Company Story

The Swedish brand BOBLBEE was established in 1997 as a design and research hub for sports and recreational equipment.

The BOBLBEE brain trust comes with a variety of experiences from the sport and consumer goods market and includes a network of designers and professional users around the globe. Corporate headquarters are located in Malmö, at the most southern part of Sweden.

THE HISTORY

1995: Jonas Blanking has left his car at home in favor of his bike to get to work. An industrial designer by profession and with gathered experience in the automotive and sports industry, he started to look around for a solution to improve his daily urban jaunts. It all resulted in the iconic hard shell backpack MEGALOPOLIS. This goundbreaking patented innovation laid the foundation of the Boblbee company.

To create a satisfying structure and an impact protective casing, Jonas Blanking researched the plastic and aluminum structures used for air cargo containers: how they where assembled and riveted; the type of screws used; how materials would react when exposed to different stress conditions and corrosive environments; all the while bearing in mind that people handle their gear like luggage crews at any airport.

Combining a sturdy structure with a soft body was initially not an obvious decision. However, living hand in hand with one?s equipment did not permit ergonomics to be taken for granted. It became evident in the initial development phase that the problem of combining a soft body with a hard shell would be the most difficult and challenging part of the process. Several mock-ups and models were produced during the fall of 1996, resulting in a working prototype for testing. Due to the initial research from the air cargo industry, a very unconventional design and with a unique combination of materials, proved to be strong and protective, yet light, comfortable and ergonomically sound. During the first test period it became obvious that the structure was much more versatile than first anticipated.

The Monocoque Hardshell gave way to a total "re-thinking" of strapping gear to your backpack. For the first time a permanent external frame to build upon existed, making it possible to exactly position the fastening devices both on the inside and on the outside of the pack. The Monocoque Hardshell, The Cargo Internal System and The Cargo External System created a very versatile combination of transporting high tech equipment together with soiled shoes or skates, protecting equipment, gear, backpack and the carrier. The first BOBLBEE Monocoque Hardshell backpack was produced in April 1998.

Today, BOBLBEE offers a wide range of products in various material. In spring 2011 the slimmer version of the hardshell backpack, PEOPLES DELITE AERO, was tested as the best protector in the world. Later that year BOBLBEE launched the first collection of camera bags with yet another innovation; the highly shock absorbing Double-High-Density foam body (DHDS™). To be continued...