High-tech Bike or Low-tech Car? The Sinner Mango Sport

April 2, 2010 by kris de decker Filed Under: Bikes, Random, Recumbent tricycles, Travel, Tricycles, Trikes

sinner mango sport velomobile

The Mango Sport is a new recumbent tricycle by Dutch manufacturer Sinner. The emphasis is on light weight (27.5 kg) and high performance. As is the case with other velomobiles sold by Sinner, the 20 gear drive-chain remains entirely enclosed for low maintenance, all three wheels have suspension, and the luggage capacity is generous (70 litres). It has built in front and rear lights. A weather-proof top is available. All this comes with a price tag of 5,950 euros, including sales tax.

Detailed specifications / More pictures / More Sinner bikes.

Related: The velomobile: high-tech car or low-tech bike?

Grinding the Wind: the Treadwheel Fan

March 25, 2010 by kris de decker Filed Under: History, Human power, Jailhouse technology, Random, Treadwheels & treadmills

grinding the wind the treadwheel fanI wrote about prison treadmills before. They were invented in England in 1817 by Sir William Cubit, who observed prisoners lying around in idleness and put himself to the task of “reforming offenders by teaching them habits of industry”.

Forty-four prisons in England adopted it as a form of hard labour that could also grind grain or pump water.

Prison treadwheel 2However, as it turns out, in at least one jail prisoners were only “grinding the wind”: they were walking a treadwheel that was connected to a giant fan built on the courtyard. By this apparatus the resistance necessary for rendering the tread-wheel hard labour was obtained.

The system is explained in “The criminal prisons of London and scenes of Prison Life” (1862), written by Henry Mayhew & John Binny. Starting on page 299, they describe the method of “hard labour”, and the technologies used for it: the treadwheel, crank labour & the shot drill. Great reading.

Contemporary Russian Folk Artifacts

March 22, 2010 by kris de decker Filed Under: DIY, Random

Contemporary Russian Folk Artifacts

Vladimir Arkhipov’s “Home-Made” (Amazon link) presents objects made by ordinary Russians inspired by a lack of immediate access to manufactured goods during the collapse of the Soviet Union. Each of the more than 220 artifacts is accompanied by a photograph of the creator, their story of how the object came about, its function and the materials used to create it.

The book is expensive, but you can find some pictures and stories here, here, here, here and here. Related (but the Soviets obviously had better materials): Jailhouse Technology.

Forum

Arkhipov continues the reach of his project through his multilingual Folk Forum website where anyone is free to post examples of hand-made objects. The website is not very user-friendly (tip: start by manipulating the layers), but it hosts some great ideas and pictures (some of them below).

Thanks, Caroline!

[Read more…]

Obsolete Occupations: the Jobs of Yesteryear

March 18, 2010 by kris de decker Filed Under: Professions, Random, Work

obsolete occupations of yesteryear

Overview of endangered professions at the National Public Radio (via Obsoletos): “As computers and automated systems increasingly take the jobs humans once held, entire professions are now extinct”.

I would like to add to this: As fossil fuels run out, some of these professions might return. And then I want to become a River Driver. Previously: the panorama of professions and trades.

High-Tech Knotting: the Diamond Hitch

March 14, 2010 by kris de decker Filed Under: Knots, Pack animals, Pack horses, Random

High-Tech Knotting the Diamond Hitch

The “Diamond Hitch” is one of the most high-tech knots ever created. It was used to tie loads to pack animals. Many versions existed, not only for different types of loads but also for different types of terrain.

In rough country, where there was a frequent trouble with pack animals falling with their load, packers tied the Diamond Hitch so that the final knot was on top of the animal’s back where it could be easily reached and loosened with the animal down.

There was also a distinction between the one man and the two man Diamond Hitch. The one man version was employed by only one packer and required that he made two trips around the animal in tying it.

Detailed and illustrated instructions for tying the high-tech knot can be found in the 1916 “Manual of pack transportation“.

Update: Phillips, Decker and Canadian Pack saddles.

A Manual for the Transport of Sick and Wounded by Pack Animals

March 10, 2010 by kris de decker Filed Under: Animal power, Horses, Pack animals, Pack horses, Random

A Manual for the Transport of Sick and Wounded by Pack Animals

“A report to the Surgeon General on the transport of sick and wounded by pack animals” (1877).