Our Story

It runs in the family. In 1961 John Chalk hauled a primitive pack into the remote south-west of Tasmania, Federation Peak on the horizon. Sixty years on, the same instinct still drives everything we make.

The proving ground

Designed at a desk. Proven where it gets used.

Ulvetanna · the last great climb

The origin

A bag that
didn't exist.

An expedition needed kit that could survive full submersion. Nothing on the market held up — least of all the roll-tops we'd learned never to trust. So we partnered with Fourth Element and spent four years designing and testing the waterproof pack we couldn't buy. That became the EP01.

design & test: 4 yr
partner: Fourth Element
result: EP01

explore the EP01

Basler landing · Wolf's Fang, Antarctica

The tester

Martin Chalk

Martin breaks things — by using them harder than anyone should. Pilot, diver, sailor, surfer, skier, climber; he's carried our gear into 112 countries and some of the most remote places on earth. If it survives him, it survives anything.

countries: 112
role: Primary tester

Tested to failure

If it survives him, it survives anything.

Geographic South Pole · 90°S

The designer

Leonardo Lenchig

An Italian designer and classical artist, with a background in architecture, who drifted, happily, into product design. Leonardo takes everything back to first principles — every seam, panel and gram considered, nothing on a piece that hasn't earned its place.

discipline: Design
role: Art director and designer