Pacsafe

Pacsafe is a travel-equipment brand developed around the problem of theft from luggage and personal bags. The brand was created in Hong Kong in 1998 by Australians Rob Schlipper and Magnus McGlashan through Outpac Designs Limited. Its founding concept reportedly emerged during travel in South America, where the founders observed chicken wire being used to protect bags. They adapted that basic protective idea into a portable security system for travelers, initially producing a slash-resistant wire cage capable of enclosing a large backpack. The early Pacsafe 85L established the brand's central proposition: travel bags should provide not only storage and carrying comfort but also a visible and physical barrier against opportunistic theft. The company subsequently developed the Exomesh system and related security technologies, incorporating slash-resistant wire structures, locking points, cables, straps, and other protective components into travel products. The emphasis was on securing the bag itself rather than relying solely on a conventional zipper or padlock. Pacsafe broadened its range during the 2000s. In 2005, its locks were made compatible with the Travel Sentry standard used by airport-security authorities and many international airports. In 2006, the Citysafe line expanded the brand's offering for women's travel bags, while the Lidsafe product addressed motorcycle-oriented travel. By 2012, Pacsafe covered several product categories, including adventure backpacks, urban and leisure bags, women's bags, photography bags, luggage, and travel accessories such as straps, cables, and locks. The brand's identity is closely associated with its turtle logo, whose shell is designed to resemble a padlock with a mesh-cage pattern. This visual language connects travel protection with the turtle's naturally protective shell. Pacsafe has also linked its brand activity to marine conservation. In 2014, it established the Turtle Fund Mission, which provides annual grants to projects working to protect endangered sea turtles. Pacsafe operates from Hong Kong and has offices in the United States, Germany, and China, according to the referenced encyclopedia material. Its products are positioned for travelers who want a balance of portability, everyday usability, and additional resistance to slash, grab, or unauthorized access. The portfolio spans adventure travel, urban commuting, leisure use, photography, motorcycle travel, and general luggage. Product recognition has included awards from Backpacker Magazine, Motorcyclist Magazine, the International Luggage Marquee Awards, Outdoor Industry Award, iF Design Award, and Carryology. The available reference material does not establish current ownership, revenue, leadership, official website, or a detailed present-day distribution footprint.

Pacsafe was developed by Outpac Designs Limited, a Hong Kong company established in 1998 by Australian entrepreneurs Rob Schlipper and Magnus McGlashan. The founders' concept reportedly came from travel in South America, where they saw chicken wire placed around bags as a deterrent to theft. They translated that improvised protection into a consumer travel product: a flexible, slash-resistant wire cage that could be carried with or around a backpack. One of the first notable products was the Pacsafe 85L, designed to enclose a backpack with a capacity of approximately 85 liters. The underlying Exomesh concept became a defining part of the brand's identity and product engineering. Rather than treating security as a separate accessory, Pacsafe integrated protective structures and locking features into bags and luggage. The approach addressed common travel risks such as cutting through fabric, opening a bag without permission, or taking a bag while it was temporarily unattended. The brand gained early recognition through product and business awards. The Pacsafe 85L received Backpacker Magazine's Editor's Choice Award in 1999, and Outpac Designs received an AustCham ANZ Australian Business Award in Hong Kong in 2002. These recognitions helped establish Pacsafe as a specialist rather than a conventional luggage label. During the middle of the 2000s, Pacsafe expanded both its technical compatibility and its category coverage. In 2005, its locks were made compatible with the Travel Sentry standard, a significant practical consideration for air travelers whose luggage may be inspected by airport authorities. In 2006, the company introduced Citysafe products for women's travel bags and Lidsafe for motorcycle travel. The range therefore began to serve distinct travel situations instead of focusing only on large expedition-style backpacks. By 2012, the portfolio included adventure backpacks, urban and leisure bags, women's bags, photography bags, luggage, and accessories such as straps, cables, and locks. Product development continued to combine conventional carrying functions with anti-theft features. Examples cited in the reference material include Travelsafe, RFIDsafe, Venturesafe, Camsafe, Duffelsafe, Intasafe, and the Z-28 urban backpack. Several received recognition from specialist travel, outdoor, motorcycle, and design organizations between 2007 and 2015. Pacsafe's visual identity uses a turtle whose shell resembles a padlock and a mesh cage. The symbol reinforces the brand's security promise while giving it a distinctive association with a protective shell. In 2014, the company broadened that association into a conservation program by founding the Turtle Fund Mission, which provides annual grants to marine-turtle conservation projects. The referenced material describes Pacsafe as headquartered in Hong Kong, with offices in the United States, Germany, and China. It does not provide enough information to document current corporate ownership, executive leadership, financial performance, or the precise extent of its current retail and geographic operations. The available history nevertheless shows a progression from a single backpack-protection concept to a broad travel-goods brand organized around anti-theft design.

• 2015

  Further design and messenger-bag awards

  [1]Pacsafeen.wikipedia.org

  Camsafe Z25 and Duffelsafe AT80 receive iF recognition, and Intasafe Z400 is named Carryology's Best Work Messenger.

• 2014

  Turtle Fund Mission is founded

  [1]Pacsafeen.wikipedia.org

  Pacsafe establishes a grant initiative supporting marine-turtle conservation projects.

• 2013

  Z-28 and Venturesafe 65L GII receive recognition

  [1]Pacsafeen.wikipedia.org

  The Z-28 heritage anti-theft urban backpack wins an iF product design award, while Venturesafe 65L GII receives an Outdoor Industry Award.

• 2012

  Portfolio expands across travel categories

  [1]Pacsafeen.wikipedia.org

  Pacsafe's range includes adventure, urban, leisure, women's, photography, luggage, and travel-accessory products.

• 2010

  RFIDsafe 50 receives an outdoor-industry award

  [1]Pacsafeen.wikipedia.org

  RFIDsafe 50 is recognized in the travel-accessory category at the Outdoor Industry Award.

• 2009

  Travelsafe 100 receives design recognition

  [1]Pacsafeen.wikipedia.org

  Travelsafe 100 wins an ILM award in the Intelligence Design category.

• 2007

  Lidsafe receives a product award

  [1]Pacsafeen.wikipedia.org

  Motorcyclist Magazine names Lidsafe its Product of the Year.

• 2006

  Citysafe and Lidsafe are introduced

  [1]Pacsafeen.wikipedia.org

  The Citysafe series expands the women's travel-bag range, while Lidsafe is introduced for motorcycle travel.

• 2005

  Travel Sentry-compatible locks

  [1]Pacsafeen.wikipedia.org

  Pacsafe locks become compatible with the Travel Sentry standard used in airport-security environments.

• 2002

  Business entrepreneurial award

  [1]Pacsafeen.wikipedia.org

  Outpac Designs receives the Business Entrepreneurial Award at the AustCham ANZ Australian Business Awards in Hong Kong.

• 1999

  Pacsafe 85L receives an Editor's Choice award

  [1]Pacsafeen.wikipedia.org

  Backpacker Magazine recognizes the Pacsafe 85L with its Editor's Choice Award.

• 1998

  Outpac Designs Limited is established

  [1]Pacsafeen.wikipedia.org

  Rob Schlipper and Magnus McGlashan establish the Hong Kong company behind Pacsafe and develop the brand's initial travel-security concept.

Security-oriented travel equipment that combines practical bags and luggage with integrated anti-theft construction, including slash-resistant mesh, lock-compatible closures, cables, straps, and RFID-related protection.

• Backpack security system · 1998

  Pacsafe 85L

  An early Pacsafe product designed to enclose a large backpack in a slash-resistant protective cage. The product expressed the brand's original proposition: adding a portable physical barrier to ordinary travel luggage. Its recognition by Backpacker Magazine helped establish Pacsafe in the outdoor and travel-equipment market.

• Anti-theft technology · 1998

  Exomesh

  Pacsafe's slash-resistant wire-cage concept, developed to protect bags from cutting attacks. Exomesh is a foundational technology associated with the brand and is integrated into or used alongside selected travel bags and security products.

• Women's travel bags · 2006

  Citysafe

  A line introduced to extend Pacsafe's anti-theft approach into women's travel bags. Citysafe products broadened the brand beyond expedition and backpacking equipment toward urban travel and everyday carry.

• Motorcycle travel accessory · 2006

  Lidsafe

  A Pacsafe product line introduced for motorcycle travel. Its recognition by Motorcyclist Magazine reflects the brand's effort to adapt travel-security features to specialized mobility and touring use cases.

• Travel security accessory

  Travelsafe 100

  A travel-security product recognized for design in the 2009 ILM Awards. The available reference does not specify its full construction or current availability, but it belongs to Pacsafe's accessory-oriented protection range.

• RFID-protection travel accessory

  RFIDsafe 50

  A travel accessory associated with protection against unauthorized RFID reading. RFIDsafe 50 received recognition in the travel-accessory category at the 2010 Outdoor Industry Award.

• Adventure backpack · 2013

  Venturesafe 65L GII

  An adventure-oriented Pacsafe backpack recognized with an Outdoor Industry Award in 2013. The product represents the brand's combination of larger-capacity outdoor carrying with integrated anti-theft design.

• Photography bag · 2015

  Camsafe Z25

  A photography-oriented Pacsafe bag recognized with an iF product-design award in 2015. It extends the anti-theft proposition to equipment-carrying users who need protection for cameras and related gear.

• Duffel luggage · 2015

  Duffelsafe AT80

  A Pacsafe duffel-style travel product recognized in the sport and leisure category of the 2015 iF product-design awards. The available source does not provide detailed capacity or construction specifications.

• Work messenger bag · 2015

  Intasafe Z400

  A work-oriented messenger bag recognized by Carryology as its Best Work Messenger in 2015. The product illustrates Pacsafe's movement into urban professional carry while retaining the brand's security focus.

• Urban backpack · 2013

  Z-28 heritage anti-theft urban backpack

  An urban backpack combining Pacsafe's anti-theft positioning with a heritage-inspired design language. It received an international iF product-design award in the lifestyle and leisure category in 2013.

• 2014Turtle Fund Mission

  International

  Pacsafe founded the Turtle Fund Mission to support endangered marine turtles through annual grants to sea-turtle conservation projects. The initiative connects the turtle imagery in the brand identity with an environmental purpose.

  Outcome. The available reference confirms the grant-making mission but does not provide grant amounts, recipient organizations, or measured conservation outcomes.

  Source

• 2014

  Creation of a marine-turtle conservation initiativeStrategy

  Background

  Pacsafe's turtle-and-shell identity provided a natural platform for linking the brand with marine-turtle protection.

  Action taken

  Pacsafe established the Turtle Fund Mission and committed to annual grants for sea-turtle conservation projects.

  Aftermath

  The initiative gave the brand a stated conservation dimension. The available material does not identify the recipients or quantify the program's impact.

  Source

• 2006

  Expansion into women's and motorcycle travel productsProduct launch

  Background

  Pacsafe was broadening beyond its early large-backpack protection concept and addressing more specific travel segments.

  Action taken

  The company introduced the Citysafe series for women's travel bags and Lidsafe for motorcycle travel.

  Aftermath

  These launches expanded the brand's audience and product-category coverage, though detailed sales or market-share results are not available in the reference.

  Source

• 2005

  Adoption of Travel Sentry-compatible locksOther

  Background

  Air travelers may have their luggage inspected by airport-security authorities, making compatibility with widely used inspection standards relevant to travel-lock design.

  Action taken

  Pacsafe made its locks compatible with the Travel Sentry standard.

  Aftermath

  The change improved the practical fit of Pacsafe locks within the airport-travel environment, although the available source provides no commercial performance data.

  Source

1. 1Pacsafeen.wikipedia.org