Bergans Helium Backpack Wins its Third Award

Bergans of Norway’s Helium Backpack Wins its Third Award

Norwegian Centre for Design and Architecture Design Excellence Award is proof of quality design

LONGMONT, Colo. – May 11, 2016 – The Helium pack line from Bergans of Norway, a collection of four men’s and women’s backpacks, earned its third award last month. This time, the Helium received an Award for Design Excellence from the Norwegian Centre for Design and Architecture (DOGA) during a special ceremony held April 27 in Oslo, Norway.

The award, which is bestowed annually, is regarded as a proof of quality and shows that a product or solution is among the very best in Norwegian design. The jury evaluated submitted products based on criteria such as innovation, form and aesthetical quality, construction, choice of materials, functionality and user advantages, and environmental aspects and praised the Helium as a “significant step forward within the category for backpacks”.

“When we designed the new Helium, we decided we wanted to go under the ‘magical’ 1,000 gram weight limit, improve its carrying capacity, and add a proper torso length adjustment system. However, we didn’t want to make a specialist’s pack. We wanted it to be something for everyone to use,” explains Bergans pack designer Johannes Flem.

The expert jury was impressed by the fact that Flem and his fellow designers developed a large backpack with such a low weight and high carrying comfort, stating, “The designers have not only reduced the weight of the textiles used, but also the weight of the backpack’s components. The carrying system is excellent, even though this has been reduced in size.”

Additional comments from the jurists applauded the Helium’s ease of use and durability, noting that the pack uses heavier and more robust materials in areas most exposed to wear, that it can be opened and packed like a bag, and that it can be laundered in a washing machine.

In addition to the Award for Design Excellence, the Helium received a Scandinavian Outdoor Award in the hardware category during the Scandinavian Outdoor Group’s trade show last summer, and received an Editors’ Choice Award from Germany’s biggest outdoor magazine “outdoor”.

Helium backpacks have been in the Bergans line since 2002, and used by adventurers such as Cecilie Skog and Tormod Granheimon expeditions to Mount Everest and the Antarctic. The latest Helium backpacks are the fourth generation of the original design, and come in 55- and 40-liter sizes. There are men- and women-specific versions, and a selection of four different color combinations. MSRPs are $189.00 (55L) and $169.00 (40L).

Bergans was established in 1908, when Ole Ferdinand Bergan invented the first anatomical backpack when he cut and shaped a juniper branch to match the curve of his back and attached it to his heavy, loose-fitting rucksack, a design mirrored in every modern anatomical backpack. Today backpacks, outdoor and lifestyle clothing, and tents are part of the portfolio of Bergans of Norway, as well as the ALLY brand of packable canoes.

For more information about Bergans of Norway and its products, go to www.bergans.com. For North American sales questions, contact Keith Patterson at keith.patterson@bergans.com.

Photo 1 – Bergans of Norway pack designers Kristian Gravseth and Johannes Flem after receiving Award for Design Excellence from the Norwegian Centre for Design and Architecture for their work on the Helium backpacks.

Photo 2 – 2016 Bergans of Norway Helium 55 liter, men’s model.

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MEDIA CONTACTS:

Bergans USA, LLC

Chip Smith, o: 801.656.0472 x1, c: 801.597.7515, csmith@soarcomm.com

Beth Cochran, c: 406.579.7909, bethcochran@whatsuppr.com

Bergans of Norway

Christoph Centmayer, o: +47-40 62 40 99, christoph.centmayer@bergans.no