- American bagmaker Eastpak is getting into the market for mid-range hard shell luggage with its new Resist’r line.
- At launch, the design is available in three sizes. Colourways include black, ‘fire red’, or our personal favourite — ”brushed metal’.
- Available to buy in Australia via End Clothing. Prices range between $509-$675.
Since its founding in 1952, Eastpak has been synonymous with well-priced, softly constructed bags. The company formerly known as “Eastern Canvas Products” has built a reputation over the past 50+ years as one of the go-to makers of backpacks, bum bags and crossbodies.
The most well-known of these is certainly the Padded Pak’r: a simplistic, two-compartment design that continues to be a familiar sight on university campuses and commuter trains around the western world.
Now, the company best known for soft storage is getting into the lucrative niche of hard shell luggage, with its first series of fully polycarbonate cases: dubbed Resist’r.
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Visually akin to the Pelican cases that every would-be-Jason-Bourne type buys in their early 20s, the range’s pricing suggests it is pitched somewhere above affordable smart luggage, and closer in aspiration to what you’ll find through a brand like Horizn Studios.
Though Eastpak doesn’t currently ship to Australia, you can nab one of these Resist’r cases at End Clothing. The British e-comm already stocks the full launch range: available in three colours and three sizes (‘S’, ‘M’, ‘L’) to suit a range of travelling needs.
Eastpak’s tagline for the range is that it’s “built to resist”, and once you start to delve into the details of construction you’ll see what the brand means.
While thermoformed polycarbonate is used for the majority of the bag’s external surfaces, the skeleton of the Resist’r product is made out of aluminium: providing a hard frame of high tensile strength.
As you can see in the images above, every version of the Eastpak Resist’r (no matter the size) is clad with four external bolsters — adding to the bag’s toughness in situations involving drops, uneven floor surfaces or sudden collisions on the luggage carousel.
Japanese-made 360˚ spinning wheels and TSA locks, secured using clamshell-style closures round out the offering.
All told, beyond its tank-like build quality and moderate pricing, there isn’t a ton of novelty to be mined with Eastpak’s first foray into hard shell luggage. Let’s be crystal clear: that’s a compliment. Why mess with a good thing?
