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If IKEA Made Geeky Furniture Part 21: Supply Crate Footlockers
So there are many names for this container: military footlocker, chest, trunk, tool case, storage container, and on and on. They all serve the same purpose: storage! But for this post I’ll refer to this box as a footlocker, which is appropriate given its usage here.
This footlocker design is based on the ammo supply crates from Half Life 2. There are many other games that have similar supply/ammo crates like Red Faction and Borderlands, but Half Life 2 would be my personal choice for a footlocker.
In theory such a footlocker would be a life-size replica of its video game counterpart, give or take a few inches.
I actually spent a lot of time over the last few months attempting to make this very footlocker for myself. My hope was to find a similar-looking storage case and just paint it, but I had zero luck finding anything comparable.*
What I would love about having such a footlocker is that it can be placed anywhere, just like in a video game. Regardless of the surrounding decor, this footlocker would seem purposeful and important in any location.
I just worry that gamer folks might instinctively approach the footlocker without thinking! I’m kidding, gamers aren’t that habitual. However this footlocker will call attention to itself, a trait that carries over from the game.
Alas there are no geeky storage containers like this in existence. I hope that can rectified in the near future.
*I even went to an Army Surplus store looking for a military footlocker but had no luck. There are lots of cool military cases available online (like this), but nothing I could affix all the labels and stripes to. The closest I saw were antique army footlockers but those were in rough shape. In the end I opted to grab a few Rubbermaid containers for all my junk.
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Geeky Gadget Wish List #8: Video Game Medkits
So not a gadget exactly. I am trying not to replicate the type of gadget right now, opting to showcase a variety of products. In the future, I will be showing ‘duplicates’ of ideas posted, meaning more alarm clocks, usb gadgets, and so forth.
Today’s item is a First-Aid kit in the guise of a video game ‘medkit’. This could either be hung on the wall in the bathroom or kitchen, serving as an emergency kit. Or it can simply be a small medicine cabinet to store all your hygiene wares by the bathroom sink. A small, compact version could be issued for use as a travel kit. Either way, you can treat yourself like you’ve been through war.
The example illustrated above is from Half Life 2. Many other games have their own unique health kits; such as Halo, Splinter Cell, Call of Duty, etc.
There might be some legal hurdles with this one…litigious people might see this as a toy inviting to toddlers, or completely overlooked in an emergency. That’s what disclaimers are for! Of all the ideas I have presented, this could very well be the cheapest - the equivalent of mass-producing lunch boxes or DVD tin cases. It’s just a fancy First-Aid box, after all.
