It started with a simple frustration. In 2019, we looked around and saw a world flooded with backpacks that all looked nearly the same, were made who-knows-where, and ended up in the bin after two years. Cheap zippers. Thin straps. Materials that don’t remember what they’ve been through. And behind it all, anonymous factories where no one knows the name of the person who sewed your bag.
So Slávek and I started Batohiro. Not as a brand, but as an answer.
Craftsmanship has a name and a face
Every Batohiro backpack is made in small workshops in the Czech Republic - from the Vysočina Region to the Pardubice Region. Not in some abstract “European region”, but in specific rooms where specific people sit at specific machines. Our seamstresses have names. They know which types of stitching last for years and which fail after the first overload. They know where a backpack suffers the most, and that is exactly where they add reinforcement - not because it is in a manual, but because they have been doing it for twenty years.
When you buy a Minato Premium, it is not an anonymous product. It is the result of decisions made by specific people who refused to compromise. And you can feel the difference in your hand before you even open the backpack.
Materials with a future
We could talk about ECO CORDURA® Re/Cor™ made from recycled materials. About YKK® zippers, which are the industry standard because they simply never fail. About Fidlock® magnetic buckles, which withstand tens of thousands of cycles. About water-resistant EKOPAK® fabrics. We work exclusively with European materials - primarily from Germany.
But technical specifications are only half the story. The other half is the principle: we use materials that are good enough to keep the product out of landfill. That is all. When a backpack lasts ten years instead of two, it is not a luxury. It is basic responsibility toward the materials someone extracted, made, and transported.
That is why we offer a lifetime warranty on all our products. Not as a marketing slogan, but as the logical consequence of how we make them. If we believe in our craftsmanship, why wouldn’t we stand behind it?
Wabi-sabi: slow fashion as a form of respect
Our aesthetic comes from Japan - from an emphasis on minimalism, precision, and respect for tradition. The philosophy of wabi-sabi is especially important to us, seeking beauty in simplicity, naturalness, and authenticity. That is why our models bear Japanese names - Minato, Roku, Tenso, Kai, Sora.
We live in a time when you can buy a backpack for 400 Czech koruna and throw it away a year later. This economy works until you start counting the real costs - for the planet, for the people in factories on the other side of the world, and for you, buying the same thing again and again.
Batohiro is a conscious decision to move in the opposite direction. We make fewer pieces. We charge a fair price. We stand behind every single product that leaves our workshop.
This is not romanticism. It is mathematics. When a backpack lasts ten years, its annual cost is lower than that of a “cheap” alternative you have to replace three times. When it can be repaired, you do not have to replace it. When it is made here, it does not fly halfway around the world.
Design that serves a purpose
At Batohiro, we do not chase trends. Our design is Japanese in its purity. We are inspired by an approach in which every detail has a function and every unnecessary element is removed.
The Minato Premium backpack expands from 20 to 40 liters because real life is not standardized. The Kai waist bag fits because we invested months in testing it. Tenso 30 and 40 were created because our customers told us they needed something between a daypack and a travel suitcase. We listen.
Be the Hiro
Our motto, Be the Hiro, is not an advertising slogan. It is the principle behind our designs - an invitation for everyone to find the hero and uniqueness within themselves, often hidden in the smallest details. To us, heroism lies in everyday details: how well a strap fits after twelve hours of wear, how a zipper looks after five years, and how the material ages. We do everything we can to carry this into our products - combining everyday functionality with clean aesthetics.
What you are buying when you buy Batohiro
You are not buying a backpack. You are buying the decision to do things differently. You are buying the craftsmanship of people who know their trade. You are buying materials that make sense. You are buying a product that WILL BE WITH YOU FOR A LONG TIME.
It may sound like big words for a backpack. But we believe that it is precisely in everyday things - in what you carry on your back, in what you use every day - that you show which economy you support and what kind of world you want to live in.
Batohiro is our answer. We hope it will be yours, too.
Read more
Own merch spring 2026 is the ideal time to launch your first DROP. Get tips and advice for successful merch.
The search for the right airplane backpack usually begins when you do not want to deal with a suitcase, fees, or unnecessary repacking during security checks. A well-chosen travel backpack makes we...