Camping Inventions: From Concept to Reality
Innovative Camping Gear Demand
An ever-growing number of Britons are discovering that caravaning or camping is more environmentally friendly, less expensive, and easier to plan than traveling overseas. According to PitchUp.com, "One in three people has taken a camping or caravaning holiday in the last three years, up from one in five in 2009." There are 15 national parks in the United Kingdom, including 10 in England, 3 in Wales, and 2 in Scotland. With the surging popularity of camping in the U.K., there is a growing market for entrepreneurs offering innovative camping equipment and gadgets.
Britain has a legacy of innovation in camping.In 1861, the famous British Mountaineer Francis Fox Tuckett tested the original prototype of the modern sleeping bag. Using a bag design consisting of a blanket material on the top half with a rubberized bottom, he recognized the need for a product to provide warmth and comfort whilst sleeping in the wild.
Camping Inventions Supported by Innovate
Gigwam - Connectable Tent System
While attending a festival, inventor Dustin Toland envisioned an interchangeable and connected tenting system that would enable families and groups of campers to have a more social and interactive experience whilst in the comfort of their respective tents. Upon being introduced to Innovate Product Design, Dustin's path to owning a marketable product was assisted in the following ways:
- Innovate researched the market potential for the product
- Research was done to ensure that similar designs/patents didn't already exist
- The product design team aided with visualising the final product
- Photorealistic CAD drawings were created to positively represent the product concept
- Idea protection options were detailed
- Routes to market and marketing strategies were presented
Today the Gigwam camping system has been showcased at a number of music festivals and camping exhibitions, and was featured on the UK Television show, Dragons' Den.
BoginaBag - Portable & Sanitary Dunny
There is an internationally distributed and extremely successful children's book titled, "Everybody Poops." A large part of the book's success is due to the universal relevance of that message for people from every part of the world. Nature tends to call at the most inopportune times, including while exploring great outdoors or attending music festivals with no accessible loo nearby.
Kate Castle approached Innovate Product Design with an innovate camping product concept involving a portable toilet after being unable to find a comparable product or solution in the marketplace. Innovate assisted with the final product design and the presentation boards, and after finding an investor Kate was able to approach UK and Chinese manufacturers directly. Her product was also featured on Dragons' Den where she met her investor Theo Paphitis. Today her products are sold and marketed online.