THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1996, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Monday, October 21, 1996 TAG: 9610190051
SECTION: DAILY BREAK PAGE: E1 EDITION: FINAL
TYPE: Column
SOURCE: Larry Maddry
LENGTH: 83 lines
HEY, CHRISTMAS is coming, and do we have a gift idea for the person who has everything.
Did you know that a company in Virginia Beach is making a Freedom Shelter, something that is the cloth equivalent of a Swiss Army Knife?
I'll swear.
Here comes retired Marine Col. Richard Haislip now, stalking toward us in his Freedom Shelter on his way to hunt ducks.
Now let's suppose the hunting is so good he decides to spend the night. In just a few minutes he can shed the long coat he's wearing and - using the light, flexible poles in a kit on his back - convert the coat into an all-weather tent.
OK, suppose he is in the tent and the weather turns so warm his granola bar has begun to melt.
No problem. He crawls outside, fastens on some mesh panels and - voila - he has created a summer tent.
Yes, it's a coat of a thousand uses. You haven't seen anything yet. Maybe Haislip, who is vice president of the coat's manufacturing company, wears the garment one day. He decides to walk through water without getting the coat hem all soggy.
He simply reaches inside the long coat, pulls up the bottom part and fastens it around his waist with elastic draw cords. Voila, he's wearing a short coat.
I'll tell you, coats don't get any more remarkable than this. No matter what you want to do, this coat will do it. Maybe you are out in the woods and you see some kids coming along in their Halloween costumes.
You simply make it into a tent but without the pegs and poles. Then, sliding along on your belly inside you'll resemble a huge, camouflaged terror worm! Incredible, isn't it? But we're just getting started. The coat, complete with poles and pegs, weighs a mere 3 1/2 pounds! And it doubles as a ``sit shelter.'' Pull out a flap and you have a head cover and the garment spreads around you like a poncho.
Let's suppose you are driving someplace in your car while wearing the Freedom Shelter and suddenly have to go to the bathroom. But there's no service station for miles because you are way out in the country.
No problem. You stop your car by the side of the road, walk over into the woods, refold the garment into a poncho. Then pretend that the tent pole is a gun and sit down. You can go to the toilet and no one will know what you are doing under the poncho. Anyone who sees you will think you're deer hunting!
Hey, let's pretend you are deer hunting. You are wearing your sit shelter but decide you want to convert it into a very light sleeping bag cover. No problem.
While you are sleeping in the bag cover you are awakened by the sound of breaking brush. You think it's a deer. But no, just as you pull the trigger you realize you have foolishly mistaken a phone company lineman carrying a limb filled with mistletoe over his head for a white-tailed deer. Boy, are you in luck. The sleeping bag cover converts into a body bag that you can use to return the dead person to his family!
Is this a useful coat or what? No matter what you've got in mind, it's got you covered. It's made of a breathable, fire-retardant fabric, and all seams are factory taped to prevent leaks.
Marketed by Ecotat Systems Co. of Virginia Beach, Freedom Shelters are currently used by the U.S. Marine Corps reconnaissance units and U.S. Army Special Forces.
For now the Freedom Shelter is only sold at Cape Henry Hardware and General Merchandise in Virginia Beach.
``This is a test store, the only one in the entire world selling the shelter at this time,'' boasted Phil Wellman, the hardware store owner. ``The rest of them have been sold to the military.'' He says it is great for birders or wildlife photographers.
Wellman says military helicopter pilots fly with the shelters under their seats for use in emergencies. He sells the shelter in three versions. The traditional camouflage shelter ($279), a Marine version in solid brown ($269) and a civilian version in green and purple for $199, which does not have the double stitching and waterproof seams required by the military.
Monroe S. Ozment, president of Ecotat Systems, said he often hears from people who have found new uses for the shelter. Some Marines have used the coats as parachutes to drop supplies from airplanes, he said.
Hey, what about manufacturing one with clear plastic panels in the side, equipping it with a cellular phone and marketing it as a human phone booth?
Ozment said he'd think about it. ILLUSTRATION: ECOTAT SYSTEMS
Freedom Shelter: Waterproof coat doubles as a tent. by CNB