For a Backpack that can Become a Pushcart, Simplicity is Genius

The Load Carrier has the potential to lighten the loads of laborers around the globe. <a href="http://www.core77.com/blog/core77_design_awards/core77_design_award_2011_load_carrier_for_labour_winner_for_productsequipment_20072.asp">Photo:Core77</a>
The Load Carrier has the potential to lighten the loads of laborers around the globe. Photo:Core77

Design competition winners are often futuristic, with complex materials and major price tags. The winner of design site Core77’s first competition is just the opposite.

The submission is by Vikram Dinubhai Panchal, from the National Institute of Design in Ahmadabad, India. Panchal's "Load Carrier" is intended to help laborers in the developing world transport various materials. It is easily constructable, made with inexpensive and easily found materials such as cane, plastic, and metal, and costs about $6.80.

The Load Carrier has three different modes for lifting and carrying, allowing loads to be hauled above the head, on the back, or, for particularly heavy weights, by pushing or pulling.

Essentially, It's a backpack with wheels. It's a pushcart with straps.

Extremely simple in function and construction, devices like this may not be instantly exciting. However, the potential it has to improve working conditions, and to prevent expensive or debilitating injuries for poor workers, is great. For a mere $6.80, life could be made a lot more comfortable for a workforce that needs all the comfort it can get.

Comments

Post new comment

Your email address is kept private and will not be shown publicly.
  • Web page addresses and e-mail addresses turn into links automatically.
  • Allowed HTML tags: <a> <em> <strong> <cite> <code> <ul> <ol> <li> <dl> <dt> <dd> <img> <blockquote>
  • Lines and paragraphs break automatically.

More information about formatting options

By submitting this form, you accept the Mollom privacy policy.

Stories We're Watching

More African nations hit agricultural investment target

Science and Development Network - Wed, 05/16/2012 - 10:45
Five more African countries have met the Maputo Declaration goal of investing ten per cent of their national budgets in agriculture.

How research for agricultural innovation works best

Science and Development Network - Wed, 05/16/2012 - 10:25
Farming projects must be able to access research at any point along the innovation trajectory, say Rasheed Sulaiman V. and colleagues.

Pakistan needs a new crop forecasting system

Science and Development Network - Wed, 05/16/2012 - 03:48
Pakistan urgently needs to refine its crop yield forecasting and estimation system to improve food production, says Ibrar ul Hassan Akhtar.

A developing world of debt

The Guardian's Poverty Matters - Wed, 05/16/2012 - 03:00
More than a decade after the cancellation of billions of dollars of debt, developing countries owe $4tn … and counting.

Migrants: An Economic Force in Tajikistan

Economists usually enjoy working on economic data and writing up reports. But Sudharshan Canagarajah also likes giving conventional economic thinking a nudge — in this case, on migration.

Recent comments

Countries

An initiative of Mercy Corps
“You must be the change
you wish to see in the world”
Mahatma Gandhi
Learn more about Mercy Corps >

Efficiency

Over the last five years, more than 89% of Mercy Corps' resources have been allocated directly to programs

Excellence

America's premier charity evaluator gives Mercy Corps four stars in organizational efficiency. Click here to learn more.

High Value

Every dollar you donate to Mercy Corps helps us secure $11.16 in donated food and other critical supplies.

Mercy Corps — Dept. W — 45 SW Ankeny — Portland, OR 97204
All original content Copyright © 2009 Mercy Corps. Quoted and linked content is property of the creator(s). Mercy Corps will not sell, rent or trade your personal information.