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#1
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New Ski Pole Technology
I am a student at Northwestern University conducting a marketing
research study on heated ski poles (basically, a normal ski pole with heated grips). Any thoughts on this technology? Do you think it would prevent people who get cold on the slopes from cutting their ski days short? |
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#2
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New Ski Pole Technology
"kevlaz" wrote in message
om... I am a student at Northwestern University conducting a marketing research study on heated ski poles (basically, a normal ski pole with heated grips). Any thoughts on this technology? I'm sure it's technically feasible, but... Do you think it would prevent people who get cold on the slopes from cutting their ski days short? ....no. Are you proposing that skiers take their gloves off to warm them on the pole handles? Not likely. When I've occasionally had cold hands (like in Brecken[f]ridge, late January this year) it's been mainly the little finger, and that has minimal contact with the pole anyway. Better gloves, massage while on the lift, or conventional hand-warmers are the answer, IMHO. Steve Pardoe England |
#3
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New Ski Pole Technology
It is an intrigueing idea, and I kind of like it... The fact is, for many
people the first thing to get cold is their extremities, forcing them to take more frequent breaks to warm up, or cut the day short altogether. I follow the logic. Unfortunately, I think you will have a poor time executing the engineering required for a good ROI. First, if the intent is to use the "Pocket Hand Warmers", they do not emit sufficient heat to warm the hands from OUTSIDE the glove (try grabbing a warmer in you glove on a very cold day, and see how much heat actually gets to your hand - this is how "oven mits" work...) Since ski gloves/mittens are fairly well insulated, you have a significant heat transfer issue. That means the pole grips will have to be MUCH warmer than a standard "Pocket Hand Warmer" to cause the desired effect. And if you were going to use the hand warmers to begin with, I can already buy liners with pockets designed specifically for these warmers very cheaply... So I don't think that is a viable option. That brings us to an electric heating element. These exist, and work quite well, but then you need a power source. Most batteries do not work well at very cold temperatures. This can be partially solved through the regenerative heating, so long as the batteries are also located in the grip. Batteries tend to be heavy, and modern pole design trend is towards low swing weight, so you are probably going to have to go with more expensive Li-ion technology. Forget about putting the batteries anywhere but in the grip to minimize your angular momentum from pole swing. I won't even get into battery life and maintenance... So, I can build you a very nice, compact heating element that can fit into a grip, without a huge increase in weight, but it will be relatively expensive, which will limit your market size, which will limit the profit potential. ROI doesn't look good. Not to mention due to the fact that to warm a hand on the inside of an insulated glove from the outside, you need a fairly high surface temperature on the grip. This opens up liability issues, should someone grab the grip without gloves. I can design a "trigger safety", but not a reliable one for cold weather and for the intended use (see MIL-SPEC-810F) that can sense if you have a glove on your hand and adjust the temp accordingly... This is just "top of the head" stuff, but although the idea is a good one, I can't see how you get much ROI if the intent is to produce a product that actually is useful to "real skiers"... Unless you just intend to make a few bucks and get out of the business. Then you can make something that "feels warm" to the touch of a bare hand, breaks after one season, can be produced in a Chinese contract fab shop for 1 cent on the dollar, sell it at ski shows to unintelligent consumers, make your money, then shut down the company and move on to the next scam... "kevlaz" wrote in message om... I am a student at Northwestern University conducting a marketing research study on heated ski poles (basically, a normal ski pole with heated grips). Any thoughts on this technology? Do you think it would prevent people who get cold on the slopes from cutting their ski days short? |
#4
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New Ski Pole Technology
i think you've got a great idea there.. whether they provide more
functionality than disposable hand-warmers is debatable, but it's definitely a status gadget that would have a lot of appeal. poles that have no more functionality than a bamboo stick are being sold here in Whistler for over $100 these days.. and people are buying them! good luck with it, it sounds like a winner to me. "kevlaz" wrote in message om... I am a student at Northwestern University conducting a marketing research study on heated ski poles (basically, a normal ski pole with heated grips). Any thoughts on this technology? Do you think it would prevent people who get cold on the slopes from cutting their ski days short? |
#5
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New Ski Pole Technology
How about butane (or similar fuel) as heat source? Before attacking this on
the safety angle, keep in mind that there are already butane-powered hair curlers on the market. If it can be done safely with a product like that, surely it could be done on ski poles. Butane would generate plenty of heat and the pole itself has enough room for a decent reservoir. Make it trigger-activated as you suggested. Cost to operate would be very reasonable if it were made refillable. -GT "Mark T. Mueller" wrote in message ... It is an intrigueing idea, and I kind of like it... The fact is, for many people the first thing to get cold is their extremities, forcing them to take more frequent breaks to warm up, or cut the day short altogether. I follow the logic. Unfortunately, I think you will have a poor time executing the engineering required for a good ROI. First, if the intent is to use the "Pocket Hand Warmers", they do not emit sufficient heat to warm the hands from OUTSIDE the glove (try grabbing a warmer in you glove on a very cold day, and see how much heat actually gets to your hand - this is how "oven mits" work...) Since ski gloves/mittens are fairly well insulated, you have a significant heat transfer issue. That means the pole grips will have to be MUCH warmer than a standard "Pocket Hand Warmer" to cause the desired effect. And if you were going to use the hand warmers to begin with, I can already buy liners with pockets designed specifically for these warmers very cheaply... So I don't think that is a viable option. That brings us to an electric heating element. These exist, and work quite well, but then you need a power source. Most batteries do not work well at very cold temperatures. This can be partially solved through the regenerative heating, so long as the batteries are also located in the grip. Batteries tend to be heavy, and modern pole design trend is towards low swing weight, so you are probably going to have to go with more expensive Li-ion technology. Forget about putting the batteries anywhere but in the grip to minimize your angular momentum from pole swing. I won't even get into battery life and maintenance... So, I can build you a very nice, compact heating element that can fit into a grip, without a huge increase in weight, but it will be relatively expensive, which will limit your market size, which will limit the profit potential. ROI doesn't look good. Not to mention due to the fact that to warm a hand on the inside of an insulated glove from the outside, you need a fairly high surface temperature on the grip. This opens up liability issues, should someone grab the grip without gloves. I can design a "trigger safety", but not a reliable one for cold weather and for the intended use (see MIL-SPEC-810F) that can sense if you have a glove on your hand and adjust the temp accordingly... This is just "top of the head" stuff, but although the idea is a good one, I can't see how you get much ROI if the intent is to produce a product that actually is useful to "real skiers"... Unless you just intend to make a few bucks and get out of the business. Then you can make something that "feels warm" to the touch of a bare hand, breaks after one season, can be produced in a Chinese contract fab shop for 1 cent on the dollar, sell it at ski shows to unintelligent consumers, make your money, then shut down the company and move on to the next scam... "kevlaz" wrote in message om... I am a student at Northwestern University conducting a marketing research study on heated ski poles (basically, a normal ski pole with heated grips). Any thoughts on this technology? Do you think it would prevent people who get cold on the slopes from cutting their ski days short? |
#6
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New Ski Pole Technology
"dingblade" wrote in message news:EOVWb.36901$QX4.27252@clgrps13...
i think you've got a great idea there.. whether they provide more functionality than disposable hand-warmers is debatable, but it's definitely a status gadget that would have a lot of appeal. poles that have no more functionality than a bamboo stick are being sold here in Whistler for over $100 these days.. and people are buying them! good luck with it, it sounds like a winner to me. "kevlaz" wrote in message om... I am a student at Northwestern University conducting a marketing research study on heated ski poles (basically, a normal ski pole with heated grips). Any thoughts on this technology? Do you think it would prevent people who get cold on the slopes from cutting their ski days short? For someone that actually got into Northwestern, you are a moron. Heated poles? Give me a break. If you need heated poles, get your lame ass of the slopes and go drink your hot chocolate in the bar at the base. Leave the hill to people who actually enjoy the elements and don't need to be pampered. Nitwit. |
#7
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New Ski Pole Technology
"GT" wrote in message m...
How about butane (or similar fuel) as heat source? Before attacking this on the safety angle, keep in mind that there are already butane-powered hair curlers on the market. If it can be done safely with a product like that, surely it could be done on ski poles. Butane would generate plenty of heat and the pole itself has enough room for a decent reservoir. Make it trigger-activated as you suggested. Cost to operate would be very reasonable if it were made refillable. -GT "Mark T. Mueller" wrote in message ... It is an intrigueing idea, and I kind of like it... The fact is, for many people the first thing to get cold is their extremities, forcing them to take more frequent breaks to warm up, or cut the day short altogether. I follow the logic. Unfortunately, I think you will have a poor time executing the engineering required for a good ROI. First, if the intent is to use the "Pocket Hand Warmers", they do not emit sufficient heat to warm the hands from OUTSIDE the glove (try grabbing a warmer in you glove on a very cold day, and see how much heat actually gets to your hand - this is how "oven mits" work...) Since ski gloves/mittens are fairly well insulated, you have a significant heat transfer issue. That means the pole grips will have to be MUCH warmer than a standard "Pocket Hand Warmer" to cause the desired effect. And if you were going to use the hand warmers to begin with, I can already buy liners with pockets designed specifically for these warmers very cheaply... So I don't think that is a viable option. That brings us to an electric heating element. These exist, and work quite well, but then you need a power source. Most batteries do not work well at very cold temperatures. This can be partially solved through the regenerative heating, so long as the batteries are also located in the grip. Batteries tend to be heavy, and modern pole design trend is towards low swing weight, so you are probably going to have to go with more expensive Li-ion technology. Forget about putting the batteries anywhere but in the grip to minimize your angular momentum from pole swing. I won't even get into battery life and maintenance... So, I can build you a very nice, compact heating element that can fit into a grip, without a huge increase in weight, but it will be relatively expensive, which will limit your market size, which will limit the profit potential. ROI doesn't look good. Not to mention due to the fact that to warm a hand on the inside of an insulated glove from the outside, you need a fairly high surface temperature on the grip. This opens up liability issues, should someone grab the grip without gloves. I can design a "trigger safety", but not a reliable one for cold weather and for the intended use (see MIL-SPEC-810F) that can sense if you have a glove on your hand and adjust the temp accordingly... This is just "top of the head" stuff, but although the idea is a good one, I can't see how you get much ROI if the intent is to produce a product that actually is useful to "real skiers"... Unless you just intend to make a few bucks and get out of the business. Then you can make something that "feels warm" to the touch of a bare hand, breaks after one season, can be produced in a Chinese contract fab shop for 1 cent on the dollar, sell it at ski shows to unintelligent consumers, make your money, then shut down the company and move on to the next scam... "kevlaz" wrote in message om... I am a student at Northwestern University conducting a marketing research study on heated ski poles (basically, a normal ski pole with heated grips). Any thoughts on this technology? Do you think it would prevent people who get cold on the slopes from cutting their ski days short? Buy some better gloves. Spend more than $30 dollars you cheap idiot. |
#8
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New Ski Pole Technology
Are you aware that heated handlebars are *extremely* popular on snowmobiles?
Just because you don't see the need for a product doesn't make everyone else an idiot. I don't know where you ski, but here in the Northeast it can get damn cold and forces people inside to warm up. Nothing enjoyable about the elements when the temperature drops below -30. -GT "M" wrote in message om... "dingblade" wrote in message news:EOVWb.36901$QX4.27252@clgrps13... i think you've got a great idea there.. whether they provide more functionality than disposable hand-warmers is debatable, but it's definitely a status gadget that would have a lot of appeal. poles that have no more functionality than a bamboo stick are being sold here in Whistler for over $100 these days.. and people are buying them! good luck with it, it sounds like a winner to me. "kevlaz" wrote in message om... I am a student at Northwestern University conducting a marketing research study on heated ski poles (basically, a normal ski pole with heated grips). Any thoughts on this technology? Do you think it would prevent people who get cold on the slopes from cutting their ski days short? For someone that actually got into Northwestern, you are a moron. Heated poles? Give me a break. If you need heated poles, get your lame ass of the slopes and go drink your hot chocolate in the bar at the base. Leave the hill to people who actually enjoy the elements and don't need to be pampered. Nitwit. |
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