Football gets all the ink for it, but pulling off the perfect packing job is also a game of inches.
Thing is, to really win the game, you have to maximize the space inside of your bag as well as optimize the outside space that your bag takes up.
With most bags, that’s easier said than done. With the Zippelin by Freitag, it’s just plain easy.
Made from water-repellent truck tarps that’ve been stripped, cleaned and repurposed, the Zippelin is an inflatable travel bag with 85 liters of storage space that can compress down to the size of a two-liter bottle when not in use.
Cut by hand in Switzerland at Freitag’s production facility, the Zippelin is able to accomplish its shrinking feat because it relies on the inner tube from a bicycle, not a frame, for support. Also, the rolling bag’s wheels can be removed and it can be used as a backpack.
“As a former architect, I’m familiar with air-supported structures,” Freitag product developer Nicola Stäubli told Core 77. “I also used to be a bike messenger and was impressed by folding bikes that are fully functional when mounted, and compact when you stow them away. I could not get rid of the idea of using a common bicycle inner tube to replace the rigid and space-consuming structure of conventional luggage.”
Priced around $500 on Kickstarter, FREITAG’s campaign has more than doubled its $120k goal.
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