Trav-A-Mat : The Perfect Travelers Mat

 

Banig, a handwoven mat made from an indigenous reed named tikog (Fimbristylis utilis), is usually used for sleeping. Overtime, it has been used in other forms like native bags, throw pillows, place mats, framed art works, and it now adorns modern walls panels, furniture mattings and even used in designer clothings. 

I recently met this guy who has this great idea he most probably derived from the local Philippine "banig" or mat made from quality raw materials in the Philippines. They're really fine, hand-woven products painstakingly crafted by local workers with undoubtedly a lot of creative touch.We got to see the actual products when he brought with him some samples during a small gathering we had earlier.

The Trav-A-Mat or travelers mat or "banig" is really of good quality. According to the owner, the "banig" is exported to other countries like Switzerland. It's mainly sold to backpackers in nearby cities. The product has a huge potential to be launched as a global brand. The owner is now in the process of partnering with designers. Hopefully he can get a big name to back it up.

He focuses on products made of pandan leaves, palm leaves, sea grass(payok-payok), and tikog. He says he ships these items to a Filipino store in Geneva and plans to sell them online very soon.

The video below is a short documentary film featuring the lives of local mat weavers in a very small town in Leyte, Philippines. This docu shows you how to weave eco-friendly Philippine mats (banig) and how this industry provides livelihood to the community. Banig, an earth-friendly handwoven mat made from an indigenous reed named tikog (Fimbristylis utilis), is usually used for sleeping and organic beach mats. Overtime, it has been used in other forms like eco mats, native bags, throw pillows, eco-friendly place mats, framed art works, and it now adorns modern walls panels, furniture mattings and even used in designer clothings.

Its biodegradable. All- natural. Hand-made and made from renewable materials. Durable (the grass strand is fibrous). All weather(the grass grows on swamps/water, so you can get it wet, as long as you dry it again, it should be good a s new). 

It's also fashionable, light weight, smooth on skin, and more. The only downside is, this cannot really go commercial due to its intricate design. It really takes a long time to make one of these. It takes 1 week to finish a single sized mat. That's because its hand-woven. So it will be all worth it to own one. 
 

The product is actually available only for export. . However, the owner gets a lot of emails from friends who want to buy. He's thinking twice because there will be a pricing issue when he releases this locally. It will be very expensive as well because this was designed to be ergonomic and fashionable at the same time. Not practical for the local market. So as of now, this is intended for the export market only.

If the owner gets lucky, this will be also available in outdoor shops like North Face, Columbia, etc. More product pictorials below:

 Learn more about his products at http://www.travamat.com

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