On September 8, VF announced it had sold Eagle Creek to Travis Campbell, a long-time VF executive who was most recently the corporation’s president of emerging brands. Campbell plans to build the brand back from its new headquarters in his hometown of Steamboat Springs, Colorado. Read more about the acquisition on our sister site, the .
The travel gear industry lost a heavy hitter yesterday, as听Eagle Creek that it will shut down operations by the end of this year. Its parent company, VF Corporation, the Colorado-based conglomerate that owns other big outdoor names like the North Face and Altra,听offered scant details about the factors that led to the brand鈥檚 demise, simply saying that keeping the label running 鈥渘o longer makes strategic or financial sense.鈥 As a frequent traveler and owner of many Eagle Creek-stamped bags, I鈥檓 left to mourn the 100-liter-sized gap in high-quality, rugged travel gear.
During its almost 50听years in business, Eagle Creek,听which was started by Steve and Nona Barker in San Jacinto, California, in听1975,听became renowned in the rough-riding adventure travel community for the durability and innovative design of its luggage, backpacks, and accessories. During my time as a travel editor and gear reviewer, I鈥檝e tested more than half a dozen Eagle Creek offerings, including the bombproof Cargo Hauler duffel, the versatile carry-on, and the smart backpack. I was always impressed by the thoughtful design details: unlike some other travel brands, whose products include bells and whistles that offer little practical value, it鈥檚 clear that the minds behind Eagle Creek鈥檚 creations are travelers themselves and that they thought hard about what would actually work听best on the road. For example, the Wayfinder鈥檚 hidden tech pocket has a cord pass-through between the shoulder strap and laptop compartment for charging your phone on the go from a powerbank. I鈥檝e edited plenty of writers who swear by the brand鈥檚 hardiness, including one whose luggage has held up for over a decade. The brand鈥檚 Caldera International Carry-On, an update of the Switchback, even nabbed one of 国产吃瓜黑料鈥檚听coveted Gear of the Year awards.
Away from my desk and out on the road, I鈥檇 often find myself inventing items in my head that I wished existed (such as a wheeled carry-on with backpack straps and a zip-out personal item), only to find that Eagle Creek . My favorite example of this phenomenon is the packing cube. Long plagued by my two arch nemeses鈥攐verpacking and a lack of organization鈥擨 dreamt of a cube that didn鈥檛 take up precious bag space, could compress items down to half their size, and showed what was inside. Eagle Creek, of course, made this听too.
No other product in my years of testing and globetrotting has changed the way I traveled as much as this packing cube. At around two ounces each, the Pack-Its punch well above their weight when it comes to functionality鈥擨 wish I had them when I was living out of a backpack in Asia and Australia听for more than three years. The compression zippers allowed me to squeeze a week鈥檚 worth of clothes into a suitcase normally meant for a few days, saving me more than a few checked bag fees. Their stand-out feature, though, is so obvious I can鈥檛 believe it鈥檚 not standard everywhere: they鈥檙e translucent, so I can know what鈥檚 in the听cube without opening it. That, combined with the variety of sizes and styles that allows me to organize clothing by day or use, has saved me countless minutes of unpacking and repacking as I move from place to place. Practically speaking, this meant that while my mom rushed to squeeze everything back into her suitcase as we hopped hotels in Italy, I was enjoying my third espresso down in the caf茅. Hearing the news about Eagle Creek鈥檚 downfall had me wondering how many Pack-Its I could buy in bulk before they disappear forever.
Long before they perfected the packing cube, Eagle Creek started out making custom backpacks. In 2007, the company was acquired by VF Corporation,听with the goal of turning humble beginnings into a . It鈥檚 unclear whether the COVID-19 pandemic鈥檚 decimation of the global travel industry had a hand in the brand鈥檚 sudden disintegration. While some jobs will be eliminated, VF Corporation says many Eagle Creek staffers will be shifted to sister brands like Jansport and Eastpak.
I, for one, will be sad to see Eagle Creek鈥檚 logo disappear from shelves; it鈥檚 one of the few luggage companies that virtually guaranteed a one-time purchase. The brand鈥檚 鈥淣o Matter What鈥 warranty鈥攚hich included replacement or repair of many products, regardless of the cause of failure鈥攚as one of the few left in the business after L.L. Bean and REI announced that they were ending similar return programs听in recent years. It鈥檚 not clear if or how VF Corporation will honor that warranty now (the company did not respond to a request for comment). Regardless, I hope that Eagle Creek鈥檚 staff will carry on the spirit of the brand鈥檚 simple-yet-significant innovations and buy-it-for-life quality at听other labels in the industry.