When we travel, it’s not only us who tread the rough path,
but so does our luggage. While global travel is often marked by lost or stolen
luggage, travel in India is a whole new story, as one moves across arrange of transport and weather, from a
rickshaw in a crowded street, to an auto across a pot-holed path, to the up and
downs of railway stations and airports.
Therefore, it becomes crucial that at least the leading luggage
makers test their products for every possible onslaught that they can face in
the reality of life. When Myntra, the online fashion portal, added Samsonite the famous luggage brand – it meant that its
loyal customers would be able to buy a luggage reputed to be the strongest
luggage in the world.
In fact, the makers of Samsonite, when they launched the
product, had named it after Samson, the Biblical superhero of immense strength.
Even today, the company prides itself on performing the most
rigorous product test, anticipating all possible challenges it can face. A
Samsonite suitcase is usually tested on a mileage tester, across a distance
matching 32 km, at the rate of 4 km per hour.
That’s not all. The luggage even undergoes the upright
position test. Then, for a country with a famous monsoon season, it goes
through a 15-minute rain tester, with water poured on it from every side.
Then comes the “jerk” tester, the toughest test, which tests
how good or long lasting are its handles, wheels and shoulder straps. Believe
it or not, 50 cycles of tumble tests and 5000 wheel tests are conducted on the
luggage.
To top it all is the “case drop” test. The suitcase is
dropped from a height to see if it will survive the fall.
Samsonite India conducts these tests on its products:
The Handle Test about 3500 times, where jerks are given to
the handle for about 3500 times in a loaded condition; the Wheel Test, where
the wheel is carried for 32 kms in a loaded condition to check the wear and
tear on the wheels; the Drop Test, where a bag is dropped five times on the ground
at all corners and sides. The zipper test is done as many as 15000 times, with
force applied to sliders and zippers to test the strength of the zippers and
pullers. Then comes the tumble test, across 50 revolutions and obstacles. In this
test, the bag is tumbled at 50 cycles in a loaded condition. Finally, the Lock
Test – Push & Release Cycles – helps to check the durability of locks by
operating the lock for 15000 cycles in one continuous movement.
Like the test done for the Samsonite, Myntra conducts
rigorous tests on all its products, so as to showcase and sell only the most
authentic products on its platform.
Like Myntra, many luggage makers give punishing and tough
tests on their products so as to separate the grain from the chaff, as the saying
goes. They give what is known as the “suitcase must die” test, from being
attacked by a sledgehammer (really) to being run over by a car (unbelievable
but true).
The tests just go to find out how much each luggage can
take, or what they are made of.
The Sparta Kick test tries to simulate a fall or a baggage
handler's throw from an aircraft luggage hold to the tarmac, by kicking each
suitcase from a height of about 1.5 metres to the ground.
In the Hammer Attack, a 10-pound sledgehammer actually hits
at the luggage, to replicate the battering that luggage can experience in transit.
Much as one hates to imagine that anyone will actually kick
our precious luggage, it might happen on a journey, so luggage is also tested
for the kick.
The penultimate test is a car actually driving over the
suitcase! You may think, the suitcase can’t escape unharmed through this rough
test, that it will either be crushed completely or at least emerge with many
scratches, but there are some pieces of luggage out there that survive even
this test.
Source:
| http://articles.org/when-top-luggage-goes-through-the-rough-and-tumble-test/ |
