Traveling in Style with Topo Designs: A Giveaway!

I’m very particular when it comes to luggage. And that probably explains why I have a whole closet full of luggage in all shapes and sizes, from compact carry-ons to roller bags to snowboard carriers. Though every bag has a purpose, I usually find myself gravitating to the ones that can multitask on my travels….

Linda Ly

Written by Linda Ly

Topo Designs Klettersack

I’m very particular when it comes to luggage. And that probably explains why I have a whole closet full of luggage in all shapes and sizes, from compact carry-ons to roller bags to snowboard carriers.

Though every bag has a purpose, I usually find myself gravitating to the ones that can multitask on my travels. They’re the ones I keep at eye level, within easy reach, and usually have a pocket pre-filled with first aid, business cards, Garden Betty stickers, and other things I always like to have on hand. And one of those bags has so far been getting the most mileage this year: the Klettersack by Topo Designs.

Aside from its retro good looks, the Klettersack is a workhorse. It’s traveled thousands of miles with me since Topo Designs first sent it to me in April: first to El Salvador, where it spent a week on the black sand beach as I surfed… to Point Reyes, where I stuffed it with gadgets for a work trip… to Big Sur, where it hauled all my gear for hikes along the rugged coast… to Sequoia National Park, where it camped amid the graceful giants… and finally, to the top of a granite dome overlooking the Great Western Divide. This unassuming sack got around. It was equally comfortable as a carry-on as it was a daypack.

Gone surfin'

The Klettersack in Big Sur

Hiking with the Klettersack

The Klettersack in Sequoia National Park

The Klettersack overlooking the Great Western Divide

These days, it seems backpacks are outfitted with all kinds of gimmicks: special pockets and loops, hidden compartments and iPod holders, thises and thats. The Klettersack keeps it simple. Inside is a spacious main compartment with a laptop sleeve, and outside you get a zippered top flap and two side pockets.

The Klettersack at Dorst Creek

The Klettersack as a daypack

Klettersack by Topo Designs

Klettersack by Topo Designs

You can store (and find) everything easily with this setup, and the bag is built to last.

Where is it built? In the good old US of A — right in Colorado in fact, in a LEED-certified building with, as they say on their site, an “amazing view of the Rockies.” As an outdoor-oriented company, I like the fact they do all the things their customers do, from hiking and biking to hunting and fishing. They are their own gear testers, so they know what they want, need, and like. And that so happens to be what I want, need, and like… and maybe you, too!

Topo Designs and I are teaming up to give away an awesome Klettersack ($169 value) to one lucky Garden Betty reader. You get your choice of color (mine is silver) and the giveaway is open to US and Canadian fans!

How to enter: Leave a comment below and tell me where you’d take your new Klettersack this summer (I always love finding new destinations for my own travel list!). To receive an additional entry, follow @theGardenBetty on Twitter, and leave a second comment below indicating your Twitter username. You have two chances to win!

The giveaway will end at 11:59 PM Pacific Standard Time on Friday, June 20, 2014. Winner will be drawn at random and announced the following week. Good luck!

Giveaway Rules

  1. Giveaway begins June 16, 2014 and ends June 20, 2014.
  2. No purchase is necessary. To enter, leave a comment on this blog post.
  3. Only US and Canada residents ages 18 and older are eligible to enter.
  4. Two entries allowed per person.
  5. Odds of winning are based on number of entries received.
  6. Winner will be drawn at random.
  7. If winner does not respond within 48 hours after time of contact, that entry will be forfeited and a new winner will be drawn.

This post is brought to you by Topo Designs. Thank you for supporting the sponsors that support Garden Betty.

Update: A big thanks to everyone who entered!
This giveaway is now closed. The winner is Sarah from Washington.

Linda Ly

I'm a plant lover, passionate road-tripper, and cookbook author whose expert advice and bestselling books have been featured in Time, Outside, HGTV, and Food & Wine. The National Parks Cookbook is my latest book. Garden Betty is where I write about modern homesteading, farm-to-table cooking, and outdoor adventuring—all that encompass a life well-lived outdoors. After all, the secret to a good life is... Read more »

174 Comments

  2. Thank you for this giveaway! I would like to take this sack when hiking through the Smoky Mountains and the rocks in Sedona!

  7. I would take it to the grimiest music festival in Upstate New York then to the beaches of Delaware. I’d throw in my gym locker daily then take it hiking on the weekend. Hikes for this summer: Sugarloaf Mountain, Old Rag, and Billy Goat Trail.

  8. Thank you!!! I hope to make it to the Berkshires (MA) this summer, to visit Tanglewood and the waterfalls.

  10. love that klettersack! (first read as kluttersack – probably more appropriate in my case, hah!) would find a million and two uses for it.

  13. I would love to win this backpack to go on summer vacation this year! So much more practical to stuff things in than a purse!

  14. I’d rock this amazingness at enchantment lakes… can’t wait to visit them, anf I definitely need a new pack!

  19. I can’t leave in the.summer because of milk goats, broilers and pigs we raise and a garden that can’t b left, but….we do go someplace in november and I would take my bag to the gulf of mexico on the florida coast.

  20. well…in the old days it might have gone to mexico, guatemala, the frank church wilderness, skiing…but for the next couple of summers it will have to stay a bit closer to home to hold diapers and sippy cups. Not for long though:)

  21. Good morning, Linda! This backpack would get to see New Mexico, Arizona, SoCal, and maybe even Colorado. The great American Southwest would be a good start, right? Happy hiking & harvesting!

    -Shana

  22. I would absolutely use this pack on a camping and fishing trip to Robinson Creek, just outside of Bridgeport, CA. Located along the Eastern Sierras, this entire side of the Sierras maintains an old West feel and far fewer visitors travel the 395, so it is easy driving. Nearby , I’d also use the pack for a day trip to Bodie Ghost Town. It’s a fairly large town kept in arrested decay, so it feels real. Betty, you would love it and with your great camera work, you could bring us back some great photos!

  24. I would take this bag to Strasbourg France and Philmont Scout Ranch in New Mexico. Also looks like a great everyday laptop bag.

  28. I’m headed to OBX to catch some waves this summer and check out the annual kite festival! This bag would be the perfect companion!

  29. I’m headed to Nootka sound this summer for ten days of salmon fishing and boat beaching! We went every summer when I was young but this is the first time in five years I’ve been able to go. Rugged, beautiful area!

  31. I have a camping trip to Rocky Mountain National Park that I’m sure this sack would love to join me on.

  32. If I am lucky enough to win the Klettersack I will use it on our annual hike up Mammoth Crest!

  34. I would take my klettersack hiking in the Appalachian Mountains of eastern North Carolina. It’s my favorite place in the world.

  36. Going on a couple trips in the next few months & I would definitely bring this bag along – half dome in yosemite, hiking in zion, havasupai falls, and around the beaches of costa rica!

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