Leland on the Patagonia Freewheeler Max:
Live the dream and travel the world fly fishing with Patagonia’s Freewheeler Max rolling luggage. This
large (7500 cu in),
durable, and smooth-rolling wheeled bag will carry more than enough fly fishing gear and clothes for an extended period of time.
Leland on Specifications:
The Freewheeler Max holds everything you need for an extended fishing pilgrimage. Its main compartment stores all of your clothing and holds fishing reels, socks, and toiletries in an interior mesh pocket; shoes and additional gear even get their own
zippered end section. The
durable 80-mm wheels provide smooth travels and steers with the retractable 2-position handle. Both ends feature haul handles and external compression straps to cinch the load. The
batton supports and molded foam and hard nylon bottom keeps the Patagonia Freewheeler Max durable lasting through the years after tough airport
handling abuse.
Specifications:
- 123 L (7500 cu in) 29" x 17" x 15.5"
- Large main compartment with an interior mesh pocket to hold toiletries
- Side zippered compartment holds shoes and quick-access items
- Light-colored lining makes contents easy to find
- 80-mm wheels provide durability, smoothness, and plenty of clearance
- Impact-resistant skidplates; molded bottom pan resists abrasion and protects contents
- 2-position retractable handle makes steering easy; haul handles at either end; external compression straps; stowable business card holder
- 11-oz 1,200-denier 100% recycled polyester. Lining: 3.3-oz 200-denier polyester. Bottom: molded foam and ballistics nylon bottom. With a polyurethane coating and a Deluge DWR (durable water repellent) finish
- 4762 g (10 lbs 8 oz)
Leland on Patagonia Luggage & Gear Bags:
Like all responsible outdoor recreators, the people at Patagonia place a premium on keeping things dry -- an especially important (not to say difficult) task when water is as integral to a sport as it is to fly fishing. For waterproof construction, Patagonia uses polyurethane-coated nylon -- fully impermeable, utterly bombpoof, and guaranteed to perform, season after season, on, in and around the water.
For boat-based anglers, the Patagonia Great Divider is a boat chest par excellence, offering impact protection as well as splashproofness. The same product in a smaller size, the Sub Divider, makes a fantastic shoulder-slung SLR case for wading anglers, and does the same great job in a boat bottom. For those who fish where heavy weather is common, Patagonia's Stormfront Pack is an outstanding design for a waterproof daypack and features a removable shoulder harness and hydration compatibility.
For carry-all haul bags, the Guidewater Duffel series makes an important contribution to the marketplace, what with its wet/dry compartmentalization and multiple size offerings: Regular (35L), Large (50L) and Max (92L).
As fly fishing luggage and gear bags go, these are some of the absolute finest around.
Leland on Patagonia:
One of the most admired and emulated firms in the outdoor marketplace, Patagonia is also one of the stalwarts in the fly fishing industry. From its humble beginnings as Yvon Chouinard's piton forging business to its ascendancy as one of the major houses in outdoor apparel and equipment, Patagonia has been marked by the same commitment to well-designed, well-made product, the same dedication to corporate social responsibility, and the same finger-on-the-pulse outdoor culture -- for almost forty years now.
Chouinard, still the company's head and something of an enlightened monarch, is well known as an alpinist and a surfer, but is also an avid fly fisherman. Atlantics, cutthroats, permit: he knows what he likes for fish as well as for gear, and he maintains a hand in the processes of product design to this day. Patagonia is a founding partner of '1% for the Planet', a league of environmentally progressive businesses, and the firm demonstrates its engagement with environmental stewardship in other ways as well. To minimize the inevitable ecological costs of manufacturing, Patagonia uses recycled-content fabrics where possible and -- more to the point, perhaps -- makes products that will perform at a high level for years without the need for a replacement.
Patagonia on the Freewheeler Max:
This large, multifunctional wheeled gear bag is designed for extended travel and made of recycled fabric.
Like a storage locker on wheels, the cavernous Freewheeler Max holds everything you need for an extended trip, a fishing pilgrimage or a skiing getaway. Its main compartment swallows all of your clothing and holds sundries in an interior mesh pocket; shoes and gear get their own zippered end section. The Max's light-colored lining makes contents easy to find. A retractable 2-position handle nimbly steers the load, which rolls smoothly on sturdy 80-mm wheels that provide plenty of clearance. With haul handles at both ends, external compression straps to cinch the load and/or attach bulky items, and batten supports on the sides that keep the bag standing upright (but collapse for easy storage). Impact-resistant skidplates withstand bumps and scrapes. Made from tough 1,200-denier 100% recycled polyester with a polyurethane coating and a Deluge® DWR (durable water repellent) finish. Bottom is molded foam and ballistics nylon.
Patagonia on Patagonia:
Build the best product, cause no unnecessary harm, use business to inspire and implement solutions to the environmental crisis.
–Patagonia's Mission Statement
Patagonia grew out of a small company that made tools for climbers. Alpinism remains at the heart of a worldwide business that still makes clothes for climbing – as well as for skiing, snowboarding, surfing, fly fishing, paddling and trail running. These are all silent sports. None requires a motor; none delivers the cheers of a crowd. In each sport, reward comes in the form of hard-won grace and moments of connection between us and nature.
Our values reflect those of a business started by a band of climbers and surfers, and the minimalist style they promoted. The approach we take towards product design demonstrates a bias for simplicity and utility.
For us at Patagonia, a love of wild and beautiful places demands participation in the fight to save them, and to help reverse the steep decline in the overall environmental health of our planet. We donate our time, services and at least 1% of our sales to hundreds of grassroots environmental groups all over the world who work to help reverse the tide.
We know that our business activity – from lighting stores to dyeing shirts – creates pollution as a by-product. So we work steadily to reduce those harms. We use recycled polyester in many of our clothes and only organic, rather than pesticide-intensive, cotton.
Staying true to our core values during thirty-plus years in business has helped us create a company we're proud to run and work for. And our focus on making the best products possible has brought us success in the marketplace.
