Motionlab launches ‘weightless’ backpack

Motionlab has officially launched its debut product, the Motionlab Active Commute, following a successful Kickstarter campaign.

“Motionlab’s design concept is a complete revolution in the backpack market, which was developed for over nine years and in 2018 won a prestigious Gold in the Industrial/Product category at the Creative Design Awards,” said a statement. “It is the only backpack in the world which takes 100% of the weight off your shoulders and gives the wearer a ‘weightless’ feel by directing all the weight to the hips, where the human body is designed to carry load.”

The flexible spine is designed to mirror the human body’s own spine, and the product has a wraparound harness. Each bag is adjustable to the owner’s body dimensions, and the bag has a capacity of 20 litres as well as separate compartments for shoes, clothes and space for a 15in laptop.

Rob Moncreiff, founder of Motionlab, said: “The idea came out of my personal experience of trying to find a bag that was actually appropriate for running to work with. I tried out different bags and they all bounced too much, my shoulders and neck constantly ached, and I was never comfortable. I looked at how the body naturally moves and designed a bag that mirrored it – placing any load on the hips where the body is designed to carry it and therefore freeing up all the moving parts of the body – including the shoulders.

“Using online funding platforms and having met with as many runners, cyclists and physiotherapists as possible, we’ve designed a bag to fit the needs of the active commute.”

Paul Goss of BodyLogic Physiotherapy said: “I found the bag surprisingly really comfortable and it feels supportive across the chest and not restrictive. The straps across the chest allow you to breathe comfortably. The major benefit I found when using the bag was the lack of pressure through the arms and shoulders allowing me to control my body position when running. This means that the body is not being rotated by the bag making this a unique product in the market.”