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Friday Find:
A fabulous backpack... from Ikea!

November 9th, 2012    |    Blog archive
I like backpacks. They're practical for days out (be it a day in town or a hike), less likely to be put down and forgotten (or stolen), and - best of all - they leave your hands free. But it can be hard to find a nice one that isn't too sporty, too expensive, or black (nothing wrong with good old practical black, I'd just prefer another colour).

Well, a few days ago I found one that definitely ticks all these boxes. And where did I find it? At Ikea! I popped in to buy a full length mirror (discontinued - aargh!) and a rolling clothes rack (an absolute bargain at £6.50!), and found this fabulous bright fuchsia Upptäcka backpack.


Now there are many things I love about this backpack, but the very best thing is the colour!
And if fuchsia isn't to your taste, it's also available in yellow-orange (a lovely mustard-gold), dark blue, dark grey (which looks black) and - surely impractical for many of us - off-white.

Other great things about this backpack:

• Simple styling: none of the straps and buckles, bells and whistles of many 'great outdoors' type backpacks, which seem to assume that we all carry ice axes around with us!
• The size: 15 litres (approx 16in/40cm high, 12in/30cm across and 5½in/14cm deep). Perfect for a day out, or for cabin luggage.
• Plenty of well-designed compartments and pockets (but not too many!): the main body of the backpack has a padded compartment for your laptop or iPad (max size 15in/38cm). The front section has several zip compartments and velcro pockets, plus a key tag, and there's another zip pocket on the front of the backpack. There are also two expandable side pockets.
• The price: It's £22 or, even better, if you have an Ikea Family Card, just £16!
• The quality: really excellent for the price. It's robust and well made with good heavy duty zips and padded shoulder straps. It's water repellent too.

In addition, it's part of Ikea's full Upptäcka luggage range, and is designed to slip over the extendable handle of the suitcase. There are two other backpacks in the range, one of which cleverly converts into 2 smaller backpacks.

The only thing I'm not so keen on is the rather obvious branding on the zip pulls. Yes, call me a snob, but I'm not sure I want everyone to see that my lovely fuchsia backpack is from Ikea! However, I've discovered that you can buy replacement zipper pulls - so I may do so.



Finally, if you really want to put your stamp on this backpack, it's a great canvas for customisation! Check out Virginia Bailey's fantastic backpack works of art here. You can even buy one of them from her Etsy store!


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