Pig pack up for design award | Northland News | Local News in Northland

By Andr? Hueber

Tired of lugging heavy pig carcasses out of the bush, young Northlander Iain Tolladay knew there had to be a better way to bring home the bacon.

So he designed a harness for carrying wild game.

Not only has his invention made hauling pigs out of the Northland bush easier, it's also earned him a place in a top national design competition and a shot at international business success.

"I've hunted for pigs in the far north since I was 15 and always found it a struggle lugging the carcass out. I thought there could be an opportunity for me here."

The only product the Ahipara 23-year-old could find in a world-wide search was a trolley-like device - hardly practical in the great outdoors.

Mr Tolladay built the `back pack' harness from scratch, which including catching a wild pig and using the porker during the design process.

"I cut the hip belts and straps off an old hiking pack and welded up a basic frame to test the weight distribution. Then I attached a strapping system to test how the pig would be attached to the harness."

After developing his ideas he spoke to hunters and developed a test rig.

"I worked on the form and features of the harness to make it more aesthetically pleasing and spent quite a few hours in the sewing room with a friend who was studying fashion. The fashion girls couldn't believe what I was up to."

The design uses basic tramping pack principles by distributing the weight to the user's hips, allowing carcasses of up to 100kg to be moved. Current carrying techniques can cause neck and back strain and can result in long term injury.

Mr Tolladay is one of four finalists from around the country in the Dyson Product Design Awards, which is open to final-year tertiary students of design, technology or engineering, or graduates in their first five years of work.

He finds out whether he has won at an Auckland ceremony on Thursday week. The winner travels to the UK with $3000 cash and a swag of other prizes.