Kathleen De Jesus-Gauthier <blockquote> <p>Jonas Blanking has always favoured a bike or a pair of in-line skates to get to work. Always equipped with a backpack filled with notes, sketches, a laptop, and some gym wear, he more than once experienced soggy folders and a fractured laptop.</p> </blockquote> <blockquote> <p>An industrial designer, with experience from the sports and automotive industries, he started to look around for a solution. He glanced at the air cargo industry, an environment in which containers are tested to the extreme. He soon concluded that weight, handling, and choice of materials are essential to developing a new breed of backpacks.</p> </blockquote> <blockquote> <p>To create the protective casing, Jonas researched the plastic and aluminum structures used for air cargo containers: how they were assembled and riveted; the type of screws used; how materials would react stress conditions and corrosive environments; bearing in mind that today&#8217;s teenager handles gear like luggage crews at any airport.</p> </blockquote> <blockquote> <p>The challenge of conbining a soft body with a hard shell would be the most difficult part of the process. Several models were made during 1996, resulting in a working prototype. It was an unconventional design and a unique combination of materials which proved to be strong, protective, light, comfortable, and ergonomically sound.</p> </blockquote> <blockquote> <p>It proved to be much more versatile then first anticipated. Jonas experimented with fastening devices to create an entire carrying system, aware that contemporary backpack users do not have a specific profile. Today the speeding skateboarder could easily be an IT professional on the way to the office.</p> </blockquote> <blockquote> <p>The hard shell was a new thought on how to strap gear to a backpack. A permanent external frame, allowing the positioning of fastening devices on both the inside and outside of the pack.</p> </blockquote> <blockquote> <p>The Monocoque Hard Shell, the Internal Cargo System, and the External Cargo System combine to allow transportation of mixed high- and low tech cargo while offering impact protection.</p> </blockquote> <blockquote> <p>The first <span class="caps">BOBLBEE</span> hard shell backpack was produced in 1998.</p> </blockquote> 2006-10-21T10:49:24-04:00 birth-of-a-new-brand 13989 2006-10-21T10:49:24-04:00 10709 2007-12-12T16:45:38-05:00 >Jonas Blanking has always favoured a bike or a pair of in-line skates to get to work. Always equipped with a backpack filled with notes, sketches, a laptop, and some gym wear, he more than once experienced soggy folders and a fractured laptop. >An industrial designer, with experience from the sports and automotive industries, he started to look around for a solution. He glanced at the air cargo industry, an environment in which containers are tested to the extreme. He soon concluded that weight, handling, and choice of materials are essential to developing a new breed of backpacks. >To create the protective casing, Jonas researched the plastic and aluminum structures used for air cargo containers: how they were assembled and riveted; the type of screws used; how materials would react stress conditions and corrosive environments; bearing in mind that today's teenager handles gear like luggage crews at any airport. >The challenge of conbining a soft body with a hard shell would be the most difficult part of the process. Several models were made during 1996, resulting in a working prototype. It was an unconventional design and a unique combination of materials which proved to be strong, protective, light, comfortable, and ergonomically sound. >It proved to be much more versatile then first anticipated. Jonas experimented with fastening devices to create an entire carrying system, aware that contemporary backpack users do not have a specific profile. Today the speeding skateboarder could easily be an IT professional on the way to the office. >The hard shell was a new thought on how to strap gear to a backpack. A permanent external frame, allowing the positioning of fastening devices on both the inside and outside of the pack. >The Monocoque Hard Shell, the Internal Cargo System, and the External Cargo System combine to allow transportation of mixed high- and low tech cargo while offering impact protection. >The first BOBLBEE hard shell backpack was produced in 1998.