Rotation180° Panorama Backpack

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  • 2015

  • Product
    Sport and Lifestyle

Commissioned By:

MindShift Gear

Designed In:

United States

The problem with traditional backpacks is that they must be taken off the user’s back in order to access the contents.

The solution is our world-wide patented rotation180° technology, which allows the contents of the backpack to be accessed without taking it off, via an integrated hidden belt pack that can be rotated to the front of the body. The beltpack can be filled with frequently used items such as a cameras, GPS devices, binoculars, and nature identification books.

The backpack has additional room for personal gear and a three litre hydration reservoir.

Ultimately the Panorama backpack allows the user to have a more enjoyable outdoor experience by never having to stop to access their gear.


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  • CHALLENGE
  • SOLUTION
  • IMPACT
  • MORE
  • The Rotation180° Panorama is designed to appeal to outdoor enthusiasts who have a compelling need for urgent access to essential gear. Taking the form of a traditional outdoor backpack, its groundbreaking and patented locking and rotation mechanism allows the bearer to quickly unlock and rotate the lower beltpack to the front. This allows them to keep their focus on the their reason for being there - exploring nature - while being able to grab without looking their photo gear, binoculars, nature guides, food, medical supplies, and more. The locking mechanism is indicated by a screen print of a downward arrow. In truth, it takes most users at most two or three tries to make unlocking and rotating intuitive.

  • Traditional thinking is that the back panel of a backpack requires the shoulder harness and waist belt to be connected so that weight can be transferred to the hips. We proved this assumption wrong. The bottom chamber that holds the belt pack is asymmetrical: one end of the chamber is smaller than the other. The belt pack is also asymmetrical: one side is smaller than the other. The result is the small side of the belt pack tightly fits into the larger hole on the beltpack, filling the chamber. It is this precise fit between the two parts that makes the waist belt secure and allows for proper weight distribution on the hips, while allowing for the groundbreaking rotation function.

  • The primary challenge was design engineering the product so that it would actually work. It took over 20 prototypes to perfect the functionality. The BOM shows over 350 separate parts. Besides being as light, soft, and friendly as possible, the backpack needed to be very easy to use, in terms of releasing the beltpack and then rotating it to the front of the body and then back again. Another challenge was making the backpack look “normal” when the belt pack was in the backpack. We use the highest quality zippers and fabrics to prevent product failure. We offer a “lifetime” warranty to the customer and offer to repair it or replace it at our option.

  • The centerpiece of the MindShift Gear brand is the rotation 180° concept. It may be the most significant breakthrough in backpack design since the inventions of the waist belt and hydration systems, as it solved the one remaining big backpacking problem, which is to get at their gear backpackers must first take off their backpacks. Thus far the backpacks have received rave reviews from hiking, mountain biking, skiing, running, bird watching, and outdoor photography media. The rotation 180° function will be applicable to any market where urgent access is essential, such as first responders (e.g. paramedics). It is a potentially disruptive design technology.

    This rotation 180° technology is new and original and solves a problem universal to all wearers of backpacks. Its novel design and engineering allows the wearer to rotate the lower half of the backpack to the front in order to access essential gear. The invention was considered so original that it has been granted European Patent 1,876,919, USA 8,690,029, as well as Australia, Japan, Canada, and other patents pending worldwide. The media reviews mirror this. Bird Watchers Digest wrote: “Every so often there's an innovation to a standard piece of equipment that is a leap forward and makes you think: “Why didn't anyone think of this sooner?”