OUR STORY IS 34 YEARS OLD

Actually, it all started with a birthday gift that had no effect and ended up somewhere completely different.

Three things contributed to the creation of our company: a great love for mountaineering and spending time outdoors, a Minerva Bobbin pedal sewing machine, and the era of the communist regime with its incredible shortages of everything which we can hardly imagine today. And last but not least, one curiosity: a birthday gift that missed its intended purpose and ended up in the hands of someone else.

Pioneering Beginnings

It all began in the 1980s with the desire of a young student to have at least some gear for his mountain expeditions, from a windbreaker and snow gaiters to a backpack and sleeping bag. At that time, everything was scarce in Czechoslovakia, and the only path to this dream was creating it yourself. I discovered my sister's pedal sewing machine, a Minerva Bobbin, in her room and began to teach myself how to sew at night. Thanks to a neighbor from a nearby house, a men's tailor who I went to for advice, I learned the basics of patterns. I learned how to insert pockets into jackets, how to match different parts of clothing together, etc. Slowly, I worked my way up to making a nylon jacket. I tried to "liven up" my designs with various patches like "USA" and "Canada," which I got by trading with friends who had brought them from abroad. I wore the clothes I made myself for the next 5-10 years.

The First Backpack

For my trip to the Julian Alps in 1985, I decided to make my own backpack. You can't imagine how difficult it was to get the necessary materials to make it. Textile companies had no idea about technical fabrics, let alone that you could buy them from them. Therefore, I used whatever I could find – a tarp from a market stall or a piece of tarpaulin that had been used to cover building materials. I painstakingly dyed the material using textile dyes on my parents' kitchen stove. I sprayed reflective elements with car spray paint.

After my experience in the Julian Alps with my first prototype, I decided to rip the backpack apart and resew it. In the end, I constructed a new backpack based on what I had learned. Gradually, friends from my climbing club began to approach me, wanting me to sew them backpacks like mine.

First Capital and First Business

During the communist era, it wasn’t possible to buy most things, but a lot could be obtained through barter. Therefore, I took the things I made to Russia. I had to count on losing about half of my products, but I managed to trade the other half for titanium screws. One screw could be sold for 30 Marks in West Germany in return.

In 1995, I decided to sew another backpack of my own design. The availability of materials for its production had significantly improved. Based on demand from my friends and their friends, as well as from the company Hudy Sport, I started sewing backpacks in larger quantities, and in 1997, I founded the company BOLL.

The first line of backpacks that we introduced under the BOLL brand consisted of three types of DayPack backpacks and a 70-liter mountaineering backpack.

Today, BOLL manufactures over 50 types of products, ranging from small backpacks for children to school backpacks, urban backpacks, backpacks for demanding hiking, sleeping bags, and other accessories. However, the production of all our products is still guided by our core philosophy and meets strict criteria in terms of functionality, perfect ergonomics, and reliability.

BOLL PHILOSOPHY

Everything we do is guided by our core philosophy of creating products that bring people joy, enhance their lives, serve them well in the long term, and use environmentally friendly materials. We enjoy searching for and testing new materials, designing functional details, and continuously developing better construction solutions for our products.

When creating BOLL products, three main principles are most important to us:

1. FUNCTIONALITY COMES FIRST

   In development, we consider:

   • how and where the product will be used,
   • who will use it,
   • what function it will serve,
   • how it will be loaded and stressed.

   We also pay great attention to every detail to ensure that each product is easy and pleasant to use.

2. ERGONOMICS

   A BOLL backpack must fit properly on the back and become an extension of the user. It must "mirror" the body's movements, stay stable on the back, and be comfortable to wear. We like to say that "a backpack shouldn't be dragged, it should be worn."

   When designing a backpack, we place a strong emphasis on studying the anatomy of the body. Specifically, we focus on the position and shape of the shoulders, trapezius muscles, spine curvature, and torso length, all of which determine the proper design of the ergonomic back support system and the shape of the backpack.

3. RELIABILITY

   Great attention is paid to the reliability of BOLL products, as they are often used in extreme conditions, where failure could have serious consequences.

   Reliability is considered both in the initial design phase and throughout the production process and final quality control. Only high-quality and proven materials are used in production. Significant attention is also given to the stitching, where stressed areas are reinforced with special stitches or threads.