Softgoods project: chef's backpack

agreed, great project. I actually did read all of it (a good sign there is something interesting!).

Funny Yo mentioned it, but also immediately thought the same thing about the red when I saw it. Makes me think of blood which is not a good thing when speaking of sharp knivesā€¦ Maybe that black and white houndstooth like the pants they often wear would be better, though I think it doesnā€™t necessarily need to be so literal. even a nice silver synthetic or mesh could be nice to tie into the stainless steel of a kitchenā€¦

I was also wondering how the knives donā€™t cut the slots they are inā€¦maybe iā€™m not following the clip thing.

anyhow, nice job and a nice way of story telling showing the process.

R

I think for a sophomore project its fantastic.
I am very impressed by the quality of the model.

How long did you guys work on this project?

Thanks for the feedback.

Yo:
Yes, we did come across this problem. The red for the zipper for the first aid kit does give this connotation. I was a little biased towards red because I thought it would be more noticeable in the kitchen and my excuse was that dining cloths at fancy restaurants used red (napkins, etc). If this were an actual product, I probably wouldā€™ve done some research to find out what color people would prefer. Also red/white/black sort of appealed to me as a ā€œyoung maleā€.

Rkuchinsky: When we made the prototype, we chose a thicker cloth (duck cloth) that we layered inside to provide multiple layers of protection. The only part of the knife that could damage the bag was with its point to the bottom of the inside. That part would be padded more than the others to provide ample protection for the bag. Considering that chefs prize their knives, they would definitely take care in sliding the knife in, so we didnā€™t worry about high impact/stabbing inside. Also, the tightening straps work to ā€œhugā€ all the contents (in the knife bag and in the main compartment) to prevent movement/friction between the tools.

The main function of the clips was to organize and separate. They are coated with a thin film of rubber or with cloth and act like a hairpin, pinching the slots in the back (see last page of the spec packet, the layer with a bunch of slots like |||||||) with the top layer together. Itā€™s hard to describe and I guess I shouldā€™ve made better schematics to explain this function.

Bepster: Thanks, the model took ages. Via handsewing and really old industrial sewing machines (wayyy better than the modern Singer crap they put out these days). The other softgoods that our class made were pretty fantastic too. There was one backpack made for childcare that, when you rested it on the table you could transform it into a baby-changing station (before the baby got bigger than the backpack, that is).

The project lasted from 2/17 to about 3/29, so aboutā€¦ 6 weeks?

very good - i like!

Very nice indeed. Where did you get the old industrial sewing machine, did it belong to the school? Thatā€™s gold right there.

I Like:

thoroughness! Research, interview, ideas, working prototype. Excellent!
small detail, I like consistency in the sketches, the colors used to accentuate drawing details.


Not so keen:

itā€™s boring and square. Unless this was intentional styling choice. The bag market is dense with styles, most seem very body conscious. A square box seems wierd.

Color options are definitely required. Even could be used for different sizes, styles.

Any thing that holds working tools for a travelling professional will get really beat up. I would think leather sheaths might be good for the knife blades?

Thereā€™s a Singerā€™s factory/store around Pittsburgh, and the repairman who came in to do maintenance on our modern machines lent us 2 old industrial machines.

itā€™s boring and square. Unless this was intentional styling choice. The bag market is dense with styles, most seem very body conscious. A square box seems wierd.

Color options are definitely required. Even could be used for different sizes, styles.

Any thing that holds working tools for a travelling professional will get really beat up. I would think leather sheaths might be good for the knife blades?

The choice of a rectangular shape was to maximize area and was an aesthetic choice by the sketcher (me). Wanted to try out some simpler shapes for this project. I agree itā€™s a little weird.

Yes, we did consider leather. However, for some reason I was really bent on using canvas that was similar to chefā€™s clothes. But yes, the knife sleeves could be in leather, especially where the knives contact the bag on the inside. In terms of sheaths for individual knives, that may prove to be cumbersome (and potentially dangerousā€¦ continual sheathing/unsheathing may slice through the leather into your hands). Chefs use cloths to wrap their knives to protect them as sort of a do-it-yourself.

Thanks for the suggestions!

This project looks familiarā€¦

Your generation sketches are great, I donā€™t know why but the chef sketch makes me laugh. Must be the proportions and the skinny little legs.

Hahah thanks. I did show it at an interview with Bright Innovation a few months ago. Those proportions were influenced by some Syd Mead videos I watched.

I showed this result to some chefs. Only got 2 responses so far, though. Both of them did say that backpacks were ā€œstrangeā€ and they couldnā€™t imagine chefs wearing them. I donā€™t know how I should view these responses. Iā€™m pretty sure there have been a lot of products that people couldnā€™t imagine using before, but are now normal (Bluetooth headsets for one).

I could understand that. Really, maybe aside from student chefs, do you think anyone over the age of 20 would wear a backpack? I believe most chefā€™s knife carrying things are currently more briefcase style, are they not?

R

PS. Bluetooth headsets are still not normal. They are dorky.

Itā€™s true, WIRED said it was so.

Haha sort of I guess. Iā€™m pretty used to them in the Silicon Valley since weā€™re only allowed handsfree calling while driving and thereā€™s a crapload of techy/business people around.

Thanks for taking the time to help, I really apprciate it.

Cool idea and great sketching! Also Congrats on the Core77 feature.

Iā€™m not a professional chef (although I know a few and have dated one), but I see something I think this concept could use. It seems to me that most restaurant kitchen floors are tile or similar with drains and get very messy when open and hosed down/mopped every night. I think it would be interesting to incorporate a little stand to lift the soft part of the bag off the floor a few inches so water/spills could go around it without making the bag dirty. This way the chef could keep the bag near by while cooking or leave it on the floor somewhere out of the way if there is nowhere else to store it. Research would tell if this is actually something people might want/use, but it just seems to make sense to me.

Heres a quick sketch of whats in my head:

Also in response to what yo and rkuchinsky were saying about the colors: I think they do need some work but I would be hesitant to jump into black/white checkered (or anything that closely resembles chef garb). I think its important that the colors donā€™t look out of place when the chef is wearing his/her street clothes. Of the chefs that I know, most are hesitant to be in public in the chef cloths and I donā€™t think they would want a bag that resembled them. Especially for times when traveling to friends/families houses, they most likely would not be wearing chef attire. Maybe take inspiration from the tools they use: high end knifes/kitchen appliances etc. Just a thought.

You can tell it was a busy day at work :stuck_out_tongue:

All the best with your idea,

-Evan

Hi. I found this through surfing from CNN.com.

I am a retired chef of 30 years.

I have a knife roll for my most used knives and steel.

Everything else, tools for garde manger, specialty tools, etc. Go into a heavy duty tool box.

is an example of contents.

Due to the size, a wheeled cart, such as used by court reporters or flight attendants, is far more along what I would use. This is perfect for an aspiring student commuting to school, but not for a professional who takes his entire system with them.

Cardinal rule? KEEP YOUR HANDS OFF OF MY TOOLS!!!

What is the proper chef training if you want to become a chef? Iā€™ve been thinking about starting a career in the culinary arts field. Iā€™ve enjoyed cooking and baking my entire and I want to know what is the training to becoming a chef?

Go here;

http://lmgtfy.com/?q=how+to+become+a+chef

I think geniferyā€™s first post may now rank as the weirdest ā€œfirst postā€.

And thanks for the lead Taylor.

Since the economy is in the tank, the 6,000 hour training I went through to become an Operating Engineer isnā€™t panning outā€¦ maybe I could ā€¦? Whaddaya think? :wink:

That post was spam. Itā€™s gone now.

R

I am a Culinary student at the California Culinary Academy, Le Cordon Bleu. The backpack you designed is EXACTLY what many of the students at my school are looking for. If you ever do get to the point where they will be on the market, will you please let me know? Or if not, is it possible to purchase your prototype for my own personal use? My email address is beverley.martinez@mycaculinary.edu if you have any questions.

The backpack that you designed is really good! great idea!! :sunglasses:

Only the > keychain kubotan
knows what goes on in the heart of a pumpkin.