Q: What is Farol39?
Farol 39 is a small independent gear / equipment brand with a focus on climate superiority and long term durability.
Q: How are Farol39 bags built?
Each piece of gear is hand made from the ground up using the best materials available in today's industry. We use advanced hardware sourced from Fidlock, Austrialpin (Cobra Clips), and ITW Nexus to name a few brands. Everything is double and often triple stitched with heavy duty bonded nylon thread to make sure your gear does its job years down the road.
Q: Are Farol39 bags waterproof?
Will your backpack keep items safe from torrential rain? YES.
Can the bag stay airtight under water if submerged? No.
Each bag is sewn using industrial sewing machines and heavy duty thread. This means there are stitch holes in each bag where air could exit if submerged. However, we design each bag such that seams in the lining do not overlap with seams in the outer bag. This makes it very hard for water to enter the sealed roll top compartment even in torrential rain.
Q: Why roll tops?
Bags, backpacks, duffels...are all supposed to do one thing: carry your stuff safely. Regardless of the configuration or design, a bag should do a good job of carrying your items and protect them from the elements. To do this we adhere to a roll top design that reduces seams and eliminates points of possible failure.
(You will also notice an absence of zippers. We don't use zippers because they inevitably fail. Maybe not today....maybe not in a year...but one day they will stop working or come misaligned. Many big brands offer warranties on their products with one major disclaimer: the zipper. Rather than offer a half baked warranty, we choose to take the failure out of the equation.)
Q: Can you make me a custom bag?
Yes, if your idea fits within our design framework, we will be glad to build something to meet your specific needs. We have spent a lot of time developing our design principles and construction methods which is what gives Farol39 its particular "look and feel". If you'd like us to build you something specific, we will do our best as long as we have some freedom to do our thing and make sure it meets our standards.
Q: How long will it take to build my bag?
Delivery times are dependent on our current work flow. We build custom items for individuals as well as larger orders for brands that might want to cooperate with us. If you need custom work done, please write us an email to check on delivery times. (A backpack usually takes about 10 days to build from drawing to finishing touches. How soon we can start your item depends on what we have on our worktable at the moment.)
Q: What fabrics do you use?
Our products are primarily made from Cordura 1000D Nylon.
We use Cordura 1000D that is coated with a polyurethane backing which allows the material to stay flexible but offers superior water resistance.
We will occasionally produce items out of other more exotic fabrics such as Xpac, Tyvek, or Dyneema Composite (cuben).
For inner linings we offer a lightweight polyester lining that is DWR coated or a vinyl tarp lining that offers much more water resistance at the expense of weight.
Default lining is vinyl tarp lining unless other wise noted as "LIGHTWEIGHT".
Q: Do you offer warranty/repair services?
Yes, we offer a lifetime warranty against manufacture defect on all Cordura 1000D products made by Farol39. This warranty does not cover wear and tear from normal use of the item, or destructive actions outside the norms of every day use.
If your item needs to be repaired for any reason please get in touch and we will get on it. Shipping the item to and from our workshop is the responsibility of the customer/bag owner.
Q: Where does the name Farol39 come from? What does it mean?
A: The name Farol39 comes from the word "farol" which means lighthouse in Portuguese.
As former crew member on board cruise ships, I have a fond spot in my heart for the sea. But starting a small business means keeping our feet firmly on dry land with eyes looking out to the horizon for whatever might be coming next.