The Road Less Travelled

Packing light so that everything will fit into a carry-on beach bag is a skill not everybody can get the hang of because people tend to over pack. But traveling light is a no-brainer. Yes, it can be done, especially when it’s a beach trip and being a man – it spares you from the pressure that makes most women bring their entire wardrobe.

-Leave behind bag with wheels because they weigh extra pounds more. (Just opt for the light one which has enough pockets and compartments to help keep you organized).

-For footwear, leave those bulky shoes at home and bring slippers or sandals. Waterproof, plastic or rubber ones are best. They are lighter and less bulky.

-Also, don’t forget to pack other essentials needed for your beach vacation - sunscreen; and sunglasses and hats. You can’t afford to leave these items.

There you have it. Know your comfort needs and packing style and choose what’s best for you. This will make your beach vacation more comfortable and more enjoyable. Happy packing and have a perfect beach trip!

Just Remember: If you don’t pack lightly, then this could be you :)

Friends, adventurers, casual observers...

We recently introduced our first canvas satchel and have a canvas duffle bag on the way. While the two bags have been well received so far and we are very excited to be working with this new material, we do get asked quite frequently why we are moving away from leather - after all, isn't that what we became popular for?

Well, here's the answer:

• Canvas is a durable material and feeds into our mission of offering durable products
• Canvas costs less than leather, which means we will be able to offer a more affordable option off our products
• Canvas allows us to fall back on something if and when we face a shortage of leather - this is quite common due to the unprofessional nature of the leather tanning industry in Pakistan
• Canvas looks really cool - it's got that rugged and natural look which we go for

Lastly, working with canvas does not mean we're abandoning leather - far from it. It just means we're expanding our product vision by offering more kinds of products. Our vision for Bear Necessities is not to be a niche brand, but to be the Zara of the Bags/Luggage and Accessories industry. This requires us to be more flexible in our product approach. So while leather will remain our primary focus - even our canvas products have elements of leather, you can expect more experimentation from us in future.

In the end, while the material might vary, and while we might grow too fast, you can always expect us to remain true to our promise of providing handcrafted, durable leather classics and products which inspire adventure.

Until next time, your's humbly,

Husain

“I think that the world should be full of cats and full of rain, that's all, just cats and rain, rain and cats, very nice, good night.” - Charles Bukowski

So in the first week of July, the misses and I decided to take a five-day break in Karimabad, Hunza.

For those who are not familiar, Hunza is a valley, comprising on many small villages, in the Gilgit-Baltistan region of the Karakorum mountains in Pakistan. It is inhabited by the most friendly people and surrounded by the most majestic mountains and breathtaking scenery. There are many treks of all lengths and difficulty which have their starting point in Hunza, and for the slightly less adventurous there's comfortable accommodation and awesome ethenic food.
Regardless to say, Hunza is a great place to vacation within Pakistan, away from all the stresses of city life.

Here are some of my favorite pictures from the trip which will give you an idea of what you are in for shall you decide to take a trip to Hunza - which i hope will be soon.

Spotted on top of Baltit Fort

A privately owned pasture in Karimabad

View from the same pasture

It was quite a trek getting up here

View from the highest point in Karimabad, with the Rakaposhi mountain in the background

View from Altit (village)

View from Eagles's Nest

Attabad Lake - famously created due to a massive landslide in Attabad (town) in January 2010

Keep adventuring,

Husain

We get asked about the source of our leather and the moral implications of using it a lot. This is a very valid concern and we thought we'd address it in this post.

Our leather is a bi-product of the meat industry. We do not use calf leather or that of animals which are bred for their leather or which are endangered.

We buy our leather from local tanneries in Karachi- Pakistan, who purchase the hides from different mandis (wholesale markets) in the city. Most of these hides come from the province of Punjab, very few even make it from across the border in Iran. Interesting fact: Pakistani hides are supposed to be some of the best for making leather in the world.

Another thing which we have started doing is purchasing discarded leather for making special products. Not only will this add more diversity to our collection, but it also has a positive impact of the ecosystem.

Trust us, animal wellfare is a cause which we are deeply moved by and we do whatever we can in our personal and professional capacity to make a difference.

Last of all, no, we do not use bear leather for any of our products! Seriously, how could you even think that!?

- Husain

Meet Hercules.

Hercules resides at the Ayesha Chundrigar Foundation Animal Shelter in Karachi. When she was first brought to the shelter she was in a terrible state and her hind legs were paralyzed. However, after a lot of love and care by the good people at ACF and some adjustment issues, Hercules is doing a lot better now and she even walks around with her custom made wheelchair.
We just adopted Hercules using the ACF Sponsor a Pet program. This means part of revenues each month will go to ACF for taking care of Hercules. Animal welfare is a cause we feel very passionately about and we plan on doing as much as we can for it, including adopting more animals in need like Hercules. We encourage you to do the same.
We’ll be posting more updates of Hercules here in future.

Happy Adventuring,
Husain

The importance of good leather can not be stated enough in our line of work.

Let's just put it this way, our customer reviews fluctuate with the quality of leather we use. If we get a batch of good leather from our tanner, the products we make end up looking great (and as they are meant to). The customers love the products and we get great reviews. However, if a certain batch of leather is not so good, the products, customers and reviews all suffer. 

We are not immune to this problem. Being a small business, sometimes we are forced to accept leather which we know is not optimal at the 11th hour. Sometimes, the leather looks fine on the surface and passes its initial inspection, and it is only after we start using it that we come across its flaw. What do we do in this case? How do we ensure customer satisfaction?

Lucky for you guys, we have a pretty strict selection criteria for the products we end up selling. When we do get a batch of average leather, the first thing we do is try and fix the leather as best as possible (I have to admit, this is mostly a futile exercise). Then we see which products can be made from the leather without compromising on their standard (yes, this is usually possible as different products have different leather requirements). Lastly, we end up rejecting a lot more products during the final inspection. We categorize the products into three groups - A, B and C, according to their quality, and only end up selling Group A on the website. This is a big part of our cost but it's a price you have to pay to build a solid brand.

If despite all of this a customer is not satisfied with their order, we offer them a free exchange or return. We don't believe in leaving even a single customer dissatisfied with our brand, especially when it's within our control.

So, if you are ever thinking about starting a leather goods business, make sure you find a tanner/supplier which you can trust. That is 80% of the battle won.

Best,
Husain

Hey folks,

Hope you're all preparing to kick off the new year in style!
It's been an adventurous 2015 for us and we've worked hard to establish ourselves as a brand. Our promise has always been the same from the start, to offer durable leather classics. I would say we've succeeded to an extent - but we might have pissed off some of you along the way. If we did, we sincerely apologise and we hope that we made it up to you later. We are grateful for the support of each and every one of you along the way.

Far more interesting than what transpired in 2015 is what we have to look forward to, so here's a glimpse of what you can expect from us in 2016.

New Products
Yup, we know we been slow in introducing new products and we get a fair bit of complaints about this. However, we have some new products which are at the final stage of their production including a new satchel bag and a passport cover. You can expect these on the website in the first two weeks of January 2016. We also plan on introducing at least one new women's and men's wallet each as those are our best selling items.

More Engagement
In 2016, we plan on taking our social media engagement to the next level. We plan of featuring special interviews and stories of adventurers from our part of the world. We would also like to give you a more personal and closer look into Bear Necessities, the brand and company. So if you're not a fan of our Facebook and Instagram pages yet, we recommend that you become one now!

Price Increase
The thing is, a lot of our friends and partners have been encouraging us to increase the prices of our products, saying they are worth more than what we are charging. We have generally been averse to this idea as we felt we were still at a developing stage and our products had not reached their true potential. Now, however, we feel that the time is right to charge a bit more for some of our better selling products. So if you're reading this, and there's a BN product which you really want to buy, now's the time. 

Giving More
We feel quite passionately about animals and the environment, and we plan to do our best in caring for both in 2016. Part of our plans is to give a percentage of our profits, in an ongoing basis, to local charities working in these segments. We also plan on running different campaigns with these charities to create more awareness about these causes.

So those are some of the big things we have planned for 2016 - I'm sure there will be plenty more smaller adventures along the way. Let us know what you think and what are some of your resolutions for the new year.

Have a wonderful new year!

Husain Karrar
Head Honcho

P.s. This is our first blog post - let us know what you think. ;)