LOOPY, the new multi-tool to carry on your belt loop

[Tom]

We started a Kickstarter campaign for LOOPY, a multi-tool you can carry on your belt loop.
Please visit our site:
https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/1473380772/loopy-multi-tools-and-power-banks-for-your-belt-lo?ref=discovery



Any questions:
you can contact me directly at
loopy [at] santoren.com

Thanks
Tom

[lister]

Is the bottle opener placed in position where you don't have to take the tool off your belt loop to open a bottle?

[derekmac]

It looks like you'd be able to crack one open off of you hip.   

[Kampfer]

It looks like you'd be able to crack one open off of you hip.   

You will spill half of the bottle...

[derekmac]

It looks like you'd be able to crack one open off of you hip.   

You will spill half of the bottle...

I think it might work if you put it on the other way? 

[Kampfer]

It looks like you'd be able to crack one open off of you hip.   

You will spill half of the bottle...

I think it might work if you put it on the other way? 

Just might work.

[AdmSlc]

That's a clever idea on a mini MT.


-AdmSlc

[Tom]

I never considered opening the beer off the hip in this design, but I guess it's possible, except for the "spilling half of the bottle" part.

[pfrsantos]

I never considered opening the beer off the hip in this design, but I guess it's possible, except for the "spilling half of the bottle" part.

Coolness factor supersedes it...

 

[enki_ck]

BTW, is the shipping free worldwide on it?

[babola]

BTW, is the shipping free worldwide on it?

I don't believe so.

From the campaign page:

International Shipping
Shipping is pricey. We calculated the international shipping cost based on most locations in the EU and Canada. If our shipping cost to your location is substantially more than the price quoted you may need to pay additional shipping. You will be responsible for all taxes and any other charges imposed on such shipment at your country.

[babola]

Tom, first - thumbs up for the effort! 

I do however see some glaring issues with the tool and it's application in real-life.

The tool comes with 3 opposing folds which for most will present a challenge when attaching to belt loop, straps etc. I'm talking general population, Joe Bloggs sort.
When I need to open a beer bottle I wan't this fast, I do not want to go thru the process of removing the tool off my belt loop and re-inserting it again. Same goes for use as a hex bit driver and a wrench. You could potentially use the opener while still on the belt loop like derekmac showed in the flipped photo above, but it may or may not work well. There's also not enough 'finger' space on the tool to use it comfortably as a bottle opener, the tool is just too short for that and without sufficient leverage.

Saw...hmm, what are you planning to saw with it? To me this looks like just a ridged edge with gimping. This is also the area your thumb rests when opening a bottle cap, and to me from here it looks it could be a bit 'painful' experience.

Hope I didn't sound too negative, I still think it's a great idea, just needs few tweaks to make it perfect, maybe.   

[Syph007]

My first reaction was similar.  Looks very hard to take on/off.  Although most of us here (maybe all of us) are going to have a SAK or MT on us anyway, so we'd have no need of a belt gizmo to open beer.  

I'm curious to see where the OPMT market ends up as I dont see much potential for long term innovation/viability.  The only thing I can think of that a OPMT like say a pocketwrench can do a SAK can't is turn nuts and bolts.  Other than that, to me, its like reinventing the wheel, with a more awkward wheel.

Good luck with your project.

[Tom]

shipping -- $3 USA, more for international (KS pricing for specific countries)
shipping for 2 units -- $4 USA, more for international

@babola

It takes a few seconds to attach it to the belt loop (see KS video). It's not as fast as the other tool (LOOPY LAKE, standard clip), but please consider this: we are fitting several tools in the space of a postage stamp and the weight of a quarter (8g), barely visible and attached to a belt loop. The tool can stay there forever (washing machine safe), so it's an emergency MT vs. standard every-day use tool.

Attachment to a belt loop -- it took a lot of prototypes to get it right, it's not easy to design a structure which stays on at all times in such extremely limited space. This one locks into the loop in a solid manner, we never lost any of them during tests.

The beer issue -- yes, it takes time to remove/attach the tool (a few seconds after you try it several times), but the purpose of this tool is to open beer when there is nothing else available -- it's clearly not the tool to use at a party opening multiple bottles.

The finger space -- yes, we are dealing with the tool of the total height of 1.5", so there is not enough space for anything, but there is (barely) enough leverage to open a bottle.

Saw -- OK, let's call it a ridged edge.

Painful experience -- the bottle opener, yes, it's not pretty, but you can drown your sorrow with a freshly opened bottle of beer.

@syph007

It's not hard to take on/off -- see KS video. It's not the easiest tool to take on/off, but we are limited to 1.5" vertical space.

If I have a MT on me, I would use it instead of LOOPY. But I can't take a MT biking (Leatherman Skeletool CX, 140g) -- I can easily attach LOOPY to shoe laces (8g) and have it available for emergencies. I have LOOPY attached to many things now (camera's strap, backpack, belt loops), so it's always around for emergencies.

Tom

[Yadda]

It looks like you'd be able to crack one open off of you hip.   

You will spill half of the bottle...

I think it might work if you put it on the other way? 

Or stand on your head!  If you want things to work correctly follow instructions.

[Yadda]

Neat concept!

[Tofty]

Indeed, a nice design.
I'm interested though, what exactly is the material? Your Kickstarter page states it as: "CNC Stainless Steel with Titanium alloy." Could you please expand on that.

[Tom]

@tofty

We are testing SS321 and SS316TI, both stainless steel alloys with Titanium representing at least 5 times the carbon content.
They provide excellent resistance to oxidation and corrosion and excellent creep strength which we look for.

The weight of 8g is light enough for the product to avoid pure Ti which is difficult to bend; LOOPY is barely heavier than a quarter.

[Syph007]

Ah ok you're using 300 series steels, so you dont do any heat treating then to the tool?  I guess its small enough the cutouts probably dont get much force applied.

[Tofty]

Thanks Tom, I hadn't thought of those stabilized 300 grades.

Syph007, to be fair non of the grade 5 titanium one-piece tools can have any heat treatment applied to them either. Also the application of too much force to the tool is limited by it's small size.

Ttitanium is reasonably pliable when heated, but working with red hot metal is neither fun, nor cost effective.

[Tom]

Although series 300 cannot be heat treated, Ti versions allow for tool-hardening with optional Ti coating. It looks like we have enough strength for our application based on prototypes, but we will test it extensively on the production model.

@tofty
That's correct, the force is very limited by the lack of leverage (tool's size); it is most likely (?) the smallest MT ever made.

We are working on another Gr5 Titanium 6Al-4V product (not a MT) and it can be easily hardened, but you are correct -- the strength of Gr5 Ti rarely requires any hardening.