Packs

I thought people might be interested an easy way to improvise a way to carry stuff out of a square of cloth.
The Japaneese have turned it into an art or science almost.
Their government is trying to get people using what they call "Furoshiki" instead of shopping bags and parcels to cut down waste.
The ones that got my attention were the shoulder bag and pack sack versions.

http://www.env.go.jp/en/focus/attach/060403-5.html

http://furoshiki.com/about.php?section=videos

UM, yeah, But I bet a lot of people have never seen it and it is a simple solution if you are trying to carry something don't want to use your pack for.
Like maybe if you are foraging along a beach and dont want stinking shellfish or urchin spines in with your laundry.
Or maybe if for some reason your pack is not where you are at the moment.

Anyway, they have taken it a bit further than the simple bindle-stiff's hanky on a stick.

An interesting government initiative and useful skill.

Could have used it shopping with my nieces yesterday.

thats why we have plastic bags..somehow i can't see anyone in the West wanting to fool around tieing up anything in a bundle like that..or the next guy in line at the store waiting while someone took the time to do that..

Interesting, kinda like origami in cloth. We used to do some similar stuff with our Boy Scout neckerchiefs, but nothing that detailed...

It's a little more complicated than a bindle, but somewhat overwrought at the same time.

Canoedogs;
As Izzy said right away, it is not a new idea.

It is an very old idea in Japan too, but it is because of all the plastic bags that the Japanese Gov't is pushing it for modern times.
Notice that on the Gov't page it is their Ministry of the Environment who published it.
They have a huge problem with the cost of making plastic bags and they don't have any way to deal with them as garbage.

But I did not post it for environmentalism.

I just thought it was a good trick to have in the back of your mind in case you needed to bundle something up to carry it.
Any squarish piece of cloth will work, a bandana, a tent fly, even an old bedsheet.
I was using a square of left over rip-stop nylon to try it out at first. It would work just as well with a scrap piece of Tyvek.

About your comment on speed, I HAVE tested this and it is at least as fast as stuffing and then trying to carry a bunch of plastic bags, much stronger too. (I did get some weird looks from the check out girl, but I think they were curiosity and surprise.)

Nishnabotna:
I agree about over-wrought, but they are Japanese trying to sell the idea to their whole country. So they are trying to make carrying the cloth into a fashion statement. Notice they only show the men selling them or being with the women carrying them.
They have good techniques though.

First of all, thanks for bringing this to the forum.
I downloaded the PDF in put it in my "Preparedness" folder.
I plan to print it and laminate it, along with a similar illustrations of lines and
knot tying.

I agree with you that its a useful skill to have and grist for the mill considering
the nature of this particular forum.

I can't picture anyone from this forum community relying on flimsy plastic shopping bags for their cherished and expensive preparedness gear so I think some people here are missing the point.

Thanks for the posting.

Yes, I agree they are pretty cool. If you carry a bandanna - which everyone should - then it's worth learning ways to use it. Although some are simple, they can also be unobvious.

Really neat idea. I just won't be able to remember any but the basics.