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Improving the Ergonomics of Carrying Awkward Items: The WoodOX Sling
A great example of designers carefully thinking through the details
By Rain Noe - December 19, 2018
Here's another problem that would be a perfect industrial design school assignment: How to carry firewood. Because while there are hundreds of backpacks on the market designed for carrying laptops, tablets and digital camera gear, I consider those problems largely solved; the design differences in that category are really focusing on that last 10% of increasing convenience (for example, how quickly can you whip your iPad Pro out at the airport security line).
The carrying of firewood, on the other hand, is an under-addressed area much in need of ergonomic improvement. Here on the farm I transport the firewood from the shed to the house by either using the yard cart referred to in this post, or with a wildly frustrating canvas bag that is impossible to easily load.
Loading the bag with kindling is particularly maddening; the sides take turns flopping over, making you wish you had third and fourth hands. I've been meaning to design and sew a more ergonomic sling-type arrangement, but now I see that I've been beaten to it by LogOX, the company that invented that brilliant 3-in-1 forestry multitool. Check out the WoodOX Sling that they've developed:
The design is simple and intelligent, with undeniable ergonomic improvements. The small, thoughtful touch of adding an LED flashlight along the side shows that these folks have thought the UX through thoroughly.
Enter a caption (optional)
Enter a caption (optional)LogOX is currently holding a Kickstarter to get the Sling launched; the campaign will last until March 2nd of 2019.
I'm going to be keeping an eye on this company, and looking out for others that are bringing good design to underserved categories. If there are any you recommend, please let me know in the comments.
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Rain Noe
I’m a lapsed industrial designer. I was born in NYC and figured I’d die there, but a few years ago I abandoned New York to live on a farm in the countryside with my wife. We have six dogs.
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Improving the Ergonomics of Carrying Awkward Items: The WoodOX Sling
I see a real problem with this design, by carrying the load on one side of your body, should you slip (because you stepped on a patch of ice) you will be more likely to fall on the side where the load is. Worse, because your arm is tied to the sling, when you reach out to stop your fall (as you will reflexively want to do), it'll be tangled in that sling. All of which means that when you hit the ground, you'll be at risk of injury from the sling, something which wouldn't happen with other designs.
Hi Rain,
Not much to it. You could sew it if you want, but I couldn't be bothered as a kid and just tied it in a knot. If you make it long enough, you could still do the over-the-head thing the LogOx does. For loose loads, pull one "handle" through the other to make it like a slipknot so the weight of the load keeps it tight. Yes, you give up a handle by doing that, but you gain stability.
So simple, I've gotta try this. Thanks Jason!
As a kid growing up in a woodstove-heated home, I was tasked with bringing in the firewood. I had a few canvas wraps like the above, but they all eventually wore through. Nothing worked better than just a simple 2" wide canvas strap tied into a loop. It was maybe 6-8 feet (so 3-4 feet laid out) and basically looked just like the wraps above but without the canvas sheet. Being that it was basically just a flat rope made into handles, it was very flexible and could adapt to different sized loads without slipping. Best part was I could just lay the logs down an yank the strap out from underneath them. No re-stacking.
This interests me greatly! Is there any chance you can provide a simple sketch? I've got a sewing machine thick enough to get through webbing, and am curious to see if I can rig up what you're talking about.
Done!