The Backpacking Cart 'Walk in the Woods' Aerial Uncut Video

There are many products available that allow a person to carry gear on a road or trail. Many of these products are multi-wheel units and few are single-wheel concepts. Regardless, a few minutes on Google and anyone has the ability to find some version of the backpacking cart for sale online. 

The Backpacking Cart is Not a New Concept

Backpacking carts are not a new idea. As we've discussed before, the Chinese invented the Chinese Wheelbarrow that has been around for more than two thousand years. In the last few decades, others have developed various types of carts. These have been advertised for emergency rescues, big game hunting, and more.

We sought to improve the Chinese Wheelbarrow and make a product that actually works well and can serve more than one purpose. If someone is going to invest in a quality product, we want that product to be used. The product's innovation and utility was important for us when we began designing the Honey Badger Wheel.

Backpacking Cart Utilities

Backpacking carts that are on the market today are primarily single-purpose tools. One site sells a hunting cart, another sells a fishing cart, and another advertises a backpacking cart. These are great products, but they are limited in sizing, utilities, features, and benefits. 

Sizing

The Honey Badger frame is one size fits all. We did that by providing a handlebar stem that is adjusted to the user's height. We often receive phone calls asking if one should purchase the wheel that is appropriate to the user's height. This is not necessary unless the user is less than 5'4". For example, the 24" wheel is probably best for kids. On the contrary, the 24" wheel is also great for tall bowhunters who need a small profile to get through the woods. A 24" wheel on a backpack is significantly smaller than a 29er.

In addition to the handlebars, we wanted to build a frame that could fit standard bicycle wheels and a fat bike wheel. This was a challenge. Generally a fat bike wheel's axle width is 135mm. A standard bicycle wheel's axle width is 100mm. So how did we do it? We designed a patented frame that accepts a fat bike wheel - tire, tube, and rim - laced to a standard 32h bicycle hub. It was a challenge to accomplish in the design and manufacturing process, but by doing so the HBW frame accepts any standard bicycle wheel as well as a fat bike wheel.

Utilities

How do you make a backpacking cart a multi-purpose, all-terrain tool? You design the frame completely in CAD, include CNC tooling, and ensure the frame includes all the needed fixtures to convert from hiking cart, to hunting cart, to fishing cart, to all-terrain stroller, and more by simply adding accessories. 

Backpacking Cart

The Honey Badger Wheel design accepts most bicycle panniers as well as many pack animal saddlebags. Both are available for purchase on our website. Since the concept of a hiking cart is not as well-known or seen on the trail, we wanted to film a clip "wheelpacking" in the Utah mountains. For this, we used a Fattie and the TrailMax Pack-A-Saddle Pannier Set.

We took the kit out to the mountains and brought along a DJI Phantom 2 Drone with a GoPro 4. We filmed the Honey Badger Wheel for ten minutes on the trail. It even made it through a few branches and survived the flight by an unskilled pilot - me. We uploaded the footage and left it completely uncut so you could see how the hiking cart is able to navigate a mountain trail. You will probably be surprised at how simple it is to operate such a heavy load with a single wheel. It is not art, it is simple physics achieved through a perfect design.

Hunting Cart

Converting the hiking cart into a hunting cart is quite simple. We designed the frame to carry big game three ways:

1. Quarters - The frame's geometry was designed to balance proportionately big game quarters. Note the v-frame design that points directly to the axle. This allows a hunter to strap or tie front quarters and rear quarters onto the frame and allow gravity to work in his favor. 
2. Deboned - There are several options for carrying deboned game. A hunter can carry meat in bicycle panniers or in pack animal saddlebags. Another option is to simple tie big game bags or other bags such as a military-style laundry bag directly over and down the frame's v-shaped design. We've seen some hunters find success using the laundry bag method. It is affordable and quick to mount. For longer distances or if you are using the cart to get into the hunting area, panniers or saddlebags are likely best. They can be used on the way out as well when they are filled with meat.
3. Whole - We wanted the frame to be able to pack entire animals such as deer. This concept was tricky to figure out, but once we tested and improved our prototypes, we knew we found something amazing. The Deer Accessory allows a hunter to carry an entire deer. The three mounts attach quickly to the Honey Badger Wheel. You flip the device upside down and tie it onto the big game. Once secured, you simply flip the Honey Badger Wheel back onto it's wheel. It's that simple.

Fishing Cart

Fishing carts are abundant especially online. I used to use a wagon-style fishing cart. It was clumsy, ugly, and hard to pull over the sand. We wanted our customers to be able to convert from hunting cart or hiking cart to fishing cart quickly. We achieved this by designing the Heavy Gear Swivel Arms. This accessory allows for 200+ pounds of bulky items such as coolers or even barrels to be secured to the sides of the Honey Badger Wheel. This accessory also allows the gear to always remain in an upright position.

Regardless of the terrain, the gear remains upright how it needs to be. This allows fishermen to carry two coolers. One for food and bait and the other for the catch of the day. This also allows much more equipment to strap to the top of the frame as well as the sides of the bulky items. Carrying fishing gear out to the pier or beach has never been easier.

Hiking Stroller

The Honey Badger Wheel's original concept came from a desire to invent a single wheel all-terrain stroller that could actually work well on a mountain trail. This required ingenuity from an engineering firm based out of Virginia. The Honey Badger Wheel now allows up to three kids to ride comfortably on top of the frame using the Kiddo Hoop. Additionally, parents have the option of taking a kid out on the trail using a Yepp Maxi Child Seat. 

There are many all-terrain strollers on the market, however, when you actually use them off-road, you discover that they are not truly all-terrain. Many are a marvel in design and work incredibly well, but they cannot go over roots, logs, rocks, creeks, tall grass, sand, and more. We have changed that. The Honey Badger Wheel is truly the first all-terrain stroller.

Benefits and Features

The Honey Badger Wheel allows anyone to transport cargo, even human cargo, over the path less traveled. It is not a reinvention of the wheel. It is an improvement on the use of the wheel. We wanted to look back at the Ancient Chinese Wheelbarrow for inspiration and use the best bicycle components and fabricating tools to make a modern one-wheel cart. A hiking cart that actually works incredibly well and can be used for many purposes.