Not every company can pull off the name Bumbag, but even with a cursory glance at this interview, and you’ll see why it works so well for this hip pack company. The Bumbag hip pack was born out of necessity: Bobby Long's need to keep all his shit in one place. It wasn’t long after Bobby started rocking his first hip pack, that people took notice of its many, many benefits. Whether you’re traveling, at a festival, an amusement park, or just want to be handsfree, Bumbag offers an alternative to a backpack in styles that fit everyone’s taste. We caught up with Bobby Long and Brad Hooker to see how Bumbag started and how they’ve carved out a name (and look) for themselves in a such a short amount of time. Read what Brad and Bobby had to say below and shop our complete Bumbag Collection here.
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What’s up guys! What are your names and what do you do for Bumbag? What erps? The names Brad and that's Bobby. Umm, we both kinda have done everything for Bumbag since it started. I'm out in Australia now trying to get things moving out here and Bobby is holding it down in Oceanside, CA. We are a skater owned deal so everyone pretty much chips in on everything that's needing to be done, family styles ya know? We prefer it that way.
Sup? Bumbag for me is a everyday task. I'm doing something different every day which is cool, learning a lot with the homies and family while getting to skate. Its epic! 
Where did the concept for bumbags come from? Is there a story behind the bag? For me, the story behind the bag I think was just a matter of being over losing my shit. Our good friend Mama Joe hooked me up with my first one and BB ended up painting on it. After that, the Bumbag saved my brain everything I owned was just on my lap.
It was about 1-yr ago we were eating Pizza and looking at Bob's fanny pack that he had been wearing for about 2-years straight. The thing was badass and we were talking about how it was hard for him to find good new one. So we decided that we may as well try to make one. Everything has just kinda escalated from there.
How long did it take from concept to selling your first bag? We ordered some pretty bad bags to start that only took a couple of weeks to get our hands on. Right as we got the bags we decided we wanted to throw an event for all the homies at the local abandoned car lot, they all sold out pretty quickly and we had a quick lesson in product design. From there we began designing our own bags with Spencer Ramsey and it took about 6-months to get going. They launched in June, 2017
How do you feel about the term “fanny pack” and its reputation? Do you consider yourself crusaders fighting to legitimize the fanny pack name? When I think of the word fanny pack all I can think of is that photo of the Rock haha. We kinda see ourselves as more than just a fanny pack brand, we wanna make bags that all the homies want to mess with.
Your product photography feels like it’s part of a bigger story. Are there stories behind each bag/persona? Not really. We just kinda put no rules to what we do. Our brand content comes from the collective group of homies we got doing the brand with us. We just try to keep it full of hijinks and don't really get concerned with what the outcome is. Seems to work. Shouts out Hora Creative Union!!
Are they inspired by Big Lebowski? Or 70’s porn? Nah we just kinda go with what the posse feels. We got a dope crew of bros handling the product design too, and we run it similar to the content in terms of not putting any boundaries on what we want to create. Everyone gets to have input and what we come out with seems to be working.
Who and how do you decide on how the model will look for each bag? Haha, we just smoke chuck and let it ride, that seems to always work out. Higher the brain, higher the test score right bob?
I guess everyone just kinda brings their favorite items from there closet and we just throw it all together… Seems to be working out. We’re hyped off the response.
Bobby, how’d your hair get so fucking cool? When did you decide to usurp King Arthur’s crown? Haha – I truly was just over having long hair looked up cuts on the internet figured the bob cut was the one to get and just went for it.
Is it true you’re related to Lord Farquaad? Yea he’s my son.
We’ve heard rumors that your name isn’t really Bobby Long. Is there truth to these allegations, and if so, where’d the name 1800bobbylong come from? Yup my name is not Bobby Long. It’s Troye Rhoades. We were cruising around in Freck’s car listening to “Sizzla,” which is pretty much Jah music, the singer kept saying “Babylon” and I had asked, “Who is this Bobby Long guy they keep speaking of?” It’s stuck since then.
We’re big fans of what you guys are doing, and the hoodlums you’re affiliated with. Tell us a bit about how Nora and Ben Raybourn got on Bumbag. I think they hit us up asking for a bag? I forget they both are family thought. We wanna be associated with the weird and wonderful. Makes the world a better place.
Man we are only as good as the homies who fuck with us. Shouts out to both those guys and everyone else who backs us, we just wanna pay it back one day to everyone!!
How’d the Bumbag x Shep Dawgs collab come about? We are all about the homies and the good times that come with larking with the bros. Bobby is the one who actually came up with the Shep Dawgs name so when it came time to think up collab ideas, it was kind of a no-brainer.
I Just like seeing the SD on things and to be able to see it on a Bumbag, why not?!!!?!
What can we expect from Bumbags in the future?
Haha - Man we are just trying to make the next 3-months happen, starting a company is wild. We just wanna keep making better and better shit so one day we can hit the road and come visit Portland. We don't just wanna make fanny packs so we have started designing other bags that we think fools will like and as long as we are kicking it with the homies we don't really care what comes of it. Defiantly more west and hopefully a mini ramp one day. Big party, nonstop fun and a whole bunch of bags to hold ur shit!!! Stay with the wild ride Y'all!
Anything else you’d like to add? Any fond CCS memories from the old catalogs? Man I remember CCS catalogs and looking through that shit as a kid. Always wishing I could have it all, hahahaha. Thanks for this opportunity. We fuck with you hard!
Mad Love!!
