Childs rainjacket from an umbrella

I’m one of those people driven completely mental by the sight of hundreds of umbrellas poking out of the top of garbage bins on stormy days. I wonder whether there shouldn’t be a $10 crap tax on $1 umbrellas, or whether people should maybe wise the hell up and reconsider the idea of an umbrella if rain is also accompanied by wind, in favour of a GoreTex jacket.

Anyhow, just stumbled across this Italian site that lets you download plans for a childs raincoat that can be made from old umbrellas. In Italian, but I think you can figure it out.

http://www.c74.it/u_way/home.html

LowePro TerraClime 10

Nothing that extraordinary, but still a neat little pouch. It belongs to a friend, but since I’m really into the design and construction of pouches, I had to check it out and take some photos.

 The exterior dimensions are 10 cm (3.9") Wide X 4.2 cm (1.7") Deep X 8.5 cm (3.3") High.

 Belt loop on the back.

It’s a pretty cool design in and of itself, but the big selling point is that it’s “eco-friendly”. The fabric is 100% post-consumer Cyclepet. This model of their Terraclime line uses 21⁄2 recycled 16 oz. PET bottles. Not sure how the material measures up to Cordura, but it’s touted as being water and abrasion resistant. Seems quite similar anyway.

I dig the proprietary closure buckle that LowePro came up with. It’s quiet and very low profile, securely closes the flap and holds on until you want to disengage it. And it’s also made from recycled plastic.

The two short grey lines in the corners are for clipping an optional shoulder strap into. Can’t show it since my friend can’t find where it is.

Memory card pocket. 

Slightly easier to see it when the pouch is turned inside out.

The interior dimensions are 9.5 cm (3.7") Wide X 4 cm (1.6") Deep X 8 cm (3.1") High.

If all the reused plastic bottle/material doesn’t do enough to give you the warm and fuzzies, a portion of the proceeds from each pouch goes to Polar Bears International to help in efforts to save polar bear habitats from the impact of climate change. 

Perfect for a tiny camera like a Nikon CoolPix or a Samsung ES70 .

LowePro TerraClime 10