Charlie and Mary Parsons set up the Karrimor Bag Company in 1946 to make bags for their cycle shop in Rawtenstall, Lancashire. Things went well for the first decade or so until cycling became less popular in the mid 1950’s so they diversified into rucksack manufacturing, putting their skills to work with canvas and leather for a slightly different purpose. Looking for a good ‘jazzy’ name to capture both a UK and Continental market, the Parsons decided their first rucksack would be called Sac de Grimpeur (climber’s sack) though we doubt if many UK climbers had a clue to what it meant. Rucksacks from this era often incorporated a pull out valance so that the lower half of the body could go inside for a bivouac with a warm cosy duvet up top….aye that’ll be right! The Grimpeur we have here is a later version, circa 1962/3, developed mainly for Outward Bound Schools; the main difference being the addition of side pockets…maybe they should have called this Sac de Sauvage.