Japan Wants You to Yank the Cranks of Their Hand-Cranked Vending Machines

Hurricanes, earthquakes, floods, and fires--it seems like the occurrence of these disasters are becoming more and more frequent. It only makes sense that we take action to ensure our safety and well-being during these periods of calamity. So if you haven't yet, make sure you've put together an emergency kit with all your basic needs such as canned food, water, and blankets, and store it in an accessible place so you can grab it and go (or grab it and hide) when disaster strikes.

It's pretty common to hear about commuters getting stuck in train stations or other public places during these natural calamities. For these people, one of their hopes for survival is the presence of vending machines in the area. Most need electricity to function, so they're useless unless some people decide to break the machine's glass to get to the food and drinks that it's holding. This adds to the hazards the stranded people face, since they could end up getting shocked or hurt in some other way in the process.

A smart idea to circumvent this problem are hand-cranked vending machines, which might soon become available in Japan care of hand crank vendor  Sanden.

It might seem like we're all taking a step backwards in terms of automation, but there are actually a lot more advantages to these vending machines than you think. First of all, they're guaranteed to work through power outages because people can just use the hand-crank to power the machine up so it can still dispense goods, even when there's no electricity. There would be no need to destroy or deface private property (a.k.a. the vending machines) in the process and everyone gets their water and stays safe while they wait for help.

The downside is that a little over seventy cranks are needed to power up the machine. However, the good news is that this generates enough power to dispense up to seven bottles of water, so really, all it takes is ten cranks (and some spare change) to get your hands on water bottle.

These hand-cranked machines could really come in "handy" during emergencies, don't you think?

Article by Hazel Chua
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