Our story.
We believe protection should be accessible to everyone. That is how GA Backpacks came to be. From an incident that started it, to the research, to the design, and to the testing behind the bag. This is what we built.
Practical, wearable, accessible.
Our goals are simple: we want to make protection practical, wearable, and accessible for everyone. That is why we are targeting an MSRP of $150 USD / $200 CAD, making it affordable for a student, a commuter, or a whole family. The backpack is designed in Canada, and our original Sandwich Design incorporates four protective layers, making its performance comparable to NIJ Level IIIA standards and offering defense against the most common concealed carry weapons. We also focused on real-world usability: the bag is water-resistant for Canadian weather conditions, and the total weight remains only 1.8 kg, so it carries comfortably throughout a full day of work, school, or travel.
What made this feel necessary.
The rise of firearm-related crime across Canada has made many of us uneasy. According to Statistics Canada, between 2013 and 2023, firearm-related violent crime increased by roughly 55% nationwide. Toronto continues to lead the country in total incidents, with more than 40 firearm-related violent crimes per 100,000 people recorded in 2023 within the Toronto CMA. A recent Toronto Police Service report also showed 461 shootings or firearm discharges within the city in 2024. That is more than one incident per day, not including unreported events or incidents outside the City of Toronto's boundaries.
In October 2024, a shooting took place near Yonge Street and Empress Avenue in North York. Multiple shots were fired during what appeared to be a road-rage incident. This happened on a Monday morning, in broad daylight, in one of the busiest areas of North York, right where commuters, families, students, and workers move through every day.
This incident occurred only two minutes from where I live. Like many in the area, I regularly go to North York Centre station on my way downtown. I visit the restaurants there, I've taken my family to the mall above the station, and I go to the Fit4Less at that exact intersection nearly every day. The realization that this happened in a place so familiar was deeply unsettling.
The idea that my mother, my partner, or anyone I know passing through that intersection could be struck by a stray bullet felt sickening. That thought is what pushed me to start researching personal protection and, ultimately, led me into modern armour.
Why body armour isn't practical.
Once I began researching armour, I quickly realized why most people never use it. Traditional body armour is built primarily for military, enforcement, or tactical use. It is not designed for ordinary routines like commuting on the TTC, walking to school, or picking up groceries.
Wearing a ballistic vest for everyday tasks is simply unrealistic and impractical. Most vests are rigid, heavy, and restrict movement. They add noticeable bulk under clothing, become hot and uncomfortable, and feel even more conspicuous if worn over clothing. You cannot realistically wear one to class, into the office, on public transit, to the gym, or to social gatherings without feeling and appearing out of place.
Traditional armour is also not very accessible to most people. Pricing varies wildly, sizing is limited or inconsistent, and many products require special ordering or technical knowledge of the materials if you want something comfortable. Something as simple as incorrect sizing can be very uncomfortable for full-day wear, and weight quickly compounds the issue.
Most armour adds several kilograms of extra load to the chest and back, which becomes noticeable over hours of movement. If you are already carrying a laptop, books, lunch, or personal items in a backpack, layering that weight directly on top quickly becomes burdensome.
And then there's how others perceive you. Wearing a vest signals danger, even when none is present. It attracts attention if visible. If concealed, it still feels like wearing emergency equipment, and that is something no one actually wants to think about during normal daily life.
So while armour exists, it is far from practical for ordinary people. We don't want to look tactical. We simply want realistic everyday protection that is discreet, familiar, and fits seamlessly into daily life.
Why a backpack makes sense.
If wearing traditional armour daily is unrealistic, then the next question becomes: what form of protection can we use without changing how we live?
Almost everyone carries a backpack every day. Whether you are commuting to work, attending school, or traveling between activities, a backpack already belongs in the routine, and integrating protection into that does not require a change in behavior or appearance.
A backpack also sits exactly where protection matters most: the upper torso and the vital organs, the most vulnerable areas of the body. Whether worn on both shoulders, slung over one side, or carried in front of you on public transit, it naturally rests between you and potential harm. This means the protection is always present, always facing outward, and always placed exactly where critical shielding is needed.
Why not just buy a regular backpack and add a ballistic plate?
At first, that seems like the obvious solution. Just take any bag and slide a plate inside. But that approach introduces its own set of problems.
- Weight shifts and sagging: Ballistic plates are dense and require structural support. In a normal backpack, the plate could sag downward or rotate. Even a few millimeters of displacement could reduce real protection.
- Poor alignment and inconsistent coverage: the plate has to be bought separately, and different bag dimensions might make it sit off-angle, too low, too far back, or tilted.
- Structural limitations: standard bags are not designed to absorb or manage force transfer, which often leads to over-deformation.
- User assembly errors: there are many potential failure points if the bag requires assembly. The plate might be the wrong size, inserted incorrectly, positioned wrong for what is inside, or simply put in backwards.
And most people, especially kids, will simply not get that right.
Built-in, not inserted.
Our design builds the entire protection system into the structure of the bag.
This means:
- Weight sits evenly and stably: the whole system stays fixed in place, never hanging or sagging.
- Coverage never changes: our system stays correctly angled and aligned with your shoulders, whatever your posture.
- No weak points: there are no seams that may tear and no zippers that could burst under stress.
- Nothing to manage: no adjustments, no setup, and no parts to forget or misplace.
We control the design and work closely with our manufacturing partner, so the entire system is perfectly integrated into each bag. When everything is built in, there is no assembly, no uncertainty, and no maintenance.
You never have to attach anything, insert anything, or worry about sizing and coverage. The system is simply always there, and it will never move.
The design process.
We began by studying what already existed on the market. We visited a handful of armour manufacturers, just to familiarize ourselves with the products.
From there, we asked where they sourced their fabric and visited several suppliers ourselves.
After visiting multiple manufacturers and asking questions directly in person, we decided on a combination of UHMWPE, polyester, and EVA. This construction offered the protection we wanted without sacrificing weight, comfort, or practicality.
The next step was finding a manufacturing partner capable of executing our design properly. We visited several manufacturers, reviewed their production and quality control in person, and ultimately selected the one that demonstrated the strongest standards and consistency.
In April 2025, GA-BP01 was born. The design was inspired by classic athletic and streetwear styling. We wanted a bag that blends seamlessly into everyday settings, something that is visually familiar instead of flashy, tactical or bulky. After this, we began testing the backpack.
In our own testing, the GA-BP01 prototype showed no penetration from 9mm and .44 Magnum rounds. We did note that 12GA slugs could produce excessive deformation, which told us two things: the fabric was not strong enough, and the protection needed to manage impact far better.
Solving that deformation is what led to our original Sandwich Design. The four layers work together as one system. Instead of a single plate, hard-PE plates spread the force across the panel and an EVA layer absorbs the impact, so energy is dispersed through the whole system instead of pushing straight through. In the GA-BP02, that meant two additional 2 mm hard-PE reinforcement panels and an upgraded 4 mm EVA impact-absorbing layer, which together significantly reduced deformation. We also moved to a stronger, water-resistant fabric and redesigned the layout for more compartments and better everyday functionality.
The latest GA-BP03 iteration incorporates enhanced back-panel foam for better comfort, along with a chest strap to enhance support. The exterior design has been streamlined for a cleaner look, and additional functional elements have been integrated to improve daily usability.