There are some fashion features that continue to mystify even the most sartorially clued-up among us. Enter the slatted diamond patch found on your backpack.

Whether you’ve got a hipster Herschel or a trusty JanSport, many rucksacks feature this seemingly needless appendage - but fashion mag Marie Claire has revealed that it actually has an actual use.

It turns out the tiny diamond patch is called a ‘lash tab’ or ‘pig snout’ and was originally used to hold extra gear on cords to be strung through the openings.

Think flashlights, pots and pans or a canteen flask.

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While this might not be news to the more outdoorsy among you, for the rest of us this is revolutionary.

Of course, unless you’re an avid mountaineer it will probably have very little impact on your life, or will it?

We think it would make the perfect place to stash you earphones so they don’t get untangled.