Backpack

There are loads of precious and fragile electronics in our lives that require appropriate protection when used on-the-go, and therefore the range of gadget-tailored bags is pretty huge. If you need greater protection than a typical case provides, however, a hard shell-equipped backpack may be your best bet. Designed for heavy use, the Solid Gray backpack comes with a rigid body yet is lightweight at the same time, given that it's made from a single sheet of copolymer. Read More

Once when I was a kid, I unwisely agreed to deliver newspapers for a friend of mine while he was away. The first time I tried to lift the gargantuan sack-o-papers, it was so heavy that I ended up pinned on the ground underneath it. Much to my humiliation, I ended up having to load the newspapers into our wheelbarrow, and deliver them that way. Well, it now turns out that I was simply ahead of my time – German outdoors company MONOWALKER recently unveiled its novel pack system, which includes one configuration that is not unlike a towed one-wheeled wheelbarrow. Read More

While headphones are a great way to enjoy music while out and about, they don’t let you impose your musical tastes on share your musical tastes with those around you. Sitting a boombox on your shoulder might solve the problem but we think the Music Strap is a much more convenient and shoulder-friendly option. It is a mini speaker system that attaches to the straps of any backpack to let you whistle along to your favorite tunes as you walk, bike, ski or basically do anything that can be done while wearing a backpack. Read More

Currently, if people wish to obtain a 3D model of an indoor environment, they have to send in a laser-scanning robot or cart that painstakingly makes its way through in a stop-and-start fashion. Depending on the setting, the process can take days or even weeks. Researchers at the University of California in Berkeley, however, have developed a portable laser-scanning backpack that can map an area in the time that it takes for its human wearer to walk through. The project was funded by the US Air Force Office of Scientific Research and the Army Research Office, and could be used by military personnel to plan missions into mapped target buildings. Read More

Trying to do the right thing by the environment and ride a scooter or bicycle to work is great – unless you have to wear a suit. Wear it riding and you can sometimes look like the “great unwashed” by the time you arrive at your desk. Place it carefully into a backpack and by the time you’re unpacking it, it looks like you ironed it with the leg of a chair. The Suit Commute, however, is designed to hold your neatly pressed suit and shirt in place so you arrive for the board meeting or job interview looking fit for the part (just don’t forget to fix your “helmet hair”). Read More

In many countries, the law requires young children to be fitted in age- and size-appropriate seating within a vehicle. In the UK, all children under 12 years old or 135cm in height must use a booster seat, so it’s important to have one on hand at all times. But sometimes these cumbersome devices get left at home or in the “other car”. BoostApak is, as the name suggests, a booster seat in a backpack, light enough for children to carry when traveling on a bus, taxi, plane or while carpooling. Read More

JakPak, an all-in-one waterproof jacket, sleeping bag and tent could be a very useful piece of clothing for Man vs Wild-type adventurers or anyone unexpectedly caught in the outdoors. Or, if you’ve ever had to queue overnight for those impossibly hard to get concert or sports tickets, this little gem could make you the envy of everyone else in the line. Read More

Avalanche airbags, designed to prevent burial in an avalanche by providing extra buoyancy, aren’t new but until now skiers have had to activate the bag themselves. If they don’t realise in time they have set of an avalanche it may be too late for the airbag to be of use, resulting in burial and often, death. ABS has introduced a world-first - a remote, networked electronic system which allows airbag inflation to be triggered by other members of a skiing party, allowing them to help each other in an emergency. The new wireless system can be retrofitted to old-style backpacks with double airbags. Read More

The first commercial shipment of low-light, ultra thin, solar cell technology called DSSC (dye-sensitized solar cells), created by G24 Innovations, has been sent to Hong Kong-based consumer electronics bag manufacturer, Mascotte Industrial Associates for use in backpacks and bags. Ideal for clothing and portable applications, DSSCs are less than 1mm thick, inexpensive, don’t contain silicon or cadmium and can even operate indoors, making them ideal for powering cell telephones, cameras and portable electronics. The company says DSSCs also can be embedded into tent material to power LED lighting systems for camping. Read More