And here we have three prototypes, one for each backpack style in the previous post. I'd love to hear your opinions or answer any questions you may have as I try to decide which design to move forward with for the rest of the class.
First up, we have the soft backpack prototype. This one is basically my original idea, and the iteration/refinement work hadn't done much to improve my thoughts on construction methods. Rather than try to reinvent what I had done before, I made pin-modifications to the prototype I made for Week 1. It's still a little rough and in need of serious refinement, but it's getting closer to a usable design.
Next, we have the diagonal/single shoulder pack. This prototype went together very quickly (maybe a couple of hours work time), but it turned out MUCH better than I had expected. I didn't have very high hopes for this design, but considering how quickly it went together, it has a lot of potential to be a very cost-effective product... the downsides are that the general style looks a little too modern to my eyes, it's not going to be very easy to adjust for different people, and there's a lot less additional storage space than I was hoping for. The base water vessel is also considerably more expensive and difficult to clean than I was hoping, but I think that's counteracted by the overall speed and simplicity of the construction.
Finally, we have the frame pack. Prototype done in 1/2" CPVC pipe, but if I go forward with this design, the finished product would be a wooden frame. This was more labor-intensive, and there were some outside problems that affected the build - specifically, both of the hardware stores in town were short on 1/2" T-fittings, so I only had enough to make two shelves rather than the three I wanted. However, I am incredibly pleased with how this turned out. This is just a rough proof-of-concept prototype, with very cheap, lightweight fabric pieces and straps held on by pins, and without any sort of adhesive holding the frame together, yet here it is, comfortably carrying a full gallon jug of water. Clearly, there are a lot of changes and additions to be made before this can become a finished product, but I can very easily identify not only what those changes are but how to make them. The only problems that I don't have a solution for quite yet are end-user affordability - this took most of a day to build, and the final product would be more complex, driving up cost - and the need to remove the bottle from the pack in order to pour, the latter of which is a very small complaint.
Edit 05/19/2014: Added more descriptive language to my annotations so I could use this post as a target market research tool. Project content unchanged.
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