30 Dumb Inventions

[Jay]

The fast draw robot? I thought that came out in the 70s?

 

[Shangas]

Those illuminated tyres are kinda cool. I think they'd look great! Provided they didn't shatter during the ride.

 

[scottyrocks]

I found the the baby 'inventions' disturbing. The two-person-ice-skating-baby-sling made me queasy.

 

[Cigarband]

That baby cage is crazy!

I built a window box kinda like it so my late cat could sit "outside". He was terrified of going outside, but loved the box.

 

[Cigarband]

Priceless!

I would like to see the "after" photograph of the rocket belt test. I wonder how that test went.

The tests went quite well. See it here:http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bell_Rocket_Belt

 

[KittyT]

Sign me up for those tires.

I do love those tires. The added bonus is having lots of light with which to adjust your stockings and fix your makeup after arriving at your destination!

 

[KittyT]

I built a window box kinda like it so my late cat could sit "outside". He was terrified of going outside, but loved the box.

I would love more information/plans for that!

 

[Widebrim]

What? The atom bomb and chewing gum didn't make the list?

Agreed, and in that order!

 

[MrNewportCustom]

I would love more information [on] that!

I haven't information on a child/cat window cage, but I have a story I can tell that's mildly related to Cigarband's cat: I once dated a woman who suffered claustrophobia and acrophobia, yet had no problem riding in a glass elevator. [huh]

I liked the TV Glasses. We have them now, too. I saw something about them in a magazine a while back. Of course, we also have Virtual Reality goggles, which are pretty much the same thing.


Lee

 

[Cricket]

The tests went quite well. See it here:http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bell_Rocket_Belt

Interesting. Really had no idea. Now that I think about, I may have seen some kind of older footage with the Disneyland run. Maybe not...but I wouldn't want to be the person to test it. I am a chicken at heart. lol

 

[Ethan Bentley]

I liked the TV Glasses. We have them now, too. I saw something about them in a magazine a while back. Of course, we also have Virtual Reality goggles, which are pretty much the same thing.
Lee

Also a potential way to get 3D vision. I'm not sure if wearing those is better or worse than the green and red variety.

 

[Undertow]

Funny how the curved gun barrel was on here, because the Germans had working prototypes of that in WWII. Hmm....

My thoughts exactly! I've seen stock footage of Nazi soldiers using mirrors to see around corners and shoot that gun (or a similar model). In fact, the very same video explained that the gun was also intended to fire rounds into tanks when the hatch was opened.

Unfortunately, I could not find the name of the Nazi prototype, but then again, I wasn't looking very hard because I'm a little busy at the moment. Anyone else see this?

 

[Geronimo]

Unfortunately, I could not find the name of the Nazi prototype, but then again, I wasn't looking very hard because I'm a little busy at the moment. Anyone else see this?

The almighty Wiki comes to our aid:
One unusual addition to the design was the Krummlauf; a bent barrel attachment for rifles with a periscope sighting device for shooting around corners from a safe position. It was produced in several variants: a "I" version for infantry use, a "P" version for use in tanks (to cover the dead areas in the close range around the tank, to defend against assaulting infantry), versions with 30°, 45°, 60° and 90° bends, a version for the StG 44 and one for the MG 42. Only the 30° "I" version for the StG 44 was produced in any numbers. The bent barrel attachments had very short lifespans – approx. 300 rounds for the 30° version, and 160 rounds for the 45° variant. The 30° model was able to achieve a 35x35 cm grouping at 100 m.[9]
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/StG_44

The one for the tank has a useful purpose... the one for the infantry strikes me as a pretty poor replacement for hand grenades. The minute you don't need to shoot around a corner, but straight ahead at the enemy, your bent rifle is useless. lol

 

[Undertow]

The almighty Wiki comes to our aid:
One unusual addition to the design was the Krummlauf; a bent barrel attachment for rifles with a periscope sighting device for shooting around corners from a safe position. It was produced in several variants: a "I" version for infantry use, a "P" version for use in tanks (to cover the dead areas in the close range around the tank, to defend against assaulting infantry), versions with 30°, 45°, 60° and 90° bends, a version for the StG 44 and one for the MG 42. Only the 30° "I" version for the StG 44 was produced in any numbers. The bent barrel attachments had very short lifespans – approx. 300 rounds for the 30° version, and 160 rounds for the 45° variant. The 30° model was able to achieve a 35x35 cm grouping at 100 m.[9]
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/StG_44

The one for the tank has a useful purpose... the one for the infantry strikes me as a pretty poor replacement for hand grenades. The minute you don't need to shoot around a corner, but straight ahead at the enemy, your bent rifle is useless. lol

Ah, thank you! Yes, I agree that it was a novel idea but I do recall the short lifespan of the barrel being mentioned. In fact, in the picture of the American prototype, the man was handling the gun with heavy gloves and for good reason. Evidently, these barrels heated quickly what from the force of a high-velocity projectile being spun around a curved apparatus. In any case, these barrels were difficult to handle and thus required heavy gloves.

Current weapon technology, that's actually in use today, isn't terribly different from what we've been doing from the second world war. Although the weapons are slightly more advanced, I think this curved gun was at least a step in the "progressive" (albeit wrong) direction. So I guess I wouldn't call it "dumb" by any means.