In 1984 climber / inventor Paul Petzl came up with a headlamp with no on/off switch. To turn the light on or off, the housing around the lens of the lamp was rotated. Rotating this housing also served to focus the beam of light. This style of controlling lights is still seen in headlamps and [...]
Outdoor Gear, Patents, and Outdoor Trips by Bob Shaver, Patent Attorney
Category Archives: Historical Patents
P-38 Can Opener
In the early days of WWII, the Army designed C rations. What they needed to go along with the canned food of C rations was a very small disposable can-opener. Designed in 30 days by the Subsistence Research Laboratory of Chicago, the tiny folding can opener was perfect. As the troops used it in field [...]
Tent and a View
Here is an interesting tent from 1891. In fair weather the side can be opened up, and when it is raining the side rolls down for full protection. This idea is pretty similar to some modern ultralight tents, like the Tarptent tent shown below which has a side that opens, or that can be closed [...]
An Early Rope Descender
This early rope descender looks it works by a similar principle as modern rope descenders, by forcing the rope to make some turns around some obstacles.
The Contrail, Single Wall Tent
The Contrail, Single Wall Tent Henry Shires at Tarptent, makers of innovative ultralight backpacking tents, was inspired by the design of the 1891 canvas tent below to take that design and improve it quite a bit. According to Henry: “The key improvements over the 1891 shelter include the integrated rear carbon fiber struts, catenary ridgelines, [...]
The First Internal Frame Backpack – Kelty’s Tour Pack by John Robinson
In the early 1970s the outdoor equipment industry was changing rapidly. Kelty backpacks were the premier backpack, with others made by Jansport and Alpenlite being quality brands. REI made a Cruiser which was a cheap imitation of the Kelty. The packs of that era were not called external frame backpacks, because there was no internal [...]