The false bottom
The iPad sleeve has a foam padding layer positioned directly beneath the device. Not on the back panel, but just beneath the device. Impact travels down, and the protection sits where the impact lands.
How the Nomadic
was built
13 paper models. A 14-day trip to China. 11 rounds of prototypes. This is the full build story of the Urban Nomadic Everyday Sling 9L.
How it's madeUrban Nomadic Everyday Sling 9LDesigned in Singapore
From paper models
to the right factory
Scroll to follow it.
Before fabric, there was paper.
Before sourcing a single piece of material, we built the bag from paper, tape, and cardboard. Base width, handle position, and what a 9L looks like at actual volume on an actual frame. These can't be answered on a screen. We had to answer them by building paper models.
13 paper versions.
13 paper versions were built before the structure held. Each one was folded, worn, adjusted, torn apart, and rebuilt. It taught us more about the bag than any software or AI ever could. Now came the harder problem: finding someone capable of building it.
13paper modelsThe search for suppliers.
Building a bag from scratch means finding the right people to build it. This process alone was longer and more challenging than what we've expected. We reached out to multiple suppliers across Mainland China. Factories specialising in carry gear, tactical bags, and premium outdoor equipment. We sent spec sheets, reference photos, and detailed questions about stitching standards, and material sourcing. Some replied fast. Some went silent. Some sent samples that looked nothing like what we asked for.
Every exchange taught us something.
How to write a brief that left no room for misreading. Which factories understood quality versus which ones were optimising for speed. What would reveal whether a factory actually cared about the quality and build of the bags. At one point, remote communication was no longer enough. We flew to them.
14 days in China.
Both of us flew to China for 14 days. Not for a sourcing tour or a holiday, but a business trip with one purpose: to find the right factory, touch the right materials in person, and confirm that the bag we had been designing for months could actually be built to the standard we needed.
14days in ChinaWe were looking for the most attentive one.
We visited multiple factories. Some were large operations running dozens of production lines. Others were smaller workshops where every stitch was done by hand. We were not looking for the biggest factory. We were looking for the most attentive one. At every stop, the assessment was the same: whether the factory personnel engaged with technical corrections or resisted them, whether they cared about the details the same way we did, and whether they could glance at a spec sheet and immediately understand what we were trying to achieve. Machinery is replaceable, but the quality of attention isn't. We kept going until, we eventually found one.
13Paper models · Built before the structure held
14Days in China · Factories visited in person
11Prototypes · Carried hard, taken apart, rebuilt
6Failures closed · Every one on the requirement list
Stitching, zippers,
and every small detail
Scroll to follow it.
Stitching is everything.
A bag can be made from the best material in the world and still fall apart at the seams. The quality of stitching is the difference between a bag that lasts two years and one that lasts a decade. At every factory, stitching was the first thing we checked. Stitch density, thread tension, seam finishing at high-stress points. Whether bar tacks were correctly placed and corners reinforced, or simply folded and sewn over.
A bag that cannot survive a pull test cannot survive daily carry.
Then we gripped every seam and tested it under force. We eliminated every factory that did not pass. The factory we chose passed every test. More importantly, they understood why we were testing. They welcomed the scrutiny. That settled the partnership. Prototyping could begin.
It starts as flat pieces.
Orange interior lining, black mesh pockets and zippers are cut and bundled before they are sewn into the bag.
YKK on every zipper.
We chose the zippers in person. These are the YKK sliders before they are fitted to the zipper tape.
Down to the label.
The woven urbanomics label, ready to be sewn in.
11 rounds of
prototyping
Signing a factory is not the end.
It was the beginning of a new set of problems.
We carried each prototype hard for a full week in Singapore. Took it apart at the end, went back with a list of everything that wasn't right. Four key reiterations were done over months before a single unit was approved for production.
11rounds of prototypesStructure first.
First physical sample in fabric: testing whether the structure held the form we had built in paper. The base needed to stand on its own. It came back close, but the base wasn't rigid enough.
The carry test.
Base reinforced. Handles repositioned. Worn for a full week in Singapore. The strap padding wasn't distributing load correctly. The false bottom foam density needed adjustments. Zipper pulls needed to be longer for true one-handed access.
The detail test.
Strap padding revised. False bottom foam corrected. Zipper pulls updated. Interior lining colour confirmed as high-visibility orange. Buckle position for the tactical adjuster locked in. And branding placement finalised.
The final sample.
Everything came together. The bag stood on its own. The strap distributed load correctly. The false bottom sat exactly where it needed to. The three handles were in the right place. The orange interior lit up the moment the bag was unzipped. We signed off.
Boxed and on the way.
Finished bags are packed into urbanomics cartons at the factory before they ship to us in Singapore.
Every feature is an answer
Self-standing base
A structured base panel keeps the bag upright when set down on any flat surface. Set it down, and it stays. This sounds small until you have spent years owning bags that do not have this feature.
Three handles
Left side grip. Right side grip. And a top handle for luggage pass-through. Each handle doubles as an attachment point for carabiners, sunglasses clips, and key loops. One handle covers one situation. Three handles cover all of them.
One-second tactical adjuster
Chest carry. Side carry. Back carry. The strap adjusts in under a second. Another hand stays free, and the bag stays on your shoulder. We built the entire strap system around it.
Ballistic nylon exterior, orange interior
Ballistic nylon was originally developed for body armour. Their original brief was identical to ours: take the damage so what's inside does not. High-visibility orange interior means your gadgets surface immediately when the bag is unzipped.
Strap & AeroFoam® padding
AeroFoam™ is a proprietary foam compound we developed specifically for this bag. Engineered to distribute load evenly and resist compression over months, and to stay breathable in South East Asia's heat. Slim profile, full protection.
Modular compartment system
Removable dividers let you reconfigure the internal layout for whatever the day calls for. Set for a commute, the dividers create quick-access pockets. Reconfigured for a shoot, the layout cradles your camera body and lens. One bag. Multiple configurations.
Why 9 litres?
9L is the exact volume that replaces a backpack for a full day out. Tablet. Daily essentials. Water bottle. Everything that matters.
Most slings stop at 6L. Jump to the next size and you're carrying 10L. At 6L, you will need to decide what to leave behind. Carry a 10L, and the bag is too bulky for travelling around. The Nomadic was designed to be the sling where nothing is missing and nothing is in excess. This is the only number that made sense.
