Canadian Gift Guide

I did a little trek through a mall today and nearly choked at the sight of a despondent student stacking colourful school supplies, before nearly colliding with another youth stocking up a basket while perusing the pen aisle. I mean, I know it’s August and that’s Back to School time, but two days after the long weekend? It’s enough to make any tyke a little depressed.

I for one, being the keener that I am, always dug back to school and fall in general. The start of a new school year has always felt like more of a fresh start than that other New Year’s that takes place in January. Now I’ve got a great product to get any student of any age (or those that just like to tote around stylish bags) excited, at least a little bit, for September.

Timbuk2 is a San Francisco-based company that runs a nifty little ecommerce site that harkens back to the days when San Fran was the nexus of the dot com boom and bust. The earthy meets techno chic vibe of the city is well alive on this site that produces dozens of different options for bags and cases of all shapes and sizes – whether you need to protect your netbook, cart your books, or take your ever important office papers home at night, they’ve got you covered.

The most exciting thing about Timbuk2 however, is their ‘bag in a box’ gift. You buy a gift card, it comes in a fancy box, and the lucky recipient can log onto the Timbuk2 website to customize a bag of their choice – including the size, colours, fabrics, binding, logo shade, liner, reflectors, and other fun extras.

The bag is literally yours from the ground up – they even take into account how you wear your bag (left shoulder or right) to adjust the buckles. In terms of that ever important eco-friendly element, consider it in full effect. Timbuk2’s bags are incredibly durable, and they offer a pretty hefty guarantee on their craftsmanship, plus a handy bag recycling program when you inevitably (sadly) fall out of love with it. Plus you gotta love that they are handmade by our neighbours to the South – creating jobs and ensuring quality time spent on your project.

This isn’t the first time I’ve talked about customized gifts, but the nice thing about Timbuk2 is you can let the recipient do the customizing instead of taking a (calculated) gamble by doing the work yourself. The options are a little more limited with Timbuk2, but in some ways the choices made here are infinitely more important. After all, consider how often you’ll be seen toting this piece of arm candy versus say, a pair of customized shoes among many.

The price is a little steep on the bags – the cheapest backpacks are around the $100 mark while smaller totes hover around $50-$75, plus a $30 shipping charge to Canada. That being said, having gone through several backpacks in my school career, it pays to splurge on a good backpack – both for style points and spinal protection! So treat the student in your life – whether it’s a parent heading back to the books, a new college attendee, or a reward for a job well done last year.