The Summit Chest pack is designed for hiking, skiing, running, and anything that brings one closer to nature—made with the hardware and lining of my childhood backpack and car airbags. It has a net positive footprint on the environment.
The idea for Summit came to me one day while skiing this past season. I always used to bring my backpack with me on the mountain. I liked having a few pockets to hold my phone, wallet, and maybe a snack. But my bag made me super uncomfortable while sitting on the chair lift. Thus the "chest pack" idea was born.
I wanted to make a product for nature, inspired by nature. But above all, I wanted a product that was nice to nature. Ideation began.
Through intensive research my findings suggested that the $14.03 billion dollar market of winter sports lacked the product I sought to make.
The Final 3 Designs
Three designs stood after rapid sketching inspired by rivers, lava, and mountains respectively. The model shown below is "rivers" As you can see it wasn't a good fit.
This was all cool, but how do you make a sustainable garment? My answer came from an unlikely place- car airbags.
Okala Impact Assessment:
Summit
(Air Bag)
Silicone-coated Nylon
(1) x 60 = -60
Nylon Coil Zippers
(2) .135 x 60 = 6
Poly Vinyl Clips (PVC)
(4) .2 x 39 = 7.8
(From Bags) Nylon Fabric
.3 x 60 = -18
Pull Tabs (Aluminum)
(3) .117 x 39 =4.56
Total Impact/ Score
= -65.64
Making the prototypes for Summit.
Steps for production:
1. Speak with the client
2. Acquire a used bag
3. Understand the needs of the product
4. Sketches/Dismantle Bag to understand material limitations
5. Sew together adding Nylon Zippers and Airbag materials as needed
6. Enjoy!
