Founder Update: 6 Months Since Launch

Last fall, the Knack Team hit the ground running when we launched Knack Bags. We shipped our first bag on November 5, 2018, and haven’t stopped since.

As the Knackpacker community has grown, I wanted to take a moment to look back and share successes from the last six months – as well as give you some insider info on what’s to come in the second half of 2019. 

When Inspiration Struck

Although our first bag shipped in 2018, the idea for the Knack Pack actually came to me almost 3 years prior, in September of 2015. I realized how ridiculous it was that I was traveling with 2 bags, my work backpack and a duffle, during a long weekend trip to Costa Rica. Neither were full, and it was a real pain juggling them on the planes, through airports and in taxis.  

When I got back home, I went searching for a bag that could hold my work items that I use on a daily basis, as well as my travel gear – and I couldn’t find it! That’s when I realized that the entire bag industry’s focus on single function bags didn’t work for me.  

During my search it became clear that bag companies’ goal is to sell me as many bags as I can afford by creating bags that each solved only one of my many specific needs. I wanted one bag that solved a lot of my needs.  

And that was the beginning of Knack.

Two Year Design Process

We started the design and development of the Knack Pack in earnest a year after the Costa Rica trip. After tons of sketching and design meetings, we saw our first prototype in May of 2017. I still have the first prototype in my office to remind me of how far we’ve come.   

We went through 6 rounds of prototyping and months of fabric development before we were satisfied that we had a good product. In December 2017, we started 6 months of user-testing our bags in the field. At the same time as our user-testing, we also conducted a lot of quality tests on the bag, the fabric, the hardware and the packaging. All this testing showed us that we needed still more changes before we could even think about asking people to consider buying a Knack Pack. After 2 more rounds of prototyping, we finally started production in early Fall 2018.

Response

Since launch, your support of Knack has surpassed even our most optimistic projections, and we have now sold out of the medium Knack Pack in Stealth Black, one of our most popular bags. We expect additional colors to sell out before we are able to get more stock. Even though certain bags may be out of stock, we’ll be accepting pre-orders so you can get the first units as soon as they arrive.

As our way of saying thanks to folks who are willing to order their Knack Pack now and wait a little while before they receive it, we are adding a Large Cube to all pre-orders. We hope that this gift will remind new Knackpackers of what will be coming soon.  

More Colors & Bag Choices

One of the things we’re currently working on (and something you’ve probably seen on our Instagram Story) is additional bag colors. While I don’t want to be too specific (as we are still in development), we are also working on a number of new accessory products as well as over 20 improvements to our existing Knack Packs. And a lot of these changes were inspired by comments and suggestions from people using Knack every day.

Last but not least, we’ll be introducing the small Knack Pack this fall, and I can’t wait to see and read your responses when you get this great new product in your hands.

Finally: Thank You for Your Feedback

We love seeing photos of Knackpackers using their bags, and reading about how the Knack Pack has helped them get out their front door and live a better life. The Knack Bag Team (including myself) reviews every bit of feedback you send us.

We especially appreciate detailed feedback from Knackpackers on the design and functionality of the bag. We’ve been really lucky that you care enough to email, call and post your ideas and opinions.

We use Knackpacker input to help make many of our decisions about the brand and product. For example, we make changes to the website based on physically observing how people navigate our site and understanding where they get hung up.

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On the product side, every team member reviews your feedback and discusses what is possible and what isn’t. Additionally, I formally discuss input from Knackpackers every day with our customer experience, design and social teams.

We have used this feedback to prioritize design updates, and we also reach out and interview Knackpackers to ask their opinions on specific product and brand questions. We thrive on this input since we are really committed to creating a community of individuals who all believe that living a #OneBagLife makes every day a bit better.

Thank You

On behalf of all of us here at Knack, I want to thank you for all of your support over the past six months, and for joining the Knack community.  

Thanks,

Chad Mellen

Knackpacker and Founder