This portable handrail grabber for public transportation on Kickstarter is either totally ridiculous or fairly clever. August 20, 2013 1:40 PM PDT This portable public transportation handle may have mixed appeal. (Credit: Justin Choy) In a perfect world, everyone would have a seat on public transportation, but sometimes you're packed in like sardines on a bus or crammed in sideways into a mass of humanity on a subway. In those instances, you usually end up hanging onto a handrail. Justin Choy has dealt with too many similar situations, so he invented the Rail Reach and launched it as a Kickstarter project that some people will find practical and others will find amusing. It's a foldable device that attaches to a handrail to keep your hands off the surface and make riding a crowded bus more comfortable. I'm fairly short, so I can see the appeal of having a device that extends my reach and prevents by shoulder socket from screaming while I'm hanging on for dear life as the bus rounds a corner. Usually, I just worm my way to a side rail to deal with this. The Rail Reach is also positioned as a product for germaphobes, but misses the mark a bit in this department. The same part that hangs onto the handrail folds down and clips over the handle, offering a prime opportunity to transfer those germs that some people are so concerned about. A small non-folding version comes at the $10 pledge level, while the standard folding version goes for a $15 pledge. What do you think about the Rail Reach? Is it an oddball Kickstarter project lacking wide appeal, or a simple solution to an annoying public transit problem? The Rail Reach in action. (Credit: Justin Choy)
This portable handrail grabber for public transportation on Kickstarter is either totally ridiculous or fairly clever.
This portable public transportation handle may have mixed appeal.
(Credit: Justin Choy)
In a perfect world, everyone would have a seat on public transportation, but sometimes you're packed in like sardines on a bus or crammed in sideways into a mass of humanity on a subway. In those instances, you usually end up hanging onto a handrail.
Justin Choy has dealt with too many similar situations, so he invented the Rail Reach and launched it as a Kickstarter project that some people will find practical and others will find amusing. It's a foldable device that attaches to a handrail to keep your hands off the surface and make riding a crowded bus more comfortable.
I'm fairly short, so I can see the appeal of having a device that extends my reach and prevents by shoulder socket from screaming while I'm hanging on for dear life as the bus rounds a corner. Usually, I just worm my way to a side rail to deal with this.
The Rail Reach is also positioned as a product for germaphobes, but misses the mark a bit in this department. The same part that hangs onto the handrail folds down and clips over the handle, offering a prime opportunity to transfer those germs that some people are so concerned about.
A small non-folding version comes at the $10 pledge level, while the standard folding version goes for a $15 pledge. What do you think about the Rail Reach? Is it an oddball Kickstarter project lacking wide appeal, or a simple solution to an annoying public transit problem?
The Rail Reach in action.
(Credit: Justin Choy)
