The winner of the Alpkit National Outdoors Innovation Award
has been announced and it's Jon Lucus with his Beacon Bag, that's him
below dreamily holding his trophy.
Along with nine other finalists selected by kit experts Graham
Thompson, Mark Taylor and Andy Kirkpatrick, Jon spent three days at
the Outdoors Show canvassing for votes from the public and showing
off his invention.
The Beacon Bag is an insulative survival bag combined with an SOS
beacon to attract attention and hopefully minimise the time spent in
the bag. It looks like an iinteresting idea and narrowly beat close
competitors Derek Horner, who'd travelled from Denmark with his
ingenious Linelight emergency LED light string and Barnaby Cavern who
was exhibiting a lightweight waterproof zip concept.
Apparently a number of the finalists are now considering bringing
their products to market, so keep an eye on Dragons' Den this year.
Joking aside, we thought there were some cracking ideas on display
and as Alpkit's Nick Smith says:
'If just one of these products hits the shops, this will all be
worthwhile. As an industry we often overlook users and this is our
way of giving them a chance to get their ideas out there for people
to see.'
More about the awards at www.alpkit.com/colab08.
