Aer’s New Travel Bags Are Its Lightest and Strongest Ever

The bags’ new material is 15 times stronger than steel.

Published August 12, 2024

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San Francisco-based bag-maker Aer had the humblest of beginnings a decade ago, when it launched its first product — a unique hybrid gym/work backpack — on Kickstarter.

In the ten years since, Aer has established itself as one of the biggest names in the bag space. The brand is renowned for its urban-approved minimalist aesthetic, its exclusive use of high-end materials and its non-stop spirit of innovation.

Just a few months ago, the brand released its first-ever carry-on suitcase — complete with one killer feature. Today, Aer is officially celebrating its tenth birthday with the launch of not one new product but an entire collection that reimagines many of its bestsellers.

Aer Travel Pack 3 Ultra

$299 at Aer

The Ultra Material

Aer’s new suite of bags is called the Ultra Collection, and for good reason: The bags all debut a seriously high-end material.

The composite fabric used in the bags’ construction is called Challenge Ultra, and it’s made by Challenge Sailcloth, a Connecticut-based manufacturer of woven fabrics used for various sailing activities.

a man puts earbuds into an aer backpack — Aer is marking ten years in business by launching its best products yet.

Challenge Ultra is a composite made of a combination of Ultra-high-molecular-weight polyethylene (UHMWP) and high-tenacity polyester that’s tightly woven before being coated with Challenge’s proprietary RUV film. So what does all that mean, and why would you want to make a bag out of it?

“This line represents the pinnacle of our design philosophy — combining innovative materials with smart, functional designs that enhance the travel experience.”
Andy Choi, Aer head of operations

Air is using the Ultra400X version of Challenge Ultra, which essentially combines the light weight of a lower-denier fabric with the abrasion resistance of higher-denier counts. The fabric is 20 percent lighter than comparable 400d fabrics while also offering four times the abrasion resistance.

Despite its low weight, the mix of materials used and the tight weave make Challenge Ultra extremely strong and tear-resistant. Aer notes that gram for gram, it’s 15 times stronger than steel. (But a hell of a lot more comfortable to carry around.)

a man wears an aer backpack — The Challenge Ultra fabric used in the Ultra Collection is both stronger and lighter than the fabrics used in all of Aer’s previous collections.

Challenge’s eco-friendly RUV film also makes the material waterproof to 200 psi, with the textile maker claiming the fabric “performs in the harshest environments, in both sub-zero and tropical climates.”

The bottom line is this: The use of Challenge Ultra makes Aer’s Ultra Collection the brand’s lightest and strongest bags to date.

The Ultra Collection

In addition to the use of Challenge Ultra, there’s another subtle change you’ll notice in the Ultra Collection.

Instead of going with standard gray or the bright orange of the X-Pac collection, the Ultra Collection uses a muted lime green color for the lining in its bags.

Why lime green? It’s meant as a shout-out the bright green logo of Kickstarter, a nod to the brand’s aforementioned start on the crowd-funded website.

a man shows the interior of an aer sling bag — The lime green interiors of the bags in the Ultra Collection are a nod to Aer’s Kickstarter origins.

For the new Ultra Collection, Aer has rolled out Challenge Ultra material on basically all of its top-selling products: Duffel Pack 3 Ultra ($299), Travel Pack 3 Ultra ($299), Travel Pack 3 Small Ultra ($279), City Pack Pro Ultra ($259), City Sling 2 Ultra ($129), Day Sling 3 Ultra ($119), Travel Kit 2 Ultra ($79) and Hip Belt Ultra ($29).

As you may have noticed, the prices are a bit higher than what we’re used to seeing from Aer, with the Ultra versions of the Travel Pack 3, Travel Pack 3 Small, Duffel Pack 3 and City Pack Pro are all priced $50 above the standard versions and $20 more expensive than the X-Pac versions.

But with the new material being better at basically everything, I think the upcharge is justified. You can shop the entire Ultra Collection at Aer’s online shop now.

Aer Travel Pack 3 Ultra

Aer celebrates its tenth anniversary with the new Ultra Collection, which makes use of a new material called Challenge Ultra. The material mixes extreme strength with low weight, adding up to a version of the Travel Pack 3 that’s both stronger and lighter than ever before.