Missed the Campaign?

It’s not too late! Our crowdfunding campaign has ended, but the Pakt One is available for purchase on our website.

Thanks to all our backers! Your support and enthusiasm continues to amaze us.

“My studio produced the Getaway bag back in 2011. Shortly after, I moved on to other projects and never thought I’d return to bags. There has always been a steady stream of requests for the bag, but last year, after it appeared in The Minimalists’ documentary, it became a flood.” – Malcolm Fontier, Designer

After receiving hundreds of requests to bring back a cult travel bag called the Getaway, Malcolm Fontier and The Minimalists are proud to introduce a new, improved version of the ultimate bag for the experienced traveler: the Pakt One.

The Pakt One keeps the same innovative duffel/suitcase design of the original Getaway, which allows you to easily see and access everything you packed at a glance.

The size and shape of the bag also remain the same, but we’ve updated it to be even lighter and more durable, with upgraded hardware and state-of-the-art, animal-friendly fabrics.

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We’ve also added thoughtful features designed to ease some of the hassles of modern travel. By helping you stay organized and giving you easy access to your stuff, this bag can actually make your traveling experience easier.

An included laundry/tote bag fits neatly in one of four mesh pockets.

The Pakt One introduces a first-of-its-kind, dedicated TSA pocket for stashing and grabbing items you have to remove from your pockets before going through security.

Rather than using the plastic bins to pass your personal items through security, simply pull out the mesh TSA pocket and stow them securely. Once through security, rather than join the scramble of travelers collecting their different belongings, simply grab your bag and head to a comfortable spot to reorganize. The red label serves as a reminder to grab your laptop or anything that you had to send through the X-Ray separately.

In 2011, Malcolm Fontier created a bag geared at frequent travelers like him because he didn’t see anything else like it on the market. He called it the Getaway, and designed it to offer incredible utility without sacrificing style.

While the bag had a limited run -- only 300 were produced -- it landed in the hands of some influential fans. Among them were expat lifestyle blogger Colin Wright, who introduced it to his friends Joshua Fields Millburn and Ryan Nicodemus, also known as The Minimalists.

Josh and Ryan became fast fans of the Getaway, abandoning their clunky suitcases and coming to rely on it as their bag of choice for trips to hundreds of cities around the world.

By 2016, Malcolm had moved onto other projects when, after the Getaway made a cameo in the Minimalism documentary on Netflix, fans started asking if he had plans to produce another run of the Getaway bag. He didn’t... but the inquiries kept coming.

So he reached out to Josh and Ryan and asked them if they’d be interested in working with him to bring the bag back to market with some improvements derived from their collective years of traveling with it. After a lot of discussion, they said yes, and a collaboration was born.

Just like the original Malcolm Fontier bags, we are only using modern, durable, technical materials that are animal-friendly and have the lowest possible environmental impact. We’ve also developed relationships with our manufacturing partners and suppliers to ensure that our bags are produced under safe, fair, legal, and humane working conditions.

Leading by example: The Pakt One breaks from the norm by avoiding all plastic packaging. By doing so, the Pakt One serves as a case study in our collaboration with SeaHive. The new collective, also started by Malcolm, tackles the problem of plastic waste in our oceans through design, technology, and media savvy. The Pakt One will be shipped bearing the SeaHive Seal, which means 100% plastic-free packaging: no bubble wrap, no plastic bags, no air pillows, no Styrofoam (and no wrap rage). Most importantly, it means no extra plastic to land in the ocean.

Now that we have a successfully funded the project and thousands of customers eager to receive their Pakt One, our team and partners are pushing full speed ahead with our larger production order. Ensuring a product of the highest quality, produced in facilities and with materials that meet our high ethical standards, and delivering on time are our top priorities.

While it is possible these days for a brand to develop and manufacture products without ever traveling to their manufacturers, it’s not the way to get the best product. We also knew seeing everything with our own eyes was the only way to truly guarantee that all of the suppliers and factories were ones that we could be proud of. Basically, we want to know that we would have no problem with any of our backers walking in and seeing everything for themselves. We’re beyond satisfied with everything we saw and everyone we worked with.

See more production updates and photos from our trip to our manufacturing facility in Vietnam here.

The team here at Pakt is committed to being environmentally conscious, both as entrepreneurs and consumers. We take producing products -- and the purchasing of them -- very seriously, because the last thing we want to do is add more unnecessary stuff to the world. We have taken incredible care to create a product that we believe is useful, beautiful, and necessary, and we ask you to, like us, carefully consider every purchase you make, this one included! Below both Malcolm and Joshua share their thoughts on the subject.

Malcolm Fontier: "I worked as a design consultant for years and helped bring all kinds of products to market. I started to feel that the world didn’t need most of these products, and I didn’t feel good about being part of the machine that cranks out more just to make a buck. After I stopped consulting, my wife and I launched our own line of bags because of our desire to create products that meant more to people and actually added value to their lives, and to be able to ensure both social and environmental responsibility throughout the process.

When the opportunity to relaunch our popular Getaway bag as a collaboration with The Minimalists arose, I actually hesitated for months because I didn’t want to detour from the environmental venture, SeaHive, that I had started. After many discussions with Josh and Ryan it became clear we were totally aligned in our outlooks and that we could actually do more good by pursuing the opportunity. It’s been an amazing experience working with like-minded friends to deliver a product so many people have been asking for. On top of all that, if we succeed we will also be able to help raise the visibility of SeaHive! Win, win."

Joshua Fields Millburn: "The Minimalists aren’t opposed to physical goods—we’re against impulsive consumption—and this bag was the opposite of impulse for me. It was intentional. As a minimalist, everything I own serves a purpose or brings me joy, and Malcolm’s bag has added immense value to my life over the years—more value than any other item."

This is not the first bag we’ve made. Malcolm Fontier’s line of travel bags and accessories ran from 2007-2012, and he produced thousands of items during that period. We've put together a strong supply chain, from the materials suppliers to manufacturers to shipping and fulfillment partners, and have full confidence that we can deliver a bag you’ll be proud to carry for years to come.

Once our campaign is completed and funded, we are ready to go straight into purchasing all the materials from our suppliers and then into production with our manufacturer. We will keep our backers updated throughout the process of the campaign and production to ensure that we deliver the Pakt One on time.

A note on delivery date: As with any manufactured good, delays can happen -- a typhoon can hit, or a pallet can get stuck in a shipyard. We’ve padded our schedule to accommodate some changes, but will let our backers know immediately if we foresee any updates to the timeline for delivery.

We are so confident you’ll love the Pakt One that we guarantee it! When you receive your bag(s), if you’re not 100% satisfied with the design or quality simply send it back for a full refund of the purchase price (shipping and handling fees are non-refundable). We’re pretty sure you’ll be more excited to plan a trip than return it though!

Please note that contributors are responsible for any taxes and duties related to their shipping country.