I've got a new hero

No disrespect but ain't that just a very basic, non-fancy selkbag???

http://www.selkbagusa.com/

However, you have to give the girl credit for producing them for under $10 keeping the same performance specs
 
Very cool. That gives me an idea. That Tyvek house wrap is pretty tough and folds up small,it would make good ground cloth ect. I have some extra laying around,dont know why I never thought of adding it to my kits.
 
She saw a big problem, she studied the human factors, she designed a solution, and she tested it on her friends. That'd be pretty impressive for anyone of any age, but for a college age person who has all of the many other "distractions" of the collegiate lifestyle, she's kicking butt. Why didn't MIT or Stanford come up with this, for example? Answer: who cares. Someone did, and she may very well have already left the planet better than she found it. I wish I could say the same thing about myself with certainty.
 
I can appreciate the humanitarian aspect and the fact this seems to be very cheap.
But from the technical point of view this is only one out of the many coat shelter combos I've seen.
 
You can't buy the Selk bag for $20-30, can you? The uniqueness is in the design and inexpensive materials, IMHO.
 
Not to disrespect her or her "invention", but why not focus on a way to get the bums off the street or into a job? Then you won't have to give them sleeping bag coats. Just my thoughts on this. But nifty idea anyway.
 
absolut247 said:
Not to disrespect her or her "invention", but why not focus on a way to get the bums off the street or into a job? Then you won't have to give them sleeping bag coats. Just my thoughts on this. But nifty idea anyway.
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Seems to be part of her plan: "She'll start with three employees and intends to hire homeless women."
 
absolut247 said:
Not to disrespect her or her "invention", but why not focus on a way to get the bums off the street or into a job? Then you won't have to give them sleeping bag coats. Just my thoughts on this. But nifty idea anyway.
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They are not bums, they are homeless
They are homeless cause they lost their jobs or don't have the ablity to hold one
 
Codger_64 said:
You can't buy the Selk bag for $20-30, can you? The uniqueness is in the design and inexpensive materials, IMHO.
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Very true, good point. A few years ago over here on the Island they were giving out fur coats to the homeless. They sprayed them on the back so they couldn't be sold on but it still looked strange seeing grizzled homeless guys walking down the street pushing shopping carts and wearing Mink coats !!!!
 
Ravaillac said:
I can appreciate the humanitarian aspect and the fact this seems to be very cheap.
But from the technical point of view this is only one out of the many coat shelter combos I've seen.
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I agree. How about a $5 backpack, $2 shoes, $.25 socks and a bunch of other items? Can be a whole line and become hollywood trendy! Produce in China, cut that cost in half again. She will be doing more hiring than our bailout banks at least. :)
 
I was browsing the On Demand menu on my cable sevice and saw a show about Detroit being from Michigan I watched,it had a the story of 22-year-old Veronika Scott .The story was she had the idea after spending time working (for free) at a soup kitchen and talking to the homeless people she met there and had an idea to help the homeless who had no chance to spend the winter nights indoors to keep warm. With help of a teacher and friends she looked into a way to help and had the idea of a coat/sleeping bag that could keep you warm if you had too sleep on the ground. She had many prototypes all made by her by hand until she decided she needed to look into better materials after looking into many materials she settled on the final product and made many of them by herself . The conclusion of the story( not the end) was she found an investor and hired two homeless women to help her make the coat and she plans to expand as she learns more. I wonderful story of a young person seeing a need and making a decision to try to help others and is making it work for them and herself. God bless her!
 
Holy Smoke, reading the article - 30,000 estimated homeless. Detroit's current population approx 700,000, that makes about one out of every twentyfive residents are homeless! Even if her program falls apart, she's already left the world better than she found it.
 
neeman said:
They are not bums, they are homeless
They are homeless cause they lost their jobs or don't have the ablity to hold one
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Well I guess your "homeless" are different than my "homeless" here in Arizona. Some are creatures of opportunity. I see them everyday. Most of them could very easily get a job; there are plenty of Illegal Immigrants getting jobs out here, that they could very easily do. Yes they would have to take a lower wage, but it's better than no wage.
If you were really desperate, you would be out panhandling in the heat of summer and the cold of winter, yet they aren't. And they are in the same spot out on the highway, year after year. I realize that there are real homeless people with real issues, but I see many that just want to be bums and not actually look for a job. I do know the difference.

And if they don't have the ability to hold a job, I'm sure they could find some government program that they could feed off of, like a good portion of Americans do.

I hope she makes them work for this bag instead of just handing them out. Then I would be better about agreeing with this. I just don't think handing out free stuff to homeless, to encourage them to stay on the street, will ever fix the problem.

This is just my opinion. Agree or disagree if you want, but this is how I feel. I have worked hard to earn a living and provide for my family without handouts from her, or the government.
 
Homelessness results from a complex set of circumstances that require people to choose between food, shelter, and other basic needs. A percentage of homeless do work full time. I suppose it is one of those things that you would have to experience to understand. But... they do make good targets of opportunity for making one feel superior about one's self and one's circumstances. And there are a lot more of them to target when unemployment and foreclosures are at an all time high.
 
absolut247 said:
Well I guess your "homeless" are different than my "homeless" here in Arizona. Some are creatures of opportunity. I see them everyday. Most of them could very easily get a job; there are plenty of Illegal Immigrants getting jobs out here, that they could very easily do. Yes they would have to take a lower wage, but it's better than no wage.
If you were really desperate, you would be out panhandling in the heat of summer and the cold of winter, yet they aren't. And they are in the same spot out on the highway, year after year. I realize that there are real homeless people with real issues, but I see many that just want to be bums and not actually look for a job. I do know the difference.

And if they don't have the ability to hold a job, I'm sure they could find some government program that they could feed off of, like a good portion of Americans do.

I hope she makes them work for this bag instead of just handing them out. Then I would be better about agreeing with this. I just don't think handing out free stuff to homeless, to encourage them to stay on the street, will ever fix the problem.

This is just my opinion. Agree or disagree if you want, but this is how I feel. I have worked hard to earn a living and provide for my family without handouts from her, or the government.
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You say that they should take a lower wage? Why because our country is full of illegal immigrants and no one will do anything about? Because all of our blue collar jobs have been sent to other country's ? Have you ever tried to support yourself or your family on minimum wage? Do you think you could afford your rent and utilities,food,clothing for yourself and your children? And add on top of that medications that keep you well without medical insurance? If you grew up like I did with a meth addict for a mother, and a dad that thought his new step children where more important then his own flesh, you might think differently. This is not some poor me post, but a reality check to some who think everyone had it like they did. I can't afford to put myself through school, while taking care of my children,paying bills ect. I now have to take care of my mother and my father in law. Nether of witch have a job. So It's not like I can just have momy&dady send money wen I get into financial problems. I'm on the edge of homelessness, every month It's a dissension of food,bills or medication. I don't leech of the government because It's part of what's destroying our country. But It's gettin harder and harder if you don't have a collage education to keep from going under. There is simply not enough good jobs to go around.
 
neeman said:
They are not bums, they are homeless
They are homeless cause they lost their jobs or don't have the ablity to hold one
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I'm an intake tech for a state psychiatric facility. I see a LOT of homeless. I totally disagree with this statement.
 
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