Bedouin x Carryology: The Rebirth of Genghis KHAN

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Bedouin Foundry fascinates me. 

It represents what a carry brand could be if they were from another time, maybe even another world or another universe. A refreshing, interesting, and exciting perspective and direction. One that doesn’t seem to take inspiration from anything else that we know as familiar. Surrealism meets function meets world history meets romance. Simply put, Bedouin is one of my favorite brands, helmed by one of my favorite humans, and they make my all time favorite messenger on planet earth, the Genghis. It’s also worth noting, this is the very first time we have done two collaborations with one brand… certainly not something we had planned, but reading my own words, it all makes perfect sense that Bedouin would be the first.

My love affair with the Genghis began

My love affair with the Genghis began when I first laid eyes on its big brother, the Barbary, what I think to be Bedouin’s most iconically recognizable product. The Barbary is one beast of a messenger. Silas (owner/founder) told me about his adventures with his personal Barbary, motorcycling around India for a year and a half. That kind of stuff gives me electric wanderlust goosebumps. I was hooked. When my Barbary first arrived, Silas warned me that it needed to be used hard to really get it to shine and become “mine”. And for the better part of the past decade, it has never let me down, only getting better with age. I have no hesitation saying that I love the Barbary, it works incredibly well and has an X-factor that is almost impossible to put into words. And here’s the massive “but” that you might have spotted on the horizon. BUT… it is large. Yes, it can be used as a daily messenger. However, it really shines for adventure, for travel, for trips that will someday become verbally passed down tales of lore. While my love will never end for the Barbary… my attention began drifting to the Genghis.

Ancient empires

Additionally, aside from being a massive carry geek, I’m a bit of an ancient world history nerd as well. Though it might just be a product name… this one means something to me. This bag is named after the human who has the single most impact on world that we know today, the world’s greatest conquerer who created the world’s largest empire, Genghis Khan of the vast Mongol Empire. So many humans fell before this ruler, that the resulting reduction of human-created CO2 in the atmosphere actually cooled the earth and caused a climate change, it even allowed forests to regrow. Silas and I have spoken privately about this naming decision he had made years ago. He’s even a bit on the fence about naming it after one of the most brutal humans to have ever lived, but for better or for worse, the name Genghis was chosen. While I can’t agree with the methods the man used nearly 1,000 years ago… I continue to research him and learn more absurd facts about his life. He’s an icon and so is this messenger. 

The rebirth of Genghis Khan

So, where does that leave us? If I’m being honest, the inspiration came quite simply. I was stepping out into the world and was deciding between the Bedouin x Carryology Balian (made from black Dyneema and leather) and the Bedouin Genghis. Super minimal for the day? Hmm. I needed just a bit more volume for my carry for whatever reason, so I emptied the Balian and reached for my black waxed Genghis (black, of course). In silence, my eyes tripled in size. I contacted Silas that very same day. Just like that, he was in.

We had already worked on the Balian collaboration together and if I may speak for the both of us, we had a lot of fun and we work together really well. Bold ideas flow easily in a very carefree manner. Sadly, due to the circumstances in the world, we were unable to meet in person to have pints while we designed. Remotely, each with a beer in hand, we began down the rabbit hole together. Of course, we’d be starting with the Genghis. But we wanted it to connect to its collab predecessor, allowing for a secondary budding “collab family”. And of course, the goal with these projects is to create something special. Something extremely functional that the end user will love and actually use. With a twist.

KHAN

Surprisingly, the product name was quite difficult for us to choose. We had gone back and forth on this one for weeks. Balian was named after the protagonist from the book, "The Arabian Nightmare". Should we choose another character from the book? Or should we take inspiration from the original product name “Genghis”? We looked into Genghis Khan’s real name, Temujin. Frankly, we thought it might be a bit hard to remember when typing it into the search bar. Temujin would be upset by this. And we know what happens when Temujin gets upset. Let's avoid that whole situation if at all possible.

Ultimately… it was right there in front of us the entire time, Genghis... Khan. Except, we’d go with all caps. Introducing the Bedouin x Carryology KHAN (meaning “supreme ruler”).

Out comes the rolls of black Dyneema. Silas, myself, Bedouin, Carryology, yourself, we all love this magical stuff that goes by the name Dyneema. Silas is certainly no stranger to the stuff, having now released several products that offer the space age fabric instead of the tried and true Halley Stevensons waxed cotton fabric he uses traditionally in his products. In our last project, we had already selected our favorite Dyneema options. They were selected due to waterproofness, hand feel, abrasion resistance, strength, and aesthetics. So we selected the “CT5K.18” (sexy name, huh?), made in The Netherlands, connecting the two collabs together in both materials, performance, and aesthetics. Of course, it wouldn’t be Bedouin without leather. So we used the vegetable-tanned top-grain Italian leather from the Balian collab for shoulder pad interaction point on the bag and we kept the stout Italian bridle leather for the all the edge binding and (most importantly) on the flap panel, providing functional stiffness that will eventually break in like a trusty pair of work boots.

All black… everything. Like the spread of the Mongol empire, we wanted a dark shadow covering every inch, nothing spared. Scorched earth. The burly yet smooth metal RiRi zippers (made in Switzerland)? We binned the chrome finish normally found on flagship Bedouin products and custom ordered black metal RiRi zippers. The beloved AustriAlpin Cobra buckles? Normally the Cobras have a bright silver finish to contrast the waxed cotton black Genghis colorway. Here, all three of them would we changed to black (two 25mm buckles and one 50mm buckle). We also upgraded them to the brand new and improved Pro-Style version, straight from the HQ in Austria. The Dyneema, black. The leather, black. The webbing, black. The trim, black. Of course, we couldn’t have the interior liner be black for functional purposes. So we opted for the heavy-duty cotton drill custom hand-printed in the UK, orange geometric crank liner designed by Zeke Wade. The same stuff we used in the Balian collab. It’s pure cold darkness outside until you step inside the luxurious bedouin tent to seek a few moments of warm shelter.

And lastly… just like Genghis wanted more, we wanted to deliver you even more with the KHAN. Every KHAN will include a custom accessory pouch. Made from matching black Dyneema, lined with custom orange geometric crank liner, and closed up with a black RiRi zipper. It’s all yours, for whatever spoils you may acquire on the conquest of your adventures.

KHAN Launch Date

Tuesday, 29th of September
(7pm EDT New York time)! 

As always, our readers will have exclusive first dibs, 24hrs before the public. Please note, this collab will be an ultra-limited edition, so make sure you act very quickly if you'd like to own a KHAN for yourself!

Mark your calendars and get ready for the big reveal.

The link to purchase will be in the Exclusive Release article here on the Carryology website which will be posted at the time/date listed.

It will also be sent out to newsletter subscibers. For speed, we recommend you come to the website to find the article and the link, otherwise it may already be sold out by the time you find it in your inbox.

Global Times

NY – Sept 29th, 7pm

LA – Sept 29th, 4pm

London – Sept 30th, Midnight

Vancouver – Sept 29th, 4pm

Sydney – Sept 30th, 9am

Singapore – Sept 30th, 7am

Berlin – Sept 30th, 1am

Paris – Sept 30th, 1am

Tokyo – Sept 30th, 8am