Trail guards process — Yahir Palmas-Solano

Area of focus

Working in retail, I was able to observe just how mast is created in one day from poly-mailers. With that in mind, my design partner and I put our passions for outdoor gear together to design a practical solution that would extend the life of the poly-mailers.

We created the Trail Guards, a solution that used the recycled poly-mailers to their fullest.

In 2018, the EPA found that the United States plastics generation was at 35.7 million tons with a recycling rate of 8.7%.

Target Group

Hiking gaiters are primarly used on outdoor treks where hikers can expect wet and muddy conditions. When we started desigining the Trail Guards, we focused this group of people that needed tough and durable protecting around their ankle area to keep the elements outside of their shoes.

Gaiters are also commonly used to protect against snake bites!

Market Analysis
Outdoor gaiters come in many different variations for different use cases. We looked at gaiters from different activity categories, such as light weight running gaiters and heavy duty backpacker gaiters.

Fastening systems were neccassary for a good fit, we wanted to make sure that they would not slide down your leg.

For a further better fit, we decided that we needed to include a bungee that wrapped and hooked around the shoe.

We adapted a design that had a open-back, allowing the user to slide their leg through easier.

Fabrication
To fuse the polymailers together, we cut and layered them on top of each other. We used an old clothes iron to slowly heat them, applying even pressure for a proper fusion.

Fusing the poly-mailers together

Using the custom pattern to cut the
shape out of the fused material

Sowing the cut pieces together

Initial test fits, we found that they were too snall and ended up adding more material

Final Trail Guards demo

Yahir Palmas-Solano

Index