The Future of Packing

Robotic Burros will be carrying your load....

Well, I guess a can put off buying that new ultralight pack, but what will I tell my two burros, Lewis & Clark?

Bill

Bill

Sorry, not legal in wilderness areas, unless it was a really convincing one that could be passed off as a real mule. Now a mule with a charger and an on/off switch could indeed prove useful, like for getting into town through deep snow. It does have an Iron Man power pack right? And maybe a heated saddle with OSHA seat belts, safety nets, and wrist strap shut off? I mean what if you fell off and it kept on going, or worse, it came to a cliff and you jump off in the last second before it corkscrews into the ground. A mechanical mule could have lots of secret compartments - good luck crossing the border Juan Valdez.
Jim

What a nightmareish looking machine! Imagine sticking your head out the tent door and seeing that thing working toward you.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=W1czBcnX1Ww

It sounds like it's running on a chainsaw engine. What's really amazing is it's sense of balance and the fact that it reacts so quickly. I could see benefit in a search and rescue operation. Or the next rover to Mars.

It had a lot of payload. I weigh less than 340 pounds with my pack, so I guess I could ride it and it could balance with me on it. Now how many hours does it get off a pair of AA cells?
Jim
Pretty neato gadget though.

That's just the creepiest thing i've seen in the woods since i went backpacking with Jimshaw Seriously, it's TOO close to a real animal for comfort.

BF

"It sounds like it's running on a chainsaw engine."

Yeah, I'd think the sound of that engine would deter SEAL teams from using it. They did have what appears to be an almost silent version running off an electric motor later on that Youtube video. Again, though, I think its usefulness would be directly proportional to the length of the extension cord.

We are seeing the future here. An early prototype of the robot that will be used to hunt us down. (No, I'm not paranoid!)

yeah, well you have no idea how cool that balance and walking is to me.. I've worked with stuff that deals with motor control and the software to do that, and while we think walking is so simple it is really complex to do with computers.. that piece
of it slipping on the ice and recovering is soooo cool..

Not that I would ever take one backpacking....

phat:

"yeah, well you have no idea how cool that balance and walking is to me ... "


... I was expecting you to finish that thought with a personal antecdote about hiking in the Kananaskis while inebriated.

JimShaw:

"I weigh less than 340 pounds with my pack"

I've seen pictures of that monstrous white Kelty pack of yours, are you sure?

No. because when I wander around in the bush inebriated, I do not recover anything like that gracefully....