Vertical Backpack Bed

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  • 2025

  • Product
    Sport and Lifestyle

Commissioned By:

Tony Clark

Lisa Clark

Designed In:

Australia

Backpack Beds keep unsheltered homeless … ALIVE. Is FIVE products in ONE; an ergonomic 135L backpack with adjustable waist belt & straps – rolls out into a 4 season 3 window tent, with built-in mattress, lean-to shelter, plus full body insect mesh accessory. Only 3.1kg. Fire retardant & waterproof textiles. Setup/pack-up within seconds.


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  • CHALLENGE
  • SOLUTION
  • IMPACT
  • MORE
  • Design ethos - what would we give to an unsheltered Jesus or our mum? Dignity and housing are forgotten Human Rights. Without shelter - unsheltered homeless people needlessly suffer or die. Homeless carry all they have on their back. Whatever is carried - must have multiple purposes and massive storage. How to make five outdoor survival products in one - which is lightweight, hygienic, ergonomic, uses safe fire retardant and weatherproof recyclable materials; with extreme durability, quality and safety standards? New benchmark - outdoor survival equipment. To create new recyclable textiles, foam and mesh which are fire retardant and meet the toughest global chemical standards.

  • Years of in-house trial and error design - created our new hygienic recyclable materials. 33 independent lab tests. Backpack Bed whiteboard sketches turned into 4 prototypes before mass production - the hardest was ergonomics (comfort for small and large) and tent waterproofness (3 hour multi-direction high pressure showers expose the tiniest waterproofing design fault). Reviewed by ER doctors, design Professor, military, homeless experts, patent attorneys, unsheltered homeless all amazed with rollin/out tent setup within seconds, weight, comfort, spaciousness and new materials. Standards, durability. Only elite sewers meet necessary craftsmanship. Watertight tape sealed seems. Materials separately tested for years of nightly usage.

  • The brief and solution turned into a patent pending Backpack Bed, plus new recyclable fire retardant fabrics, mattress and insect meshes - which all could be commercialised; such profits could self fund our homeless charity to distribute more Backpack Beds to our unsheltered friends. Homeless globally suffer or die without our 4 season tent - tested in Australian summer and minus 21 celsius USA snow storms. Women can't be seen inside our tent - imagine sleeping without fear of harm. The stylish five products in one Backpack Bed naturally improves a users comfort, dignity, self-esteem, sleep and safety. Even special forces want one.

  • Dignity & Stylish. People don't look homeless while wearing our ergonomic waterproof Backpack - that converts into a single person survival tent for any season. The astounding feature is the waterproof dry bag velcro side pocket which exposes both the interior storage & ingenious life saving 4 season tent with built-in mattress - which simply rolls out/in within seconds. 3 exterior backpack pockets - massive (27L) front, (10L) side plus another waterproof pocket on top (18L), internally capacity of (80L). Total 135L Our unique fire retardant / waterproof textiles create the backpack & tent - enclosing a built-in fire retardant 190 x 55cm, 10mm thick EVA mattress with a silver insulation layer for sleeping on ice & excellent density recoverability for nightly usage. Full body insect mesh accessory is also fire retardant. Heat insulation = winter survival. Intuitive built-in ropes at head and foot ends create an A-frame tent. This creates significant internal heat insulation suitable for a US snow storm (21 Celsius difference inside Vs outside) . For summer, 3 massive insect-protected windows; a behind the head insect mesh curtain, above chest & foot window - which has a rain awning for natural ventilation from head to toe while raining. Strategic rope loops create a lean-to shelter - capturing heat from campfires.