ABOUT

I was fortunate to grow up in the Adirondack Mountains of Upstate New York which birthed my love for building and exploring the natural habitat that surrounded me. Of course, I was as curious as a boy could be with a backdrop of mountains at my fingertips, and was always encouraged that life was about adventure, learning and exploration. I learned a host of life skills from my grandmother, Mary, including how to live in quiet strength and in strong integrity. She always enjoyed the rich and natural world around her. She most seemingly kept life simple and it was Mary, that instilled the importance of family, nature and lifestyle balance.

My childhood years grew into adult years and the wisdom of my grandmother remained close to my core. By combing my love of nature with science and art, I found myself encouraging people on the importance of proper nutrition and movement and that these can be key ingredients to living a long, vital healthy lifestyle. I eventually opened my own practice and enjoyed a fulfilling career as a Physical Therapist for many years.

As my own family grew, I found myself wanting to explore the great outdoors with them on a daily basis. The importance of being present for my wife, and my accessibility for our sons’ daily lives became top priority. Continually exploring my own interests in creating and building and juggling all the "stuff" that came with carting kids from here to there - a light bulb when off one day. I need a bag. That's right, a bag. Then I laughed thinking, who needs another bag right?!? But I couldn't help myself, I started modifying a few of my own lying around the house. I decided to take a step further and learn a new skill... sewing; an adventure I never thought I'd fall in love with. Before I knew it, a whole new world of ideas started brewing. I needed a bag to carry all the other “stuff” around in my daily life. From trails, to school to the grocery store. Nothing specific for hiking or running, a "carry all and on and on" sort of bag. Something tough, strong and washable. This is what led to the birth of Rucni.

Rucni actually means handcrafted in Czech. The philosophy that something is handmade and built with less specificity in design opens up more opportunity for all the daily needs of life. It is flexible in design and multi-functional. Combining tough materials and great style we hope that a Rucni bag will enhance your active lifestyle as much as it has for us.

Cheers, Chad