These ultra-strong bags were made from truck tarps and soda bottles

By Jesus Diaz

The Zurich-based bag manufacturer Freitag has created a new line of products using a new material that mixes recycled truck tarps with recycled PET, the ultra-light polymer resin typically used in water and soda bottles.

Freitag has become a cult brand selling bags, wallets, and more made out of recycled truck tarps. This is its first foray into a new material. And the company claims that the new line of products–called ToP as in Tarp on PET–is as rugged as the products made just with recycled truck tarps. But they are also softer, lighter, and more flexible. They’re suitable for everyday wear.

Freitag got underway when its founders Markus and Daniel Freitag decided to create a rugged bag inspired by the many trucks that passed through Zurich in 1993. The bags that resulted were made of discarded truck tarps and had a stiff, industrial quality, with each adopting the unique patterns of the tarps. Freitag’s new Tarp-on-PET product line retains the same visual quirks–every bag is different because the company still uses the recycled truck tarps that come in many different colors and patterns.

The line includes four products, which will start to roll out from today until March 14. The F610 Cinnamon is a new multipurpose drawstring bag. Freitag says that it a lightweight backpack that has the same robustness as its tarp-only carrier bag. The F600 Carter is a top-loading backpack with a big flap on top. The F640 Rollin is a roll-top shoulder bag that has an expandable volume at the top. Finally, the F645 Phelps is a cross-body bag that can we worn around the hips.

We have covered Freitag’s products before, like this inflatable suitcase and this hacker-proof wallet. If these are as nice as those ones, we want them.

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