When I say Hoboroll to you, you probably think about the classic image of the picnic blanket rolled into a ball and secured to the end of a stick (that or you think of a homeless man eating a cinnamon bun). Well the Hoboroll I’m talking about is a bit of a modern twist on the light travel trend.
If you’re going on a long adventure, say a big hike or more than a night of camping, than you’d probably bring a backpack (one of those big complicated ones that college kids WOOF [Work On Organic Farms] Europe in). Those backpacks are built to be durable, light, and put all of the weight of your travel needs where you can bear it the best. What they aren’t efficient in is space. The Hoboroll has that down tight (hitting the pun hammer down on the obvious nail).
It’s design is simple. If you’ve used a camping sleeping bag before(the kind that cacoons you in and varies in ability to stand low to subzero temperatures), than you’ll find the Hoboroll to be very similar. It is a looped strip of material (ultra-light 30D siliconized nylon fabric) so that what you start out with is like a tent trimmed to a cylinder. Inside the cylinder are five flaps of material that stretch from corner to center, making five equal-sized pockets. The idea behind how the Hoboroll should function is that it saves space to roll your clothes and material rather than fold them (check out: How To Be An Expert Traveler), and these five pockets/slots allow you to organize what would otherwise be a bog of deformed swirling colors for easy access.
Adding to the easy access, the bag can be opened and closed on either side by a fastening cord. This allows you to seal it up tight like a capsule when carrying small, easily lost items, or to leave an opening on one or both sides for long items such as carpet (if you’re a traveling carpet salesman or genie), sticks for kindling, or anything else you might need that can’t be stuffed into the confines of a small bag.
Like many camping sleeping bags, the Hoboroll features fastening belts. The point is to use radial compression to keep things secure in the bag and generally push any pressure to expand into the center. The added twist is that the nylon belts loop into a handle. This is an intelligent way to cut down on material, but on the other hand it does limit the functionality. When there is less in the bag, you can pull the straps tighter, and you can fasten the loop around your shoulder. When there is more in the bag, you can’t pull the straps down as far, meaning the loop is smaller, so that you may be limited to carrying the Hoboroll by hand. However, this is only a limitation if the Hoboroll was your only storage device on your adventure. I
It would make a great addition on long expeditions because you can use its space saving benefit to pack in plenty of supplies and secure it to your backpack (in which case a smaller loop is beneficial so that the Hoboroll isn’t dangling off your pack wildly).
You can support the Hoboroll here.
