Unicycle, electric, as a luggage carrier.

[Deavain]

I have recently been entertained by a number of people showing of their skills (youtube) on electric gyro stablised unicycles. Fast, dangerous, exciting.

This my first post here so try a wikipedia search for electric unicycle.

Neat hu! And maybe if I was 20 years younger.

But could’t that be a bag carrier? Load it up like a modern mule? How long could to go at a regular walking pace?

Blimey, here comes the future.

Has anyone tied this?

 

[VNwalking]

But could’t that be a bag carrier? Load it up like a modern mule?

Stop, go, and turn are controlled by shifting body weight. So your pack, being inert, will either go nowhere fast or head off into the sunset in a straight line without you. This after spending about 1.5K for that gizmo that's under all your stuff.

 

[Paladina]

I have recently been entertained by a number of people showing of their skills (youtube) on electric gyro stablised unicycles. Fast, dangerous, exciting.... But could’t that be a bag carrier? Load it up like a modern mule? How long could to go at a regular walking pace? Blimey, here comes the future. Has anyone tied this?

It may not be fast, dangerous or as exciting, but wouldn't it be simpler and cheaper just to bring less stuff with you?

 

[henrythedog]

As is so often the case the late lamented Terry Pratchett was ahead of us.

The Luggage

The Luggage is a fictional object that appears in several of the Discworld novels by Terry Pratchett. It is a large chest made of Sapient Pearwood (a magical, intelligent plant which is nearly extinct, impervious to magic, and only grows in a few places outside the Agatean Empire, generally on...

discworld.fandom.com

 

[Paladina]

As is so often the case the late lamented Terry Pratchett was ahead of us.

The Luggage

The Luggage is a fictional object that appears in several of the Discworld novels by Terry Pratchett. It is a large chest made of Sapient Pearwood (a magical, intelligent plant which is nearly extinct, impervious to magic, and only grows in a few places outside the Agatean Empire, generally on...

discworld.fandom.com

'Like all luggage, it's constantly getting lost and having to track its owner down. It has only one way of overcoming obstacles, and that is by simply ignoring them and smashing a hole through them..'

I'd be happy to have the late-lamented TP ahead of me with his hole-boring luggage. If he were behind me, I'd be watching my back.

 

[MinaKamina]

Unicycles? I recommend one of these:

 

[Camino Chrissy]

I have recently been entertained by a number of people showing of their skills (youtube) on electric gyro stablised unicycles. Fast, dangerous, exciting.

This my first post here so try a wikipedia search for electric unicycle.

Neat hu! And maybe if I was 20 years younger.

But could’t that be a bag carrier? Load it up like a modern mule? How long could to go at a regular walking pace?

Blimey, here comes the future.

Has anyone tied this?

Hi @Deavain,
Welcome to this forum; all things related to the Camino, and then some.
I'm not sure if your question is serious or not, but hey ho, it never hurts to daydream! Your post has already generated a bit of entertaining reading for me as members have already chimed in with a few interesting comments, so thanks!

 

[VNwalking]

I recommend one of these:

But can Spot keep up? It'd be a bummer to have to wait for your robot.

 

[peregrino_tom]

Little did I realise when I woke up this morning that I would experience a paradigm shift in imagining how we might walk the camino....
but found this fella on youtube
Of course, we'd need a whole network of charging points and a complete reconfiguration of albergue dormitories, and it would be an awful shame if it wasn't smart enough to dodge out of the way of cyclists...

 

[chinacat]

Little did I realise when I woke up this morning that I would experience a paradigm shift in imagining how we might walk the camino....
but found this fella on youtube
Of course, we'd need a whole network of charging points and a complete reconfiguration of albergue dormitories, and it would be an awful shame if it wasn't smart enough to dodge out of the way of cyclists...

Wonder how it would cope with the descent from Alto de Perdon?

 

[Corned Beef]

Wonder how it would cope with the descent from Alto de Perdon?

Depends which model. A group could chip in to purchase a BigDog. The bit on the ice makes you want to do something - even though it is a machine.

 

[Camino Chrissy]

Depends which model. A group could chip in to purchase a Big Dog.

Or a new business could be started in competition with the horses for rent heading up to O Cebreiro. I wonder what 10 Big Dogs would cost to invest in...anyone wanna "bite" on that?

 

[Albertagirl]

This thread is hilarious. Thanks for the giggle. It will be a warm day today in Calgary, almost up to zero Celsius. After a long and challenging camino, I have decided that I must carry less to be able to walk further long caminos. Luggage carriers, of whatever type, are not an option on the more obscure and interesting routes. The problem becomes what to leave behind, when walking in more than one season and climate: me staggering out of Valencia on the Levante with a pack of carefully chosen garments and gear, most of which I shall not be needing for a month and a half. I never did wear the rain pants which I carried. One possibility: search online in Spanish outdoor stores (Decathlon?) and choose a couple of garments to be purchased after the first 1,000 kms have put me into a cooler and wetter climate. If I then dump some warm weather garments, I might be able to manage the whole walk with a smaller and lighter pack. This should be a safer and cheaper option than buying an electric critter to carry my gear.

 

[Miguel de Flandes]

the best traveler’s trick applies to pilgrims as well: take half the amount of clothes, and twice as much money…

Rainpants seem to be quite heavy, but then I’ve only walked june, september and october on the VdlP, I could dig them as only long pants on rainier routes.

Buen camino!
Miguel

 

[hel&scott]

You don't need a gizmo, you just need a fit dedicated companion. For years I was the pack pony on family tramps, being young and fit. This continued on when my daughter was young I often ended up carring her as well as the surplus gear.

Time passes and now my lovely strong girl carries the surplus weight to help her old Ma along the Camino.

 

[alexwalker]

Welcome to the Forum!

FYI, most pilgrims use a (light) backpack.

 

[psgerboc]

Unicycles? I recommend one of these:

This thing is terrifying!

 

[JennyH94]

Several of us here on the Forum use hiking trailers - I also have a Spot (created by a wonderful friend who happens to be a fellow Forum member) and he’s much more handsome than Robotic Spot! Here he is on the CF in 2019:



He packs down into a medium-sized suitcase which makes international travel from Australia really easy. At my starting point I assemble him, get all my camino gear into my backpack and then post the suitcase with my non-camino gear to Santiago.

He holds 4 litres of water with no trouble (also the occasional bottle of Rioja!) and I’ve often taken bags of items for pilgrims I’ve walked with to help lighten the weight of their packs.

Once I finish my camino I collect said suitcase, Spot goes back in the suitcase after a lovely shower and off I go on the rest of my travels - job done!

I couldn’t contemplate a camino without him - he and his creator have given me back my Camino walking life after a bike injury to my shoulder in 2015 made wearing a backpack too painful due to my collarbone being pinned and plated. I am so very grateful to them both.

Cheers from Oz -
Jenny

 

[Former member 99290]

@JennyH94 Yeah. I was hoping you would appear on this thread with a photo of trusty Spot! Love it!! Or, should I say 'him / her'?

 

[Camino Chrissy]

Yes, and @David is the Camino angel and your good friend, @JennyH94, I believe who made Spot for you.

 

[The Yukon]

Several of us here on the Forum use hiking trailers - I also have a Spot (created by a wonderful friend who happens to be a fellow Forum member) and he’s much more handsome than Robotic Spot! Here he is on the CF in 2019:

View attachment 114663

He packs down into a medium-sized suitcase which makes international travel from Australia really easy. At my starting point I assemble him, get all my camino gear into my backpack and then post the suitcase with my non-camino gear to Santiago.

He holds 4 litres of water with no trouble (also the occasional bottle of Rioja!) and I’ve often taken bags of items for pilgrims I’ve walked with to help lighten the weight of their packs.

Once I finish my camino I collect said suitcase, Spot goes back in the suitcase after a lovely shower and off I go on the rest of my travels - job done!

I couldn’t contemplate a camino without him - he and his creator have given me back my Camino walking life after a bike injury to my shoulder in 2015 made wearing a backpack too painful due to my collarbone being pinned and plated. I am so very grateful to them both.

Cheers from Oz -
Jenny

A very rainy day on the road in Fatima today left me time to generate the following conclusion: A techno unicycle and Spot - two far superior options for carrying luggage than a penny farthing.

 

[Sue127]

Depends which model. A group could chip in to purchase a BigDog. The bit on the ice makes you want to do something - even though it is a machine.

I actually find that quite scary!

 

[Rick of Rick and Peg]

I actually find that quite scary!

This may make you like them more. Or maybe not.

 

[cbacino]

I have recently been entertained by a number of people showing of their skills (youtube) on electric gyro stablised unicycles. Fast, dangerous, exciting.

This my first post here so try a wikipedia search for electric unicycle.

Neat hu! And maybe if I was 20 years younger.

But could’t that be a bag carrier? Load it up like a modern mule? How long could to go at a regular walking pace?

Blimey, here comes the future.

Has anyone tied this?

Wouldn’t it be simpler-easier just to carry less stuff?

 

[Bert45]

A much cheaper solution than the Spot of JennyH94 is a shopping trolley. I met a chap on the Portugués who bought one in Porto as the first thing he did (€17, I think). He put all his stuff in the bag and wheeled it to Santiago. He left it behind at the airport, I believe. I use a folding "festival trolley" that weighs 2.5 kg which I can get on a Ryanair flight with 7.5 kg of gear as carry on luggage. One usually lasts for most of a camino. Sometimes repairs are needed en route.

 

[Former member 99290]

I like that Spot is attached via a waistband - a hands free solution - and a proven performer after quite a few Caminos. @JennyH94 will set me straight if that’s not right

 

[JabbaPapa]

But could’t that be a bag carrier? Load it up like a modern mule? How long could to go at a regular walking pace?

Blimey, here comes the future.

Has anyone tied this?

Nothing wrong with the idea as such -- though for the purposes of obtaining a Compostela, assistance from mechanised devices like this one is allowed only to those pilgrims with an officially recognised handicap.

 

[chinacat]

Depends which model. A group could chip in to purchase a BigDog. The bit on the ice makes you want to do something - even though it is a machine.

At about +2.30 it looks as if someone has had that machine in a menage, schooling it in dressage ….
Weird …

 

[Bert45]

Nothing wrong with the idea as such -- though for the purposes of obtaining a Compostela, assistance from mechanised devices like this one is allowed only to those pilgrims with an officially recognised handicap.

What about assistance from Correos or Jacotrans carrying bags to the next albergue or hotel? Nobody at the Pilgrim Office asks if you carried all your gear for the last 100 km.

 

[Deavain]

I looked at the ”how to ride” videos...

Based on that, it looks like you could control them with a walking pole!

? Jenny, does Spot get pushed or pulled?

Then, if you put a frame around a powered wheel then you could have a powered cart, which if you wore with roller blades would take you all the way to the end of the world.

Interesting though, if I doThe Meseta again I might like to learn how to ride one.

Also I travel with a guitar, which makes my load a little lighter, but my pack a little heaver. Will that count as a handy cap?

I shall go investigate...

 

[JabbaPapa]

What about assistance from Correos or Jacotrans carrying bags to the next albergue or hotel? Nobody at the Pilgrim Office asks if you carried all your gear for the last 100 km.

The rule is specifically about motorised assistance while walking.

Perhaps the Jacotrans, and those walking in tour groups with a support vehicle, and so on should be subjected to similar, or not -- but the exemption is intended to cover handicapped persons with motorised wheelchairs or using a car to assist their walking, or an electric bicycle or whatnot, so it's weirdly specific.

 

[JillGat]

It may not be fast, dangerous or as exciting, but wouldn't it be simpler and cheaper just to bring less stuff with you?

Party pooper.

 

[VNwalking]

At about +2.30 it looks as if someone has had that machine in a menage, schooling it in dressage ….

Actually that thing looks like a spider who's lost 4 legs. It gives me the creeps. I'll carry my stuff myself, thanks!

But thank you for the chuckle, @chinacat. Yeah, in the snow, that collected trot is close to a passage. Mechanical spider dressage, anyone?

Interesting though, if I doThe Meseta again I might like to learn how to ride one.

Also I travel with a guitar,

Boy, it'd be a real bummer to fall on the guitar

One of the fat-wheeled versions might not be a bad idea.

 

[Paladina]

Party pooper.

Is that a pooper scoop?

 

[geraldkelly]

Walk the Camino, carry your stuff, if you complicate things you'll end up regretting it.

 

[Tessera]

Depends which model. A group could chip in to purchase a BigDog. The bit on the ice makes you want to do something - even though it is a machine.

OMG the NOISE...! No thank you!

 

[chinacat]

But thank you for the chuckle, @chinacat. Yeah, in the snow, that collected trot is close to a passage. Mechanical spider dressage, anyone?

 

[Rick of Rick and Peg]

OMG the NOISE...! No thank you!

The military thought so too. Word is that BigDog is currently working on a farm upstate.