Image Above:<\/em>\u00a0Hobo Founders Sam Clemens (left) and Lenny Hopkins<\/strong><\/p>\n

A briefcase made out of wood? Personal carry-alls are just one of many products made out of distressed and discarded lumber by Vancouver start-up Hobo Woodworks<\/strong>. Not that company founders, Sam Clemens<\/strong> and his half-brother Lenny Hopkins<\/strong>, are hobos. On the contrary. As general contractors they made good money building houses for other people but admit it was \u201cdoing stuff that really wasn\u2019t in line with our values.\u201d Clemens has a strong environmental ethic. He doesn\u2019t like waste and he doesn\u2019t like impersonal mass production so he and Hopkins started tinkering in their spare time, turning discarded wood into one-off furniture pieces.<\/p>\n

\u201cWood has an intrinsic spirit to it but if it sticks around as a fence or in somebody\u2019s house it takes on another spirit,\u201d he says. Two and a half months ago, they gave up their day jobs to stop tinkering and start producing. \u201cWe see these old pieces of wood and want to spin them into something beautiful, you know, spin them into gold.\u201d<\/p>\n

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Hobo Woodworks Workshop<\/strong><\/p>\n

Their product line consists of boxes, cases and furniture and in a departure from the norm, personal carry-alls which they call Essentials. \u201cI just came up with the idea and the response has been pretty good,\u201d says Clemens about his wooden briefcase that can carry a computer or anything else for that matter. Made out of fir, leather and brass fittings, they come in different sizes to accommodate laptops or tablets. The company also makes a smaller version which it promotes as a mini clutch and yes, it works as a fashion accessory.<\/p>\n

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Record Crate<\/strong><\/p>\n

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Wine Holder\u00a0<\/strong><\/p>\n

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Tool Box\u00a0<\/strong><\/p>\n

The duo finds material everywhere and anywhere. \u201cWe find piles of scrap wood that people don\u2019t want. People tell us about stuff. They offer us stuff .We buy stuff off Craigslist. You put the word out there and wood just comes to you,\u201d says Clemens. They take their spoils back to their workshop in East Vancouver where a small staff hand crafts their product line.<\/p>\n

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Essentials<\/b>\u00a0iPad Case\u00a0<\/strong><\/p>\n

Hand sourcing and hand crafting takes a lot of man hours yet many of their products sell for under a $100. Is it sustainable? \u00a0\u201cIn terms of making a living? I don\u2019t know,\u201d admits Clemens. \u201cI just know we\u2019re doing the right thing and what it morphs into, what it becomes; I really don\u2019t know yet.\u201d Clemens says times have changed. Respect for Nature has become mainstream. \u201cPeople want to be connected now with something real. It\u2019s not a niche thing so much.\u201d The brothers are currently updating their website to accommodate online sales.<\/p>\n

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Essentials Business Case<\/strong><\/p>\n

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Essentials Mini Clutch \u00a0\u00a0<\/strong><\/p>\n

The name Hobo Woodworks, incidentally, comes from the song Hobo Jungle <\/em>by The Band. A workmate kept singing the chorus, shouting out “hobo jungle” whenever he could and \u201cit just got kind of ingrained in our brains,\u201d he laughs.<\/p>\n

Turn on the volume, sit back, relax and enjoy the Hobo Jungle track by The Band<\/p>\n