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Tsikot Member Rank 2
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August 17th, 2012 08:27 AM #1Pinoy invents carbag vs floods | ABS-CBN News
I know this John Echauz guy... hmm... big bucks!!!MANILA, Philippines – As the recent monsoon rains proved, Metro Manila roads have a slim chance of being flood-free.
But that doesn’t mean vehicles have no chance against the floods.
John Echauz, an executive at a car insurance company, has developed Floody Carbag, a product that aims to keep parked vehicles safe from floods.
Echauz said the inspiration on the carbag came from the waterproof beach bag.
“You just drive your car in and then you close the zipper on top, then you close the mouth. There’s a Velcro strip on the mouth but that’s not what keeps the car waterproof. You fold the mouth 3 times, you roll it up, then you clasp it over the hood. The folds are actually what keep water from seeping in,” Echauz told ANC’s “Shop Talk.”
The Floody Carbag, made from high-grade industrial plastic, is a transparent, highly-engineered product that is both waterproof and puncture-resistant.
It comes in two sizes: one for sedan-type vehicles (P9,950) and another for medium-sized SUVs (P14,950).
“There’s a demand for larger versions, but we can customize that later on,” said Echauz.
Echauz, a graduate of industrial engineering from the De La Salle University (DLSU), said his experience with tropical storm “Ondoy” in 2009 led him to the development of the product.
Lessons from 'Ondoy'
As an executive vice president of a car insurance firm, Echauz said he witnessed how the floods triggered by tropical storm “Ondoy” caused problems for their clients.
“When Ondoy happened in 2009, we had a lot of flooded vehicles. It was very painful for our customers and painful for us also,” he said.
It was then that Echauz realized that the floods are not going to go away and that he has to do something to spare vehicles from the floods.
He said the Floody Carbag was released in July this year, just weeks before fierce “habagat” rains caused massive flooding in Metro Manila and nearby provinces.
“We were very relaxed [when we launched it]. We were thinking, ‘When will the next Ondoy happen? We have time,’” he said.
The product was launched on Facebook during the height of the rains and within 24 hours, Echauz said the page was viewed 40,000 times all around the world and “liked” by 3,000 Facebook users.
He added that clients from Bangladesh and the US have placed orders for the Floody Carbag.
50 prototypes
The final Floody Carbag product had to go through 50 prototypes before it was released, according to Echauz.
He said his team, composed of his driver-turned-technician and DLSU professors, tested the bag by parking a car in a large tank, filled the tank with water and left the car inside for two weeks.
The car worked fine after a test drive, shared Echauz.
Echauz said he is also planning to develop a smaller bag for home appliances such as refrigerators and washing machines.
But for now, he believes Floody Carbag owners who live in flood-risk areas will sleep better knowing their car will be flood-free.
“They live in places where they can’t escape. So what can you do? At least this gives you some sort of chance of saving your car,” he said.
But I hope they print it on the manual or something na limited warranty... maaaring di nga pasukin ng tubig ang car... but it may float the car and bring it to the river kung ganoon kataas na ang flood...
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Tsikoteer
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August 17th, 2012 08:31 AM #2Part of the instructions says you have to anchor or tie down the car to a solid post (or similar) so your car will not float away or float into something sharp which might puncture the bag.
Originally Posted by wowiesy
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Hoosier'ed Hotspur
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Tsikoteer
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August 17th, 2012 09:49 AM #4Matagal na toh ginawa ng China diba? Mas ok pa ata kung pa-insure niyo na lang mga kotse niyo kesa bumili ng 9k plastic bag.
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Social Dementia
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August 17th, 2012 10:02 AM #5Last year's Great Thai Flood....
This photo is not from Gungdong China...Last edited by Monseratto; August 17th, 2012 at 10:07 AM.
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Tsikoteer
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August 17th, 2012 10:29 AM #6etong thread related jan:
http://tsikot.com/forums/racing-off-...-street-89296/
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BANNED BANNED BANNED
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August 17th, 2012 11:35 AM #7here's the funny thing about this article:
http://tsikot.com/forums/thumbs-up-h...our-car-89105/
Our news writers should at least make a quick Google search if anything similar has been made already. If there is, the "inventor" should at least mention the difference between his product and the existing ones.
The situation is similar to the one who made diesel from plastics which is being done na pala as youtube indicates.
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fLaKeZ
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August 17th, 2012 04:15 PM #8siguro na invent niya daw kasi nilagyan niya ng ziplock. yung sa thai di buhol lang. hehehe
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Tsikoteer
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August 17th, 2012 04:36 PM #9I was thinking of a floating carbag that would deploy when the flood reaches a certain critical level parang airbag.
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Tsikot Member Rank 2
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August 6th, 2014 09:52 AM #10Has anyone here bought this item? It costs 10T for smaller cars and 15T for SUVs. China plastic car bags costs arond 2,700 only.
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Originally Posted by wowiesy
Choice I would have made as well.:nod:
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