redclfco
New member
Inventions Cheap, Affordable, and My Idea!
As Pat C. so eloquently stated about my threads “useless information can go in one ear and out the other", my threads may be true of that harsh criticism, but today's Campfire forum seems to be sprouting cobwebs of inactivity, so in order to join the fun, here I go!
I have had great inventions over the years that never quite hit the Billy May show (Rest in peace, Billy~sniff, snort) but I thought they could have been a hit when I thought them up; low and behold every last idea was s stolen, ripped off, and reproduced the old SRR in life!
Does anybody else have things you thought up that never quite made the patent office?
TITLE: "Zippy Pee" or "Let Her Rip"
WHAT IS IT: Woman's urethra extender was an idea I came up with my SO for backpacking purposes and boating excursions. Try to imagine the dilemma of a woman when she's got 40 pounds of Mountain Smith internal frame pack on her back, and having to take it off, lower the shorts and attempt to take a pee on a steep hillside wile the rest of the hiking party patiently waits.
Try to imagine being a woman, full of gin and tonic aboard a small 17 ft. Chris Craft; then imagine the AGONY as each wave violently rocks the boat, while she patiently holds her bladder back waiting for the ship's captain (me) to find a place to land the boat so she can pee. I might also note that the men sailors are all setting happy as little clams, having already "let HIM rip" from the stern of the boat. The invention was to be designed in two forms; one made of Styrofoam that could be disposed of after each use for the boat, and a more durable one for back packing made of light weight, low cost plastic. For those speed readers in the crowd who may of missed the premise here, , the "zippy pee"worked like this; said purchaser would un zip her jeans or pants, and place the plastic/foam funnel between her legs up close and personal, thus extending her urethra, allowing her to let er rip any where, any place! No more pulling the pants down, no more taking off the back pack, no more women’s suffrage on the rocking waves of the sea! We thought it was a GREAT idea!
WHY I"M NOT RICH:
We looked into it, and the initial cost of development and patent and marketing would never have reached the point of actually seeing return; at least that's what we were told...
The end of the story is that this product was successfully brought to production, and is of the rubber variety, and can be found on the shelves at REI and other reputable backpacking stores. Cheap, affordable, and my idea!
TITLE: Custom Wooden Shelves
WHAT IS IT:
Pre packaged 4 ft knotty pine shelving with custom wooden supports, ready to install... shelving ready to go, with no fuss no muss and no skill, other than how to run a screwdriver!. My friend just bought a new house, but had no money to finish all the trimmings so for his housewarming, I created four 4ft. shelves made of scrap knotty pine, and quickly cut out custom "L" brackets for supports. I put four screws and little plastic wall inserts into a plastic bag, along with custom oak plugs to cover the screw heads. I gave everything quick sand down to 100 grit, and stained all of the components a Minwax Fruitwood color. Seeing how this was before the days of stain/urethane mix, the final step was a light coating of spar urethane, which actually was the most time consuming activity on these shelves! When I went to getting them together as a gift, the idea came to me to package all with a hunk of leftover white cardboard and plastic. When first tried it, it looked, well, not gift like, so I had a chunk of window plastic shrink wrap. I stapled it to the cardboard using a folded out paper stapler in several spots, arranged the boards and supports onto the cardboard, covered all with the clear plastic, and borrowed the SO's hair dryer and shrunk the plastic to fit. WOW! When I was finished, it was better than any of that cheeep plastic shelving, was real wood, and cost me nothing to put together other than a little time and 75 cents of hardware and stain! It was a hit with my friend at the house warming, and for a party trick, he ripped it open, and had it all installed while we all watched! I think I must have built a dozen or so packages for friends that attended that housewarming. Keep in mind, this was 1984? Long before someone else....
WHY I"M NOT RICH:
I never did anything with it. I always thought it was a great idea, but never followed up. Now of course, wood grain, pre-packaged shelving is everywhere at your home Depot or local hardware store! Cheap, affordable, and my idea!
.
Anybody else have a great invention, wasted away in your mind that someone else made a big hit?
As Pat C. so eloquently stated about my threads “useless information can go in one ear and out the other", my threads may be true of that harsh criticism, but today's Campfire forum seems to be sprouting cobwebs of inactivity, so in order to join the fun, here I go!
I have had great inventions over the years that never quite hit the Billy May show (Rest in peace, Billy~sniff, snort) but I thought they could have been a hit when I thought them up; low and behold every last idea was s stolen, ripped off, and reproduced the old SRR in life!
Does anybody else have things you thought up that never quite made the patent office?
TITLE: "Zippy Pee" or "Let Her Rip"
WHAT IS IT: Woman's urethra extender was an idea I came up with my SO for backpacking purposes and boating excursions. Try to imagine the dilemma of a woman when she's got 40 pounds of Mountain Smith internal frame pack on her back, and having to take it off, lower the shorts and attempt to take a pee on a steep hillside wile the rest of the hiking party patiently waits.
Try to imagine being a woman, full of gin and tonic aboard a small 17 ft. Chris Craft; then imagine the AGONY as each wave violently rocks the boat, while she patiently holds her bladder back waiting for the ship's captain (me) to find a place to land the boat so she can pee. I might also note that the men sailors are all setting happy as little clams, having already "let HIM rip" from the stern of the boat. The invention was to be designed in two forms; one made of Styrofoam that could be disposed of after each use for the boat, and a more durable one for back packing made of light weight, low cost plastic. For those speed readers in the crowd who may of missed the premise here, , the "zippy pee"worked like this; said purchaser would un zip her jeans or pants, and place the plastic/foam funnel between her legs up close and personal, thus extending her urethra, allowing her to let er rip any where, any place! No more pulling the pants down, no more taking off the back pack, no more women’s suffrage on the rocking waves of the sea! We thought it was a GREAT idea!
WHY I"M NOT RICH:
We looked into it, and the initial cost of development and patent and marketing would never have reached the point of actually seeing return; at least that's what we were told...
The end of the story is that this product was successfully brought to production, and is of the rubber variety, and can be found on the shelves at REI and other reputable backpacking stores. Cheap, affordable, and my idea!
TITLE: Custom Wooden Shelves
WHAT IS IT:
Pre packaged 4 ft knotty pine shelving with custom wooden supports, ready to install... shelving ready to go, with no fuss no muss and no skill, other than how to run a screwdriver!. My friend just bought a new house, but had no money to finish all the trimmings so for his housewarming, I created four 4ft. shelves made of scrap knotty pine, and quickly cut out custom "L" brackets for supports. I put four screws and little plastic wall inserts into a plastic bag, along with custom oak plugs to cover the screw heads. I gave everything quick sand down to 100 grit, and stained all of the components a Minwax Fruitwood color. Seeing how this was before the days of stain/urethane mix, the final step was a light coating of spar urethane, which actually was the most time consuming activity on these shelves! When I went to getting them together as a gift, the idea came to me to package all with a hunk of leftover white cardboard and plastic. When first tried it, it looked, well, not gift like, so I had a chunk of window plastic shrink wrap. I stapled it to the cardboard using a folded out paper stapler in several spots, arranged the boards and supports onto the cardboard, covered all with the clear plastic, and borrowed the SO's hair dryer and shrunk the plastic to fit. WOW! When I was finished, it was better than any of that cheeep plastic shelving, was real wood, and cost me nothing to put together other than a little time and 75 cents of hardware and stain! It was a hit with my friend at the house warming, and for a party trick, he ripped it open, and had it all installed while we all watched! I think I must have built a dozen or so packages for friends that attended that housewarming. Keep in mind, this was 1984? Long before someone else....
WHY I"M NOT RICH:
I never did anything with it. I always thought it was a great idea, but never followed up. Now of course, wood grain, pre-packaged shelving is everywhere at your home Depot or local hardware store! Cheap, affordable, and my idea!
.
Anybody else have a great invention, wasted away in your mind that someone else made a big hit?
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