Woven Backpacks – Design Rooted in History and Tradition

~ George Crawford ~ Leave a comment

Another reblog. Markus has done an excellent review of pack baskets here.

Markus's avatar74 FOOTWEAR DESIGN CONSULTING

Its fair to say that my personal interest in woven Mexican Huarache footwear extends to everything woven. As far as I know despite all the technological advances in history, woven Huaraches just like woven baskets cannot be made by machine and have to be made by hand. In someways this makes basketry and Huarache weaving one of the highest forms of craft.

For more information on the craft of Mexican Huarache footwear please visit Huarache Blog.

Although basketry is one of the earliest forms of craft in the world, its unclear how long woven Basket Packs have existed for, but many old designs are still used in many countries around the world.

Some old paintings and prints help trace Basket Packs to 1400-1500’s.

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Images via Wood Trekker: A Brief History of the Modern Backpack (Comments Section)

The Adirondack Pack Basket as it is known today is traditionally made…

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Craft Fetishism or A Return to Craft Values?

~ George Crawford ~ Leave a comment

Markus's avatar74 FOOTWEAR DESIGN CONSULTING

There’s been a noticeable increase in crafted products over the last 5 years.

From Artisan Bread, Chocolate and Beer to handcrafted bicycles, bags and belts. Crafts have been celebrated in books, documentaries and Design fairs. Artists like Joana Vasconcelos have adopted crafts such as crochet and lace for their chosen media, and even graffiti has taken a crafted turn with new techniques in stenciling and knit-bombing. With significant developments in progressive crafts such as digicraft, many industrial designers are also turning to craft values instead of the traditional industrial ones.

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But why is it that in today’s increasingly technological culture is there also such a strong crafts vibe?

A successful exhibition titled POWER OF MAKING  at the V&A in London recently celebrated this craft resurgence and presented some reasons for it. A few of the exhibiting artists, designers and craftspeople like Ji Yong-Ho and Demakersvan have already…

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Hal’s Little Vardo

~ George Crawford ~ 3 Comments

Hal in Oregon sent me some photos of his stick-built vardo.  It is sheathed in house wrap and wood-sided with a metal roof.  Sturdy looking simple design.  So far, he’s spent about two weeks on it and the shell appears to be nearly complete.  This is a link to the album with more photos but I’m not sure it’s public yet.  Please let me know through the comments if this link does NOT work for you.  In the meantime, here are some photos posted by his sister Jodie:

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Ultra Uber Lightweight Vardo

~ George Crawford ~ 4 Comments

Here is an excellent example of minimalist housing design.  A bicycle pulled miniature vardo that can collapse into a low-profile trailer for the road if needed.

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It’s an admirable design that appears to have gone through a couple design changes from two wheeled to four wheeled.  It could be a very inexpensive shelter that is dry and off the ground.  Clearly this guy is a fan of human power and innovative design.

DSCN3031 DSCN3029Click any photo above to see more at his website.

He also has a build page for his impressive Velomobile here.

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New Acquisitions

~ George Crawford ~ 7 Comments

I don’t buy a lot of tools but this past week added one old, one new, and created one to add to my pile.

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I found this old shoe anvil at out local pawn shop/junk store last weekend and couldn’t pass it up.  It will help with my ever increasing level of shoemaking and might just serve as a rivet set for other leather projects.

ImageI used an Amazon gift card I received for christmas to purchase a Mora curved knife I’ve had on my wish list for some time.  I can’t wait to start making spoons again.

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And finally, I have nearly finished a buck-saw that’s been lingering in my mind for some time now.  This is it assembled, having sawed a log just to be sure it worked, but lots of finishing touches will need to be added to be a suitable tool.  I’ll round the edges and spruce it up with some carving I think, but for now, it makes a nice take-down saw.  Total spent: about $20 US.