Sandqvist Mens Bags & Backpacks

Sandqvist was started in Stockholm in 2004 by Anton Sandqvist, a mechanical engineer who could not find a bag that worked for both the city and the forest, so he made one in his basement.

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About Sandqvist bags

Anton Sandqvist was a mechanical engineer in Stockholm who wanted a bag that worked for a commute and a weekend outdoors, and found that everything available was either an ugly computer bag or an expensive leather one. So in autumn 2004 he spent thirty hours making his own in a basement. His brother Daniel and their childhood friend Sebastian Westin joined afterwards, and the three of them had grown up in the same countryside village in mid-Sweden before moving to the city — which is the whole design brief in one sentence.

What follows from that is the thing worth knowing before you buy. Sandqvist deliberately does not make large expedition packs. Everything is daypack size, and every backpack has a laptop pocket inside, because the bags are built to work in both places rather than to be excellent in one. Early styles drew on old Swedish military and outdoor packs, from before backpacks became complicated.

Sandqvist rolltop backpacks

The rolltop is the shape Sandqvist is best known for and there are three here — the Icon Rolltop in 16" and large, and the Stream Rolltop Large. The closure folds down on itself and clips, which does two things a zip cannot: it seals at the one point most backpacks let water in, and it lets the bag grow or shrink depending on what you have put in it.

That makes rolltops the better choice if what you carry varies day to day. If you carry the same thing every day, the Stream Zipper Backpack is the same family with a conventional opening and a more consistent shape.

Sandqvist hike backpacks and everyday bags

The Ridge Hike and Creek Hike are the outdoor-leaning pieces, cut longer through the back with more structure and compression. The Sune, Arvid and Walter are the plainer everyday backpacks, and the Go 3-Way is the one built for travel — it carries as a backpack, a holdall or a shoulder bag depending on which straps you use.

At the smaller end, the Stream Sling, Shoulder and Crossbody bags cover phone-and-wallet carrying, and the Curve Halfmoon is the least conventional shape in the range.

Browse all bags at Yards Store, or see what we have in our Manchester and Sheffield shops.

Sandqvist FAQs

The opening folds down on itself and clips shut rather than closing with a zip. Two advantages: it seals against rain at the point where most backpacks leak, and the capacity changes with how much you are carrying, so the bag stays compact when light. The trade-off is that getting into it takes a moment longer, which is why zip versions suit people who carry the same thing every day.

As a rule, yes. Sandqvist deliberately keeps to daypack sizes rather than making large hiking packs, and the founder has said every backpack gets a laptop pocket precisely so it works for the commute as well as the trail. Check the individual product page for the size it takes.

Mostly recycled nylon and polyester alongside GOTS-certified organic cotton, with vegetable-tanned leather on the trims. The company works with the Fair Wear Foundation on factory conditions and the Leather Working Group on leather sourcing. Which combination applies varies by model, so the breakdown is on each product page.

The Ridge Hike is the outdoor-oriented one — longer through the back, more structure, and built for carrying a load properly over distance. The Stream family is the everyday range, in rolltop, zipper, sling, shoulder and crossbody forms, cut for commuting rather than walking.