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A couple criticisms of this, having been in more than a few rough parts of the world including refugee camps: 1. Cardboard will almost certainly soak up the li
by 23B1 3y ago
A couple criticisms of this, having been in more than a few rough parts of the world including refugee camps:
1. Cardboard will almost certainly soak up the liquids and smells of a place like a refugee camp, which are typically not in nice flat, dry warehouses. This is bad when you need to be able to clean/sterilize the beds. Structurally, once these are soaked I imagine they're unusable again.
2. Not sure about those corners; these beds become your home and your 'zone' and you spend a LOT of time there, often sitting upright; I wouldn't want to plop down on one of those. Also, most people don't lay perfectly flat – and they often have a child with them which could create an imbalance.
3. Storage. Crime in refugee camps is rampant; folks often use the cots with legs as 'storage' and drape blankets over their personal goods to conceal them – especially important if you have kids, traveling with your most valuable currency, critical paperwork, etc.
4. Fire hazard which is SUBSTANTIAL in these scenarios.
I like the idea and I see where they might be helpful, but I could think of a handful of design changes that might make it a lot better.
a) It's basically a 'flat pack' design and I'd imagine there's other materials out there that might be more stable/durable/lightweight.
b) Probably we could spend some time thinking through the geometry, for example, adding 'feet' at the far corners might make it more stable on uneven ground.
- defrost 3y agoThe soaking and required dry floor critique is a significant factor. The "wouldn't want to plop down on one of those" point might be imagined, the article asserts that: In Humanitaria's cardboard bed design, the cardboard bed can support up to 350 kilograms of weight, well above the 150 kilograms supported by the usual camping beds used by NGOs. which certainly bears looking into - cardboard with internal corrugated layers is stronger than many think. As for Storage - these are literally flip top (unfloored) "boxes" - lifting the top reveals a walled interior, easily as 'safe' | 'secure' as a stuff on a bed with a blanket over the top.