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A Sleeping Bag That Walks
Japanese mail-order magazine Tsuhan Seikatsu offers a new kind of sleeping bag experience for you jaded hikers and backpackers - the Arukeru Nebukuro, literally the sleeping bag you can walk in.
(From Dottocomu sleeping bag)
It has legs so you can - according to the manufacturer - "get up and run away should you be attacked by a bear in the middle of the night." According to Dottocomu it costs as much as an iPod - about 43K yen.
I couldn't resist adding this item because it corresponds to a science fictional "sleeping bag" that can move by itself - the hunting robe from Clifford Simak's 1961 classic Time is the Simplest Thing:
It was a fur of some sort and there was something about the fur itself that made it glitter in the fire light, as if someone had dusted it with tiny diamond fragments. It was a golden yellow with black stripes that ran diagonally and it had the look of silk rather than of fur.He spread the robe carefully on the floor, took off his jacket. He kicked off his shoes and laid down on the robe. It was soft and yielding, almost like a mattress despite its lack of thickness. He pulled it over himself and it fell together smoothly, like a sleeping bag...
There was something wrong.
Somehow or other, the robe had become wrapped too tightly. Rather, it tightened. He could feel it tighten. The robe held him in a gentle but unyielding grasp...
To get the full (creepy) effect, you'll need to read more about the hunting robe. And find yourself a copy of Simak's novel - it's a great read.
Scroll down for more stories in the same category. (Story submitted 1/10/2005)
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