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I just was coming back down to earth after the best facial of my life when aesthetician Sofie Pavitt showed me something more shocking than my post-treatment glow: a humongous tote bag she uses to lug around samples of her cult-favorite product line. It was a Hulken, a foldable tote on wheels with two handles and a leash for guiding it down the street. She just pulls hers around from appointment to appointment, and no joke, it’s so big she could probably fit inside it.
As someone who’s car-less and always holding more in her arms than she can actually carry (I refuse plastic bags), I squeed when my sister bought me a medium-size one in midnight blue for my birthday. The first thing you need to know is that there is nothing medium about it. At 16-by-12-by-20 inches, I can fit my entire 17-pound wash-and-fold laundry bundle, a pack of toilet paper, and then some inside. Small-home dwellers, never fear: It folds up neatly into a slim pack that I put between bookshelves.
I was unsure how the whole thing would hold up against New York City sidewalks, but after a few months, I can confirm: This thing rules. The four iron swivel wheels have never seized up or slowed me down. The bag’s polypropylene outside has kept my groceries dry during the rain (plus the top zips closed), and while it’s technically not a freezer bag, I feel fine putting my frozen groceries in there. There are three durable handles: Two are where a regular tote bag’s would be, and then a third, which I call a leash, for pulling it from one side. Each handle is coated in a plastic tube that’s easy to grip and gentle on your hands.
The medium size is $105 and the large is $115, and I’d argue that it’s worth every penny. I could see using it on vintage shopping trips, to haul sporting equipment, and as an easy-to-move laundry basket. Even if I lived in the suburbs, I’d bring it on every shopping excursion to get items to my car.
I’m not the only one who loves it. On two recent Trader Joe’s runs, people stopped me to ask about it. Next time, I’ll just send them a link to this review.