Xinhua
Shanghai_Star
page11  2006-12-7

Dad's baby bag

NEW YORK - A US handbag manufacturer is trying to make changing diapers a bit more macho - with a baby bag made from lorry and tractor tyre inner tubes.

Richmond, Virginia based Passchal has designed a "Dad's baby bag" made from recycled inner tubes, trimmed with hemp,and fitted with a battery operated light to help locate that soother somewhere at the bottom of the bag.

Designer Angela Greene said the inspiration for the bag came after a female client asked if she could make a baby bag for her husband to use.

Ken Kobrick, owner of Passchal, said the "Dad's baby bag," priced at about US$175,was the latest in a line of bags that his company made from used lorry and tractor tyre inner tubes.

The company gets old inner tubes from tyre centres in Virginia and nearby states which are then put through a cleaning process that can take up to three days of soaking in a cleaning solution before being made into a bag.