As a professional aerospace engineer by trade, I develop products using a process of revising and reiterating a design through testing and gathering data. Over the years, I’ve used these methods to fabricate several pieces of outdoor gear for my personal use to solve problems that I’ve encountered both while enjoying the outdoors as well as in everyday life. Today, I wanted to give you a behind the scenes look at the design of our first product, the Adventure Tote.
The inspiration for the bag was function and versatility - We made a bag that we love to use for almost everything. Today, bags on the market are generally made for a specialized activity and out of technical fabrics and materials, or are cheap bags that are given away at trade shows. There’s a need for something in between.
The central idea is the side and end utility handles – they make it easy to lift the tote and move it around when it’s full. Aside from that, it’s designed to be bombproof and feature-light, allowing for true versatility - you can make the bag work for your specific need.
We experimented with sizes – it was important that the bag not be too big or small, and settled on 44 liters as a nice balance, filling a hole in the current market. The first few prototypes we tried a couple of different handle designs and looked at stress points to try to eliminate any weak points that would wear out first.
Getting feedback from customers has been the greatest resource for us, leading to many tweaks and changes. We’re so thankful to everyone who has supported us, with early purchases of our product and the ongoing suggestions. It has resulted in a product that we are incredibly proud of – And anxious to get into your hands.
Yours in Comradery!
-Paxton