So I’ve got the kit for my sous-vide cooking and I am the (proud) owner of a LAVA V1.00 Premium vacuum sealer. It’s cost me a fair bit of money, so it better makes itself useful around the house.

Here are a few ideas:

• I cycle a lot, including my daily commute to work.  Bicycle Panniers a re tough place for anything, as keys, spare clothes and essential tools all grind against anything  else in the bag. I want to have a decent first aid kit with me, that survives the inevitable sand and grit influx into the bag.  Vacuum sealed, the first aid kit becomes rigid, dust & waterproof and hard wearing.
• Bicycle repair kit. I’ve tried to carry a spare inner tube before, but the cardboard box in which they are sold barely survives a couple of days and if that doesn’t finish the tube off, then the constant grinding of sand and grit will chafe it to pieces by the time you need to use it. Vacuum seal ahoy!
• I’m a lover of warm winter clothes, in particular high quality wools. Unfortunately the local moth population has also figured out how tasty my jumpers are. I’m no fan of saturating my living room with moth poison, so I figured the best way of keeping my winter outfit in good shape is to seal it in.
• Love computers, help people out repairing stuff and and always have a box of untidy, unwieldy cables using up valuable space. You’ve guessed it, shrink’em down.

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I’ve had an idea for while now for urban clothing. I’m not a very fashionable person and my idea is lesser rotating around looks for urban clothing but more about functionality. I’ve been living in London for a number of years now, and I have seen London’s cool, fun, innovative, funky, Hackney-cool, welcoming, curious  and endearing sides as much as I have witnessed and experienced the crime, hardship, randomness and cruelty that governs life in this city.

Functionality in this context is to means cultural and social functionality, clothing that helps to reduce stress, controls the flow of information(visually, audibly , and electromagnetically) , reduces exposure to crime, while remaining functional and inconspicuous.

Here are some ideas:

Privacy:

• I went to see an exhibition in the science museum about information and privacy. As ideas, they presented devices (i.e. a partial mask from shapes) that disguises the face from recognition, be it human eye or CCTV. Cameras are everywhere in London, and I hold true the belief that because “I’m innocent what I get up to is no-one’s business”.  Privacy is a concern, and the ability to move without state intrusion is becoming ever more important.
  1. ability to change colour
  2. ability to change shape
  3. ability to disguise the face
  4. few identifiable features (i.e. disguised pockets, openings…)
• London is noisy and loud. I’d like to control the intake of my senses, as near constant announcements about “safety this” and “safety that”, “this vehicle is reversing”, “security forces”, “report to a member…” and “thank you for your cooperation” mix with howling, screening sirens, horns, beeps and blips the whole day long. Not to mention the deafening noise from old busses (Thanks Boris and Ken) and the obligatory racing bike screeching through a quite night. Hearing protection is a must.
• police searches are on the up, and muggers a just as much a persistent threat. Discreet pockets for sensitive items in unusual places are a must!
• communication. A flashy phone can attract muggers, but most importantly, they’re clumsy to carry and head-set pieces are expensive or fiddly. The clothing has to deal with the wiring neatly, integrating the head-set in an inconspicuous and functional manner.
• ideally, urban clothing is not as much a brand new piece of clothing, but the result of modifying an existing item. It keeps a low profile, keeps cost under control and is more of a “kit” than a branded piece of clothing.