I never thought a backpack with wheels would actually work for backpacking, but if I have the website for the "Packer Wheel" (TM) saw, I was impressed. You wear a frame that grabs a value on a wheel. You can also go over logs and rocks. I started thinking about what other backpacking innovations are just waiting to be marketed. Here are some of the things that came to me. Steal these ideas, please.
Inflatable frame backpack
With frame-less backpacks oftenmattress folded in the package to cushion against the back and some support for the load. Why not use part of the package that rests against the back of the bloat. Using the same technology for easy self-inflating sleeping bag pads, it would only add about 6 oz. The backpack could then double as foot-bag/pad to sleep.
Also this idea, I imagine a raft backpack that folds into a sleeping pad. The "frame" would be the bagPad in the shape of "U" for a certain stiffness in the package. Self-inflating sleeping bag pads are as light as 14 ounces now and chassis packages less than 12 ounces, so the combination could probably be only weighs 20 ounces.
Wax paper food bags
Put backpacking food in wax-paper wrapping instead of plastic. The packages then double as an emergency fire-starter, because the wax paper is also usually burn when it is wet.
Cushions / Waterbag
If I have to carry more water, I use the plastic bubblefrom boxed wine. They are light, strong, and I inflate the bag with air to use as a pillow too. To market a dual-purpose water container/pillow, it just needs a soft removable covering of some sort.
Jacket Backpack
Why not a frame-less backpack with a jacket that is a part of the pack? It can be folded out of the way, and the pack would have normal shoulder straps. When wearing the jacket, though, it would stabilize the pack, keep you warmer, and make it easy to push through heavy brush, because it wouldn't catch on things as easily. It is something like wearing a large jacket over a backpack, but with the weight-savings and stability that come from combining them. It could be called a "Jacket Pack-it."
Backpacking Game
Print a chess/checkers board on a jacket or backpack, and you have a carry-along game that weighs nothing extra. Great for spending hours in the tent waiting out the rain. If you don't carry the pieces, stones or pine cones could work as checkers.
Backpacking gear ideas and innovations keep popping into my head as I write this. Most are based on the idea of "dual purpose" items. They may work, some may not, but it is an entertaining dose of inspiration from a backpack with wheels.
