I’ve been working on the Type-1 Carabiner for almost a year now. It all began one day when the spring on my old carabiner keychain snapped right out and all of my keys fell all over the ground. During my search for a new replacement, I couldn’t really find anything that fit all of my requirements. My ideal keychain had to look rugged with an industrial feel to it, and had to integrate the key rings into the design of the keychain so that the rings would all stay in one place. It also had to have just the right weight so it would feel good in the hand. Most importantly, the spring would not snap out after just a couple uses. After a couple weeks of searching and no luck finding one, I decided to design my own ideal carabiner as part of our (multee)project accessories line.
The goal was to create something new, but with a more industrial feel to it. This was our first sample.
I decided to place the spring behind the hinge, rather than on the inside of the inner sleeve like most carabiners on the market.
The purpose of placing the spring here is to avoid it from snapping out during everyday use.
During the production process, I was surprised that finding the right key rings was actually one of my biggest challenges. We tested many, and had lots of failed attempts…
Finally, I found these high-grade hinged snap rings that withstood all of our tests. By attaching the snap rings at the bottom of the Type-1 Carabiner, all of the keys will be secure in one place and will be easier to access.
I really enjoyed the entire process of creating this product. This was my first time designing hardware with so many intricate details. Although I’ve been designing apparel for about 7 years, I realized that designing hardware is quite different. But I learned that the best way for me is to try and approach it with a similar design method, which all starts from the user’s point of view. What would I want in a product? How can I make the product better? This is the reason why we started (multee)project in the first place.
I’m really proud of the Type-1 Carabiner and hope you guys will enjoy it too!
Type-1 Carabiner will be available on our webstore starting Sunday, April 15th.