Tampon

3 Articles

This Tampon Gun Won’t Cramp Your Style

January 17, 2017 by 56 Comments

Finally, there’s a way to get rid of those applicator-less tampons that literally no one uses while also destroying a bunch of Axe body spray. Just use the Axe as the propellant in a 3D-printed, gas-powered tampon gun.

As you’ll see in the assembly and demonstration video after the break, most of the parts in [HarambesLabs]’ modular gun design are 3D-printed. Aside from those, you just need to add a PVC tube for a barrel, a bottle that fits the threading on the body, and a pair of o-rings to make a nice, tight seal. Snap in the piezo mechanism from a lighter, fill the bottle with an Axe cloud, and screw it on to the body. If the gas/air mixture is close enough, the compacted cotton bullet should fly. The gun is single-shot, but [HarambesLabs] is working on a mod to make it fully automatic.

We love a good gun build around here, be it mostly benign or downright terrifying. This build isn’t necessarily tampon-dependent but the size, weight, and plastic covering (reducing friction) make it ideal for this particular design. Nerf darts may be another option if you can find the correct fit for the barrel.

Continue reading “This Tampon Gun Won’t Cramp Your Style” →

The Internet Of Tampons

December 6, 2016 by 116 Comments

At the 2016 Hackaday Superconference, Amanda Brief and Jacob McEntire gave a talk on what they’ve been working on for the past few years. It’s My.Flow, the world’s first tampon monitor capable of tracking saturation, and eliminating anxiety, leakage, and infection. It’s better than a traditional tampon, and it’s one of the rare Internet of Things things that actually makes sense.

There’s a long history of technological innovation to deal with menstruation. What began with simply sending women out of the village for a week turned into a ‘sanitary belt’ after a few thousand years. This astonishing technological advance of treating women as people led to the pad, the cup, and eventually, the disposable tampon. Now My.Flow is applying modern electrochemical technology to move the state of the art forward.

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Hackaday Prize Entry: The World’s First Tampon Monitor

July 13, 2016 by 45 Comments

[Amanda], [Jacob], [Katherine], and [vyshaalij] had a class project for their ‘Critical Making’ class at UC Berkeley. The task was to design a ‘Neo-Wearable’ that would fulfill an unmet need. Realizing women make up about 50% of the population and experience monthly periods for about half of their lives, they decided to make what can only be described as a tampon monitor. It’s a small device that monitors the… uh… ‘fullness’ of a tampon. Yes, it’s wearable technology that is actually useful, and a great entry for the Hackaday Prize.

The my.Flow, as the team are calling it, uses mechanical means to measure the saturation level of a tampon. Why would anyone want to do this? Because of leakage, anxiety, and risk of Toxic Shock Syndrome (TSS).

A ‘smart’ tampon needs some electronics, and the team’s solution to this is rather ingenious. They’re using a small, flat, wearable clip that attaches to the user’s undergarments and is connected to the tampon by an elongated tail.

Already the team is seeing a lot of success – the market research for this product showed a whopping 82% of women are ready to buy a product that would help prevent TSS. This fledgling startup was picked up by the HAX accelerator and moved to China to bring this product to life. It’s a great idea, and also a great entry for the Hackaday Prize.

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