At any given time, you can count on at least some of our bags being available for backorder. Sometimes it's just a color or two that's sold out, but sometimes every color option is on backorder. It's pretty much been this way since we can remember: as soon as we think we've increased production capacity to meet demand, you guys demand even more from us. And it's awesome. And we spend a lot of time thanking you silently in our heads as we get to be busy at work every day doing what we love to be doing.

That said, we realize it can be frustrating to not be able to get the bag you want, especially if you're going on a trip or have some other time constraint. We're continually thinking of new ways we can increase production capacity: being smarter about the flow of work through our Seattle factory, buying new/faster/better equipment, hiring more factory crew.

But here's the thing: if the only goal was to have every bag in stock at all times, there's choices we could've made that would've guaranteed that. We know what those are, and you probably do too. They aren't necessarily bad things or things we pass judgement on -- they just aren't things we want to do.

So, it's slow and steady, but we're working on being able to make more bags so that chances are, more often than not, the next time you need a new bag we'll be able to ship it to you right away. We're getting the quality right, we're making more (and more secure) jobs for our factory crew, we're getting better at what we do. It's a challenge, but it's one we're up for, and we hope you'll stay with us for the ride.