Core77

A Minimal Multi-Tool Capsule

This market, and its designers, can't stop, won't stop

By Rain Noe - April 18

The EDC market seems insatiable. The latest multitool being snapped up by those who have to have a Philips, flathead and cutting blade on them at all times is this Multi-Tool Capsule by multitool peddler Wyn Labs. I at least have to admit that they're trying to do more with less:

Those little stainless steel rings snap into grooves on the shaft of each tool and mate with another groove machine on the inside of the next tool, which allows them to snap into one another.

The keyring is actually a carabiner, and is supposed to be substantial enough to allow you to get some torque on the tool.

As much as I poke fun at EDC gear, I'm impressed with several things about their designers. One is their relentless creativity. How many different forms can you possibly come up with for a thing that holds bits?

Two is their ability to consistently generate desire in the target market. The genre's CMF palette is incredibly limited—a few shades of metal, a couple different finishes—yet these designers consistently wring these into shapes that people want to buy.

(Note: PVD = Physical Vapor Deposition)

Which leads me to the third thing, which is their ability to sell. The market's super-saturated. Few of us need another multi-tool. Yet time and again, they kill it on Kickstarter. At press time the Multi-Tool Capsule had $50k and counting on a $7,500 goal, with 24 days left to pledge.

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Comments

Dee An

5 months ago

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Mr Rain Noe asks how many of these small objects people need. The clue to the answer is that small objects - carried with the user everywhere - tend to get lost. Replacements are affordable.
This observation can also be applied to the market for earbuds for phones, and cables and chargers. Just ask any hotel about the boxes of such things they accumulate.

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Dee An

5 months ago

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A PZ2 bit is invaluable in the modern built environment - though of course more useful when attached to an 18v driver! And of course, many people are well served by the toolkit in the car or the Leatherman in their belt.
However minilmaist PZ2 driver of this type is a good companion to a small Victorinox - sharp blade, scissors, file, flathead, bottle opener, wire bender. The small Victorinox is also suited to the built environment - opening packaging, slicing an apple, changing a plug socket, cutting tape, etc etc, but of course lacks a PZ2.
It's not a McGyver fantasy unless said hero receives packages at a bar or warehouses, open beers in the park with his friends, or packs up an item to post to an eBay customer!

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steve hassler

5 months ago

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I guess my biggest question is: How often are we ever in a tight spot where these tools aren't close by in a drawer or garage?

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- Cody O
  
  steve hassler
  
  5 months ago
  
  Z
  
  Z
  
  10% of what you are buying is a (marginally) functional tool, 90% is a MacGyver fantasy.
  
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Rain Noe

I’m a lapsed industrial designer. I was born in NYC and figured I’d die there, but a few years ago I abandoned New York to live on a farm in the countryside with my wife. We have six dogs.