This pickpockets’ nightmare does not have to be LUGGed
BENGALURU: More than 5,000 cases of theft were reported in the city in 2017. Something as casual as a ride on public transport or getting stuck in traffic may lead to your valuables getting stolen, according to the data. That is what exactly happened to Raj Agarwal, a 40-year-old woman, who is a solution expert. When travelling from Bengaluru to Mysuru in September 2017, her laptop was stolen. She had all her essential data saved on it, and the loss felt heavy. However, she thought of what can be done to avoid such losses in the future, and thought of an anti-theft bag called LUGG.
City Express interviewed bag designers, Raj and Dinesh Agarwal. The bag is available only on www. fueladrem.com, a crowdfunding marketplace based out of Bengaluru. Ranganath Thota, founder of fueladream.com, says that the bag addresses problems faced by anyone who needs to carry a backpack, including charging their phone.
How did you come up with the concept of the anti-theft bag?
Ever since my Macbook got stolen, I had been thinking about developing something that could not be picked, and that is how the idea for an anti-theft backpack started. I started searching, designing and developing multiple samples from last September onwards.
Why is this kind of bag important, especially in Bengaluru?
The problems we face in Bengaluru is a reflection of what happens across the country. Both in Bengaluru and in other metro cities, people have started using more public transport such as the Metro and buses. Plus, on a two- wheeler, there is so much traffic, and you can never know when your backpack can be picked. Loss of important items are very frequent due to theft. You often see people carrying their backpack in the front – like a front-pack – so that no one can access the pockets and zippers. Hence, a solution to this problem was a necessity. This bag solves the problems faced by citizens of Bengaluru and India by providing them with a product that is a pickpocketers nightmare.
Can you elaborate on the features that tricks pickpocketers?
The fundamental problem with a backpack is that there are zippers and pockets accessible from the back, front and side. That makes it easy for people to pick those pockets in a crowd. The design of this product is such that the back of the jacket does not have access. The access is from the front and with a zipper that is recessed, making it impossible for a pickpocket to access. That is why it’s called anti-theft. All the storage areas and pockets are mainly inside the backpack
Anti-theft bags are seen in the market, especially online, how is LUGG different from them?
The design differs as it is loaded with more features and has a few fundamental differences. Most backpacks claim to be 100 percent waterproof, are heavy and use very different material. We have solved that with rain cover - which actually makes it 100 per cent waterproof. Also, that means the material used is lighter (the bag weighs just 750 g) and has a lower cost, thus making it that much more affordable. It’s the first backpack with an external water bottle holder - the LUGG plus (which is almost like a must-have feature in a backpack, but is not available in other designs). We have done the internal compartment layout design differently. In addition, there are two on-the-strap pockets for cards and an elastic band to hitch your glasses and luggage bag. All these add-ons, plus the local manufacturing, have surprisingly resulted in a much much more affordable product with an average price of just `1,699.
What according to you is the most tricky part of the bag?
Most people would find it confusing to figure out how this backpack opens. From a design and manufacturing perspective, making sure the product is super strong, has the best features and quality items ( for example, we use very expensive YKK zippers) and has every small detail taken care of is the challenge, as there are so many items to check before it passes our quality check.
What is the most fascinating and unique aspect of the bag?
The external USB charging port makes it easy to charge your phone from a power bank or laptop kept inside the bag.
Can the bag be used by school-going children as well?
The LUGG is appropriate for college students, executives, those who travel a lot and are into outdoor activities. It offers security, convenience and massive storage space. While school children can use it - it may not be critical for them.
Why have you gone the crowdfunding way?
Crowdfunding is a very efficient way for a start-up like us to access the market. Crowdfunding allows you to keep your costs down as you have zero inventory. The platform also helped us with strategy, pricing, content and marketing communication. This allowed us to move fast.
The bag is exclusively available on Fueladream. Will it be available in the markets as well? If yes, how soon?
Our campaign has just started, and is off to a great start. We are almost at 60% of our goal. We have a long way to go with our crowdfunding campaign before we make our future plans. But yes, the plan is definitely to make LUGG a very big success.
Tell us the challenges you faced when building the product.
The biggest challenge was developing the mould and fit for the external USB Port and wire.