The 47 Liter Happy Trails Top Box was the start. The picture below is from a DUAL SPORT NEWS article in 1999. The 47 Liter had several nicknames, the Pizza Box & the Mondo box were a few of them.
The picture below is of Tim in Nicaragua November 2005, he is watching the guard, who has a shotgun, to make sure he is OK for the picture to be taken! This is where the Pizza Box nickname for the 47 liter came from.
Top Box features;
HT TIG welds the Happy Trails Top Box.
.080” (2.04mm) aluminum, which is among the thickest in the industry.
High quality cam latches give you the best gasket seal in the industry... our panniers and the HT top boxes have no leaks! Most importantly the lids can be easily locked with the lock that is incorporated into the lid or with two padlocks in the loops of the cam locks (padlocks not included). Lids come with Happy Loops for strapping on additional gear. Four Happy Loops are standard on each lid.
All Happy Trails panniers and top boxes have our new Slot Hinge Design™ (photo below) an industry leading technology designed to meet the needs of today's adventure touring. The Slot Hinge Lid™ has a pivot hinge on the outside of the pannier. Converting panniers to lift-off lids, easily done by removing the one hinge-screw on each hinge.
Canyon-cut is a term describing a 45 degree bevel cut on the bottom outside edge. HT makes some Top Boxes with a Canyon Cut to provide clearance for pannier opening. This offers visual symmetry with the panniers and breaks up the square look of the box. We do offer a top boxes with no Canyon Cut for applications where square corners are more suitable.