When purchasing luggage, it’s perfectly reasonable to conceive of all the scenarios you might find yourself in with said luggage. How, you might wonder, will it fare in extreme conditions? On safari? An expedition cruise to Antarctica? A cross-country road trip? At 40,000 feet? What about a literal trip to space? Because that is the test that Samsonite’s Proxis carry-on was recently put to.
In collaboration with Sent Into Space, the world’s first marketing-focused space agency and leading provider of commercial Near Space launches, Samsonite sent Proxis to the very edge of space. Using stratospheric balloon technology, the suitcase was launched to a height of over 130,000 feet in a one-of-a-kind spacecraft before returning to Earth “completely intact and without a single scratch.” The test was designed to demonstrate the Proxis’ durability.
“The Proxis was a perfect passenger for our flight,” Sent Into Space’s Head of Projects, Dr Chris Rose, said post-landing. “Incredibly robust, even in the freezing vacuum of space where the temperature drops below -85°F, but light enough to meet our stringent weight requirements — I’d love to take one on every spaceflight.”
For the uninitiated, Proxis, weighing in at just 4.6 pounds, is Samsonite’s lightest carry-on ever, though, thanks to its Roxkin outer shell, it’s incredibly resilient, too. Roxkin is, per its website, “an exclusive multi-layered material developed by Samsonite and engineered to bounce back into shape.” For context, I once saw a woman who, to demonstrate this, jumped on an empty Proxis case wearing stilettos. Within seconds, it not only bounced back into shape, it showed absolutely no evidence of foul play whatsoever, despite having just been effectively skewered. I was sold right then and there, but I can see why the space test might hold broader appeal.
“This experiment with ‘Sent Into Space’ demonstrates how our case delivers performance under the most challenging conditions,” a representative of the brand said in a statement. “Withstanding not only the rigors of Earthbound travel but also the ultimate test — space — exemplifying the remarkable balance we’ve achieved between lightweight design and rugged durability, setting a new standard in the luggage industry.”
The Proxis comes in four sizes — carry-on, medium, large and extra large — and five colors — Black, Petrol Blue, Honey Gold, Silver and Lime. And while it is impossibly light weight and sturdy in a way that feels contradictory to that weight, it’s also got all the other features you could want in a suitcase in the year 2024: an expandable design, integrated keyless TSA-friendly lock, built in USB, dual spinner wheels and an ergonomic push-button grip with dual-tube telescoping aluminum handle system among them.
“The Proxis Carry-On Spinner has to be the absolute best piece of carry-on luggage that I have ever used,” one real-life reviewer noted. “Samsonite has hit a home run with this product.”
Or, dare we say…catapulted it into space?
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