About Arctos

Ultra-functional, uncompromising quality

Arctos Packs are built to let you go as far, fast, and technical as you want to without getting in your way.  Our packs strike an ideal balance between capacity, comfort, durability, stability, and accessibility. This is our #1 priority as a company.

What's in a name? 

Our name, Arctos Packs, comes from the latin word for bear.  Large black bears exist in San Luis Obispo county, but they are rarely seen unless you're WAY out (and up) there on distant technical trails and neglected dirt roads. They're creatures of the backcountry, which is exactly the kind of place you'll be happiest while wearing our packs.

Ken's Journey

In the beginning…

Our founder Ken Kienow started mountain biking in 2010, wearing a traditional hydration backpack like everyone else was.  He loved long rides, but that pack hurt his back on anything beyond a short “lunch lap”.  The large volume of water required for multi-hour rides combined with tools, food, and various other items like clothing, a folding saw for trail work, canned beverages, etc. made his upper back and shoulders hurt progressively worse over the course of a ride.  Traditional backpacks would also hit him in the back of the helmet on steep technical trails, snag low-hanging branches on narrow brushy trails, leave him with a hot and sweaty back, and made frequently-accessed items (bars, phone, etc) hard to access.

A better option?

Fast forward a few years, and hip packs hit the scene.  Like many others, he tried them out and found that although they were more comfortable, they came with their own compromises – namely instability and reduced capacity. A full hip pack with water for a multi-hour ride would flop and shift around when he was riding technical, rocky trails in his hometown of San Luis Obispo. It also didn’t have enough storage for things like a warm layer of clothing, bike lights, or other odds and ends (a beer, a folding saw, etc.), let alone much water.

Even worse, every one of these packs – traditional backpacks and hip packs alike – needed at least one trip to the warranty department of their manufacturers.

A brand is born

Ken believed it was possible to have one pack that’s comfortable on short and long rides, carries enough water and gear for lunch laps and epics alike, doesn’t compromise on technical descents, makes your gear quickly accessible, and can endure years of dirt, sun, sweat, and crashes without needing to be boxed up and sent back to its manufacturer for repair. 

Nobody was making a pack like that, so he set out to create it himself.

In 2024, after more than a year of dreaming, designing, and testing, our flagship mountain biking pack was born: the Arctos Epic 14.4. The smaller Epic 10.3 followed shortly after, expanding the line with an option for smaller riders and those who didn't need the larger capacity of the 14.4.

  • Our existence gives us the opportunity to leave this planet, and the lives of those we come in contact with, better off. Arctos Packs donates 1% of every purchase to World Bicycle Relief, an organization dedicated to empowering individuals to access education, healthcare, and economic opportunities through life-changing bicycles.

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  • We believe in the power of community, and acknowledge that outdoor recreation isn’t accessible for all. Arctos Packs donates 1% of every purchase to the Grow Cycling Foundation to support its efforts to promote education, access, and opportunities that increase diversity and inclusion in cycling.

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