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PLTWEngineering 
Group: Members
Posts: 1
Joined: Jan. 2013
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Posted on: Jan. 14 2013, 10:13 pm |
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I am a high school student in the final year of my school's engineering program. The entire year is designing and developing a product. My team is trying to design an extremely light and compact sleeping bag/pad hybrid solution for backpackers with the end goal of reducing pack weight. Feedback from the community is essential in the design process. We would be extremely appreciative of anyone who would be willing to complete the surveys below.
Sleeping bag Market Research
Sleeping bag design specifications
As the project progresses, I will try to post updates for anyone interested. I am posting this to other forums to get as much data as possible, namely Trailspace.com and survivalistboards.com.
Again, thank you anyone who helps us to complete our project.
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TigerFan
Group: Members
Posts: 2003
Joined: May 2010
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Posted on: Jan. 15 2013, 9:57 am |
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I just glanced at your survey and would like to offer a few suggestions if you want to get valid data:
(1) About how many times have you gone backpacking in the past year? Do you really want "times"? Consider that some people only do overnights while some do long hikes.
(2) About how much does your pack weigh when fully loaded? Pack weights can vary a lot from trip to trip depending on temperature, duration of the trip, conditions. So which trip do you want the answer for? You might want to compare weights for a discrete set of gear items, like the "big 4" (pack, pad, bag, shelter).
(4) & (5) With one being the heaviest/largest and six being the lightest/smallest, please rank how much weight/volume the following contribute to your pack. Again, for which trip? Ratios vary by trip length, temperatures, conditions...
Looking at both surveys, you seem to be going on the assumption that our hikes are generally the same, i.e. same gear, duration, temperatures, etc., and we'd only have one sleeping bag. That's really not an accurate picture. Most of have us probably have multiple sleeping bags, pads, shelters and even backpacks. So, maybe you should do the surveys in two stages, first to define the target set of conditions, then asking about hikes that meet that profile.
JMO.
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Duct tape is like the Force. It has a light side, a dark side, and it holds the universe together.
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ashepabst
Group: Members
Posts: 1009
Joined: Jul. 2008
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Posted on: Jan. 15 2013, 10:02 am |
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i imagine that most backpackers would answer "It Depends" to most of the questions on your Specs survey. you should at least break it down by warm weather/cold weather.
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| Post Number: 4
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JRinGeorgia
Group: Members
Posts: 298
Joined: Jul. 2012
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Posted on: Jan. 15 2013, 7:11 pm |
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TF, as someone who designs surveys for a living, I commend you on your feedback. Spot on. You too ashe.
Plus, the survey asks about "bedding" so presumably mixes the bag/quilt and pad together, when they are separate and large items.
Even more broadly, if the goal is to design a lightweight sleep system, and this goal was set to address the fact that sleep systems are perceived by many as heavier than they should be or could be or are wanted to be, then why all the questions about clothes and food and stuff? Why not just ask people for ideas for lightening the sleep system or reactions to your ideas for a lighter sleep system? Your premise is that there is a desire for a lighter and smaller-packing sleep system, so focus on that and not extraneous issues. As a matter of fact, none of the survey questions you ask will lead you to a better understanding of how to design a lighter/smaller sleep system, just some insights on what people think of what they have now.
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- JRinGeorgia
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no_granola
minor deity
Group: Members
Posts: 12564
Joined: Dec. 2004
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Posted on: Jan. 15 2013, 7:34 pm |
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I took your surveys. Hope it helps.
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The difference between people who think for themselves and those that follow the herd is that thinking people aren't afraid of reality.
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