Outside the Box Thinking: Fire Extinguishers - Part II

Traditional fire extinguishers, in the home, have a big problem to overcome to make them more effective. Their design.

In Part I, we featured Samsung’s unique Firevase concept, which the Korean company developed as part of an awareness campaign. Samsung’s creative team found the design of traditional fire extinguishers are a pain point for many home consumers. The traditional fire extinguisher looks like it belongs in a factory, which looks out of place in a home setting. As a result, they often get shoved into the backs of cabinets or closets, out of easy reach when they might be needed. Samsung’s Firevase was designed to be attractively placed out in the open in a home environment.

Czech architect Premysl Kokes identified the same problem and came up with an entirely different solution (HT: Core77). The following one-minute long video introduces a product that imagines a new form factor for well-established fire extinguisher technology:

Kokes’ design, the Hussechuck and Shield fire extinguisher, is meant to be seen in the home as a piece of art that can be openly placed on any wall where it can be easily and quickly accessed. Unlike the Firevase, it is available for sale. European consumers can buy it at Amplla’s web site. Plus, it’s tough to fault its “coolness” factor. We suspect consumers who buy this product can probably see themselves fighting small fires the way Vikings or Captain America might.

It may have a downside in being a “handed” product. If you’re right-handed, for example, having to use a unit made for a left-handed person may slow down your response time to put out a fire, and vice-versa.

Compared with the Firevase, we have to give the edge in utility to Kokes’ Hussechuck and Shield fire extinguisher concept. In addition to being a real product that can be bought, it is very likely much more capable in suppressing fires. One of our readers paid close attention to Samsung’s promotional video and what they saw raises a good question about how capable the Firevase might be at putting out fires:

Seems like Samsung might have a good idea – if only they had shown the extinguisher actually extinguishing a fire. The 3 examples that they show at 2:22 to 2:25, do not show the fire going out. They prematurely stopped the video from showing that for all three.

That may be exactly why the Firevase never made to the marketplace. There are however other products similar to it in concept that have, but which raise similar questions about their fire-fighting capabilities. For more about some of those products, check out TylerTube’s video putting them to the test!