Shithole Country Spawns Horrifying Innovation: The LifeTote - A bulletproof shopping bag

[DrForester]

Teen creates bag that doubles as body armor

Trent Bush, 18, had the idea after feeling uncomfortable walking into the grocery store and other public spaces after the shooting at a King Soopers in 2021.

www.9news.com

A teenager from Boulder has created an invention that he wishes he didn't have to – a grocery bag that doubles as a bulletproof vest.

Eighteen-year-old Trent Bush was in his senior year of high school when 10 people were shot and killed inside the Boulder Table Mesa King Soopers. A month after that tragedy, Bush came up with the idea for a tote bag that could turn into body armor.



In order to execute the idea, he taught himself to sew during the midst of the pandemic. He created a prototype that would later turn into "LifeTote."

"I never thought I would design something like this, and it is super unfortunate that tragedy had to happen for me to think of this idea," said Bush.

The tote was created with a breakaway zipper, so in the case of an emergency, you can easily dismantle it. Once it's no longer in bag form, it slips over your head and is secured into place around the chest and back.

"It does make me feel more comfortable in the grocery store. That's kind of why I designed it in the first place. After the King Soopers shooting, it felt off going anywhere public or with a lot of people, especially the grocery store," said Bush.

LifeTote is one-size-fits-all and allows you to adjust it when worn. The inside of the tote has flaps with layers of Kevlar, a type of fabric that catches and stops a deployed bullet.

Click to shrink...

 

[nsilvias]

and i thought schools that required clear backpacks when i was a kid was wild.

 

[TheBiInBilingual]

So thankful to live in a country where this shit isn't thought of, let alone needed.

Horrifying.

 

[PAFenix]

"I never thought I would design something like this, and it is super unfortunate that tragedy had to happen for me to think of this idea," said Bush.

Click to shrink...

I read this as him really wanting to say what the real issue is, but coats it like this instead so as to not be branded as a crisis actor.

 

[JigglesBunny]

Totally makes more sense than just, I don't know, not letting people easily procure firearms.

 

[vixolus]

Wheres my bulletproof n95 mask

 

[Tokyo_Funk]

Reminds me of when I read about schoolbags with plate and kevlar not long ago.

Wait...

One check and yeah, they're still around, and oh boy there's an EMOJI bag, because that's what you want when you're being shot at. Fucking EMOJIS

 

[Pluto]

It's really sad that the US as a country does so little to protect its citizens from violent death that a kid has to design a bulletproof bag to feel safe while buying food.

 

[Deleted member 2802]

💩 🕳️

 

[Lobster Roll]

"Necessity is the mother of invention". And with that in mind, it's a perfect reflection on how fucked & lost this country is.

 

[Kreim]

like some absurd mega city one levels of parody

 

[Donos]

Wheres my bulletproof n95 mask

Click to shrink...

Wasn't there a bullet proof school table and backpack already? Sad times.

 

[DiipuSurotu]

In the days after the mass shooting at the King Soopers on Table Mesa Drive, everything about Boulder felt off.

But the general anxiety and sadness that permeated the city got Trent Bush Jr. thinking.

"I was just thinking about what could be done to save people and help in that situation," he said. "There's not a whole lot of options."

Click to shrink...

Within a week or two of the shooting, Bush, an 18-year-old who graduated from Boulder High School last year, came up with the idea for a tote bag that can be used for groceries or other items but also unzips and transforms into a Kevlar vest that can be slipped over a person's head. That idea has now become LifeTote, a company he recently launched with his friends.

Once Bush worked with his dad to help figure out the system, he taught himself to sew so he could design prototypes. After developing prototypes, he is now working with Axxes Industries, a Lafayette-based company, to help create the initial launch.

Click to shrink...

He doesn't have any outside investors for LifeTote and said he used several thousand of his own dollars to help fund the idea. Bush also teamed up with his friends, Nick Johnson and Nathan Steinmann, who helped with marketing, building the website and other business-related work.

For Steinmann, an 18-year-old Boulder High graduate, the fact that his friend came up with the idea — in response to the King Soopers shooting, in which 10 people died — at least partially influenced his decision to get involved.

Click to shrink...

More at:

In wake of King Soopers shooting, Boulder High graduate creates tote bag that can transform into Kevlar vest

Within a week or two of the King Soopers shooting, Trent Bush Jr., an 18-year-old who graduated from Boulder High School last year, came up with the idea for a tote bag that can be used for groceri…

www.dailycamera.com

Lock if old

 

[Gay Bowser]

Well, that's depressing as fuck.

 

[elLOaSTy]

It's unfathomable how sad it is we need this. This country isn't going to make it if we can't see what a huge problem this is and solve it.

 

[NickatNite]

Pretty damn cool.

But sad.

 

[WereSalamander]

"This is a necessary tradeoff for FREEDUMB"

 

[Glio]

This is the saddest thing that I have read this week

 

[Antrax]

Very grim product from a very bright student

 

[Tfritz]

ariana grande was right, i hate america.

 

[Deleted member102676]

I almost impulse pre-ordered one for my 9yo. :(

 

[8bit]

/nottheonion

Also, that's bleak as fuck.

 

[Pai Pai Master]

no one else is doing shit for these kids so of course it's just left up to them to protect themselves from America's sickness with guns

we live in a fucking twisted cruel world

 

[LostSkullKid]

Well yeah, that's totally fucking normal.

 

[KtotheRoc]

Totally understandable, and that's horrifying...

 

[Dr. Monkey]

We won't do anything about guns, so we have to figure out how to make everyone bulletproof all the time. fuck this place.

 

[Parch]

I fully support changing the name from United States to Shithole Country.

 

[mbpm]

Modern problems require modern solutions (because we can't actually solve those deeper problems)

 

[chefbags]

Yeah if I was in high school now I really would get one of these for myself. Cause this fucking country just sucks that much.

 

[PeakPointMatrix]

Anything, literally anything instead of the most minor gun control. Let's just skip the padding and start outfitting students with body armor and camo uniforms.

 

[echoshifting]

I am considering reserving one. Need more info about the stopping power. The top-of-the-line backpacks have exceptional stopping power and are effective against virtually any caliber. They are very lightweight too and legal everywhere.

 

[III-V]

gun thing we can all have unlimited guns and even bring them everywhere in some states COOL

 

[Watchtower]

Reminds me of when I read about schoolbags with plate and kevlar not long ago.

Wait...

One check and yeah, they're still around, and oh boy there's an EMOJI bag, because that's what you want when you're being shot at. Fucking EMOJIS

Click to shrink...

My dad actually gave me a bulletproof insert for my backpack before I went to college. Tried using it for a while but stopped one because it quickly proved unnecessary at my campus and two because it fucking sucks lugging it around. Like it does nothing but make it a few pounds heavier and more uncomfortable to wear all for the very slim chance that I cross paths with an active shooter and I can quickly turn it or myself around to shield myself and said shooter hits no other exposed part of me.

Just fucking awful that it keeps coming to this, living in such a crapsack world that we applaud ourselves for inventing new ways to make up for the failures of the governing bodies.

 

[AlgusUnderdunk]

Reminds me of when I read about schoolbags with plate and kevlar not long ago.

Wait...

One check and yeah, they're still around, and oh boy there's an EMOJI bag, because that's what you want when you're being shot at. Fucking EMOJIS

Click to shrink...

Yes we live in a dystopian hellscape where children are required to wear body armor if they want to survive the increasingly likely chances of a shooting where they are, but on the plus side, now you can have branded gear with Minions on it!

 

[themoralcenter]

Teen creates bag that doubles as body armor

Trent Bush, 18, had the idea after feeling uncomfortable walking into the grocery store and other public spaces after the shooting at a King Soopers in 2021.

www.9news.com

Click to shrink...

Look shit hole or not there are things that can be done to make it better.. this person is looking at a band aid and thats better than nothing. Obviously gun control rules can be stricter but it aint happening, so figure out how it goes from there local county state is the only way THEN it goes national

 

[ResetSoul]

"What an enterprising young man!"

VS.

"Why was this necessary in the first place?"

 

[Cheesebu]

The fact that half of you are agreeing that you need this is the entire point of exploitative products like this. Fear is a commodity.

 

[Tokyo_Funk]

Yes we live in a dystopian hellscape where children are required to wear body armor if they want to survive the increasingly likely chances of a shooting where they are, but on the plus side, now you can have branded gear with Minions on it!

Click to shrink...

Why fix the problem when the solution can be sold? Then again, the problem is so rooted into the culture it's not something that can be resolved over night.

My dad actually gave me a bulletproof insert for my backpack before I went to college. Tried using it for a while but stopped one because it quickly proved unnecessary at my campus and two because it fucking sucks lugging it around. Like it does nothing but make it a few pounds heavier and more uncomfortable to wear all for the very slim chance that I cross paths with an active shooter and I can quickly turn it or myself around to shield myself and said shooter hits no other exposed part of me.

Just fucking awful that it keeps coming to this, living in such a crapsack world that we applaud ourselves for inventing new ways to make up for the failures of the governing bodies.

Click to shrink...

Yeah I was annoyed enough in the Army lugging around basic kevlar, but it should never come to this. Just the thought of ever having to wear it, or any kind of plate armour outside of a conflict/police work is parodical. I often consider myself lucky that I live in a place where I can go get an education without having my head on a swivel or the thought of an active shooter is not something that ever comes to mind. I feel nothing but sorrow for the people that grow up in such a place where it is a constant occurrence.