Duffel bags have no shape. Packs are meant to carry, not serve as suitcases. And wheelie bags have their
limitations on stairs and over cobblestones, not to mention that they鈥檙e
awkward in the overhead compartment. After over 1,000 flights dissatisfied with
his suitcases, Nathan Kukathas joined design team and created a
collection of clean, sophisticated, functional travel bags that are arguably
the simplest, most understated, discreet and sophisticated bags we鈥檝e ever
tested.
The Covert bags are the
iPhone of travel bags. Each is a rectangular cube, vaguely army duffel like,
that stands on end, slides easily into the overhead, and is made from materials
you could back a truck over鈥攐r even hand over to baggage handlers without
fear. The bags are superbly durable, treated to repel dirt and water, and can
be carried in numerous ways: with hidden backpack straps, or by side and top
handles.
The internal organization is
perfectly practical, with pockets sized to actually hold the items you need,
without so many that your car keys, passport or magazines end up lost. Buckles and
zips are hidden, offering a new kind of theft protection.
But the bags aren鈥檛 invisible. On a recent BTV-ORD-SLC-PHX trip west, a gate agent, a flight
attendant, a pilot and several passengers all admired and inquired about the
bag, a phenomenon this traveler has never encountered. Inside, I had everything I needed for two weeks of business and fun, from meetings to mountain biking, five star hotels to camping.
Available spring 2013 in
three models: check-in sized Covert CI, $229; international carry-on sized Covert ICO, $199;
and carry-on sized Covert CO, $179; .
鈥擝erne Broudy