the good old days!