bags – Backerjack

One of the most time consuming activities in life is meal preparation and cooking. Silibags provides a way to have healthy, home cooked meals on those days when one is too busy to cook. These bags are similar to ziplock style bags, except that they not only store food in the freezer, but they also allow for food to be cooked right in the bag. The platinum silicone bags can be heated up to 400 degrees Fahrenheit. So an entire meal of, say, roast beef and veggies could be stored in the bag when one has time to put that together, cooked, frozen, and microwaved when ready to eat if the metal clasp is removed. It’s also possible to boil food on the stovetop, and clean up is simplified since the bags are also dishwasher safe.

This is an interesting idea, but there are actual backing dishes out there, such as Pyrex, that will do the same things. One advantage that Silibags may have is that its non-breakable properties will work better for camping enthusiasts. In addition, bags store better because they don’t take up as much room in the freezer as other containers. This campaign seeks to raise $9,000. Backers get one bag for $30, with an expected delivery of March 2015.

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.