This tote bag turns into a life jacket just in case the subway floods

A new tote bag has a hidden feature: In a flood, it doubles as a life jacket. Most of the time, it’s an ordinary bag. But in an emergency, you can unfold it into a vest, slip it over your head, and tug a cord to inflate it.The conceptual product, designed by a collective of artists, points to the absurdity of adjusting to life with climate change. “The whole premise of this thing is, why the hell should this even exist?” says Phil le Brun, one of the creators behind the project.[Image: Lifeline]Le Brun and his collaborators started working on the project, called Lifeline, after seeing the impact of flooding on the New York City subways. The subway’s aging infrastructure can easily get overwhelmed by water, and as climate change has led to heavier storms, the problem is getting worse. Riders occasionally have to cling to walls to make it through a flooded station or wade through knee-deep water.One 2025 video shows a train pulling into a station as water gushes onto the platform and some starts to seep into the train. Some passengers gasp, but some also seem unfazed. “We’ve reached a point that I think we’ve sort of normalized that this is just completely otherworldly and dystopian…