A friend of mine recently had her bag stolen whilst she was shopping in a supermarket. A few seconds inattention and somebody lifted it out of her trolley and made their escape. I think that a very low powered radio transmitter built into the bag sending a regular, say once a second, signal to a key fob receiver or somesuch could provide some deterrent against this sort of thing. If the transmitter doesn't receive a response from the responder then an alarm is triggered in the bag. Neither transmitter or responder need be very large, and could probably be powered (even the alarm) by a watch battery, so could be designed as, ooh I don't know, a watch perhaps? Feel free to m-f-d if this has already been invented. I couldn't find anything from a quick search but I didn't look too thoroughly I must admit.-- DrBob, Apr 22 2004 Baked for phones http://blog.scifi.c...creaming_phone.html [mrthingy, Sep 16 2006] I mustard mit a good idea baked or not [+]-- skinflaps, Apr 22 2004 personalised alarm say the theme from "I got High" as these alarms would be going off all over the place.
what if your alarm is sounding from inside the jacket of that great 240lb gorilla thats just heading outta the door?-- po, Apr 22 2004 It could mimic stores' shoplifting alarms.-- FarmerJohn, Apr 22 2004 I own a motion detector device that screams bloody murder when moved too vigorously. It came out of that generation of personal alarms that went off when you pulled the pin as you were getting mugged. It's got a keypad to disarm it. I think PAL was the trade name of the company.-- normzone, Apr 22 2004 Neato. +-- sartep, Apr 23 2004 I've seen a similar proximity type item to help keep track of kids.-- Salted Nuts, Apr 23 2004 Is that the one where their heads explode if they go past a certain point?-- Lacus Trasumenus, Apr 23 2004 Toadinnov, re: link. Yes that’s the kind of thing that I’m thinking of, although they have put the alarm in the fob rather than the object being stolen. I would have thought that that is of limited use as it tells you that your stuff has been nicked but not where it is now. po, I always go armed with a bunch of banana's for dealing with such situations.-- DrBob, Apr 23 2004 does it work?-- po, Apr 23 2004 Hasn't failed yet.-- DrBob, Apr 23 2004 Can it have one of those exploding indelible ink packets in it too, please. Perhaps filled with strongly scented ink so they smell like the proverbial tart's handbag? +-- squeak, Apr 23 2004 No it can't. I don't want to haul down some thieving little bag snatcher only to find that all my stuff is now covered in ink and stink. Pooey! <holds nose in disgust>-- DrBob, Apr 23 2004 I was hoping this would be an alarming bag which catches fire when grabbed - and on stomping out the fire the thief discovers it is full of dog poop! Smoldering dog poop! Heh! But it wasn't that.-- bungston, Apr 23 2004 The robber could still steal the stuff in the purse and throw the purse away.-- Dr Brain, May 15 2006 True but they would have to stop and have a rummage through first, thus giving the victim time to catch up with them and either a) beat them to a pulp or b) get a good look at them for later identification.-- DrBob, Sep 13 2006 Bag with shoulder strap?
Also, if the signal to the key fob is based on proximity (is it?) it won't work for me. I keep my keys in my bag (not much point having a bag if you're gonna distribute your personal possessions about said person).-- squeak, Sep 13 2006 random, halfbakery