Odyssey Packs is veteran-owned and operated. Odyssey pack designs have been extensively informed by thru-hiking, backpacking as a U.S. Army infantryman, U.S. Army Ranger school, combat infantry maneuvers in the mountains of Afghanistan, and 6 and a half years of backpack fitting while working for a premier outdoor retailer.

It all began in the summer of 2020, as the world was falling apart, so was my life. And because of this, I headed to the John Muir Trail for answers. And one evening while I was approaching Silver Pass, I witnessed one of the most life-changing experiences of my adult life. As the sun was setting at my back, I watched a fellow thru-hiker walking in the opposite direction walk out into an open field, smiling ear to ear. She walked with no hurry, no weight or fear. It looked as if the sun itself was laying out a golden carpet just for her.

And in that moment, I knew that what I was searching for wasn’t success or achievement in the world, but freedom—absolute freedom… from the prison of my own mind.

And that vision became Odyssey Packs: a promise to build a 55 Liter home on your back that holds not only your gear, but your very own story and your own liberation. Because I believe that reconnecting with nature and travel is humanity’s last best shot at saving the world. So Odyssey packs are made with love to set you free.

Why the name Odyssey? Because each of us is on our own journey to discover our true home. And like Odysseus from Homer’s Odyssey, I, too, feel like I am a soldier still trying to come home from war.