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Water Bottle Parachutes

Drop them off!
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I am thinking about how thirsty folks must be in Haiti and how tempting it must be to drink some water out of of a pool. Supposedly it is hard to get water in because roads are down.

I propose that individual water bottles be airdropped over the city. Plastic water bottles have a rasied ridge on the neck, and this would be used to anchor a parachute made of thread and bright paper. Advantages:

1: Plastic bottles of water are cheap and readily available. 2: Airdrop distribution does not put all eggs in one basket - if some bottles lodge in trees or atop unstable buildings, so be it. If parachute fails and bottle falls, OK. 3: Parachute technology is easy and cheap. 4: Clean water could get into city / roadless areas within hours.

bungston, Jan 15 2010

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       // Earthquake drills don't really prepare you for this kind of stuff do they ? //   

       The good ones do. Japan copes much better.
8th of 7, Jan 15 2010
  

       [Quest], going in to conquer Haiti, therefore violating many international treaties, may not be the best of ideas, I think.
DrWorm, Jan 16 2010
  

       good argument but right now helpless souls, children, people not in power, are victims of a random tragedy and are hurting just like someone we know and love would be.   

       I marvel at 'We're missionarys and our asses are on the next plane out of here beating the Haitians off with a stick'. A missionary in need is ... Outta here. What? Let's all go on a vacation helping people unless they have an earthquake. God said 'beat it' I guess. Mother theresa they ain't. (Hi, Po) (This ain't no chat room.)
Mustardface, Jan 16 2010
  

       This might work in Palestine, but in Haiti the bottles would bounce right off their deforested hillsides into the ocean.   

       Alternately, start airdrops of those shipping containers that have piled up on docksides worldwide and you'll be offering vital materials and useable shelters. Or, maybe they'll bounce down the same hillsides.
reensure, Jan 16 2010
  

       I think it's a great idea... and the prisons are full of idle hands who could spend their time sewing up the little parachutes to build up reserves, instead of making mail bags. big plus from me
xenzag, Jan 16 2010
  

       Good idea, let's do it! Please no more talk of superpowers, I'm getting a headache.
zeno, Jan 16 2010
  

       [21] Except that they'd be in much better shape if it weren't for the guidance and control (sp. looting, exploitation and interference) they've already experienced.   

       If they were to vote for association with another country, that's one thing. They've already had several rounds of occupation by various countries and, guess what, it didn't help.
MechE, Jan 16 2010
  

       //but a country small enough to be completely wiped out by a single earthquake really shouldn't be self-governing//
Yes, the British took the same line with a colony that pitched up on a foreign continent with more shoes than livestock, and only made it through their first winters with the help of the aborigines, which they then proceeded to persecute.
Doesn't history take some funny turns [21]?
AbsintheWithoutLeave, Jan 16 2010
  

       But they hadn't had 200 years to prove that they could self govern.
Selky, Jan 17 2010
  

       // Australia's motivations //
I wasn't talking about the Aussies.
AbsintheWithoutLeave, Jan 17 2010
  

       Maybe all aid should be removed until they remove the road bloacks, and actually allow aid to get where it is needed.
Selky, Jan 17 2010
  

       //this would be used to anchor a parachute made of thread and bright paper//   

       And when these are deployed at stall speed from a garden variety cargo plane:   

       1. The wind sheer will detach the parachute from the .5 liter bottle of water   

       2. The .5 liter bottle of water will convert it's horizontally vectored 1200 joules (approximately) to a more vertically (and haitianly directed) vectored 1200 joules.   

       3. Upon impact, the majority of the water will not be absorbed as intended.   

       4. As the parachutes, (free of their respective cargoes), float lazily to the ground, the unconscious beneficiaries of your charity will fail to appreciate the color.   

       I will bun this idea, however, if footage of your "relief efforts" are made available on pay-per-view.
MikeD, Jan 17 2010
  

       [+] Reluctantly I will bun it due to my agreement with what was said about the rioting and then also there is the possibility of price gouging if the outlaws forcibly control the majority of the supply drop. You would have to drop enough water to the point where the people don't want to see another parachute or plastic bottle for the rest of their lives.
Jscotty, Jan 19 2010
  
      
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