Large cumbersome paper bags for charcoal or pet food make life a whole lot harder. Schlepping them around with no handles is definitely a two-handed affair. Clever Bag-Straps allow people with pets or grills to carry and store these bags much more effectively. A plastic handle attached to a Velcro strap makes sealing these large paper bags finally possible. One of these straps goes for $15 at the early-bird price or $20 at the regular price with an estimated delivery date of September 2014. Bag-Straps hopes to raise $40,000 in its 35 day Kickstarter campaign. The Web site offers more photos, instructions and contact information.
Tag: bag
Any musician knows that certain instruments just do not travel well. Guitars and electric basses in particular can present a problem. They’re too heavy to carry in hand, but too awkwardly shaped to carry on one’s back. Introducing the GigBlade, a guitar/bass soft case that is designed to be carried low on one’s side, an area that has, as of yet, been untapped by the luggage industry. With a low center of gravity and hands-free design, GigBlade is the perfect solution for musicians constantly on the go. One GigBlade costs $125 on Kickstarter with an estimated delivery date of June 2014.
Laptops can be very hard to use in those on-the-go moments when there is no place to sit down to use them. The Frack Pack that looks like a regular old backpack is a dual-use product, specifically designed to tote around your laptop but then also fold down to use as a portable work station. Those indifferent to nerdiness stigma can swing it around to the front, flip the compartment down and work on their laptop while standing up. In this way it is a bit like the (just barely) successful crowdfunded Trego for iPads that is sleeker and less expensive. After donating at least $259, backers may expect to receive have a place in which to pack their frack in April 2014.
The Premise. Washing clothes while away from home can be a chore. Sometimes machines aren’t accessible. When when they are, the cost usually renders the effort pointless, and most times you just don’t have the downtime to spend a few hours inside waiting for the spin cycle to loosen its grip on your unmentionables.
The Product. Designed for travel, Laundreez is a waterproof laundry bag that allows you to clean clothes as effectively as a washing machine. Featuring an outer PVC wash bag, an inner nylon mesh bag, and a screw-on filler cap, you simply fill the mesh bag with dirty clothes, insert into the outer bag and secure by folding and clipping the outer bag closed. Add water by unscrewing the filler cap, then screw back on and agitate Laundreez for a few minutes to hand wash your clothes without actually getting wet.
The Pitch. An anonymous British man presents the main pitch for Laundreez in a concise and pretty humorous video. Explaining that in addition to being able to wash clothes while on-the-go, Laundreez also allows travelers to pack less clothing. This makes travel lighter and possibly even cheaper after factoring in weight-related baggage fees popular when traveling by air. Other applications for Laundreez include use as a dry-bag when at the beach or boating, and even a convenient way to store and chill your favorite beverages during transport. The page continues past the video to explain the initial design, adjustments made and the process of getting a second prototype, which will likely not be the last prototype before initial production begins. Project goal over 35 days is £18,000, equivalent to about $30,000.
The Perks. Material rewards start at £14 which secures you one of the first 2,500 Laundreez (which one must assume is the plural). All backers will receive Laundreez for a discount, as the final product is expected to retail in May 2014 for £20.
The Potential. Laundreez looks handy, but may be used more commonly as a tote for after-swimming items — especially for vacationing families with small children. Still, it’s a practical option, especially for longer trips involving air travel where luggage restrictions seem to increase daily. The Scrubba is a similar concept wash bag developed by an Australian company, which retails today for $65 with free shipping to the U.S., netting out at a little less than double the cost of Laundreez.
The Premise. Have you ever wanted a bag that also doubled as a rain coat or a picnic blanket? Chances are the answer is no. Ah, but what if the name of this multifunctional container sounded like the name of a bag pipe quintet? Chances are the answer would still be no.
The Product. Hailing from Budapest, the Bigo Bag Five is basically a sheet of water-resistant material that can be molded in a variety of different ways and comes in an array of colors. It can become a backpack, a poncho, a baby sling and a picnic blanket. As a fifth feature, the bag is said to be “expandable,” although this doesn’t exactly serve as its own specific function. So, perhaps it should be the Bigo Bag Four. On the other hand, it is plenty Big-o with a capacity of 50 liters. Furthermore, any number of Bigo bags can be combined for your impromptu tarp needs.
The Pitch. You can tell that Todd (the star of the campaign video) is passionate about the Bigo Bag Five, although the pitch trails off soon after it starts. The rest of the campaign shows off the bag in tons of scenarios — Bigo cradling adorable baby, Bigo fishing on the high seas, Bigo laid out in a field of green protecting a reader’s jeans, and Bigo mated with another of its species. There’s also a contrast with the smaller capacity model designed for women (in pink, of course) as well as the smaller and single-function small (25 liter) bag accessory that comes with every Bigo Bag.
The Perks. The basic edition starts at a pledge of $117 – quite a bit more than most people are willing to pay for what is basically nothing more than a bag that can be unzipped and laid out flat. The project owners seem to recognize a bit of the price/value gap by throwing in an extra strap for added stability as well as offering a lower pledge tier for the mini bag (which is probably the same thing as the accessory bag).
The Potential.Everyone likes versatility, but this bag’s has its limits. What do you do with its contents or that adorable baby if you want to convert to a poncho? The Bigo Bag fits nicely between an average backpack and a laundry sack or camping pack, but there are countless high-quality backpacks on the market, many of which come along with more features and are less expensive.