We at Industry Outsider have a lot of respect for entrepreneurs when we find someone that is offering a great product. Tyler Lacor of Cha-O-Ha Design Company contacted us asking for input on his EDC Card which is currently on Kickstarter. The EDC Card is a fully funded Kickstarter project, but Tyler has decided to try and reach a stretch goal of funding so that further improvements can be made to the EDC Card. We were able to ask Tyler a few questions about himself and his product, and pass the word along to raise awareness for his company.
IO: Tell us a little bit about yourself.
TL: My name is Tyler Lacor, I’m a Chicago native and I transplanted to Cleveland 3 years ago, and love it. There’s really no better town for food. I am an entrepreneur and I started my company by designing and trying to upgrade the niche of survival/para-cord bracelets.
IO: How did Cha-O-Ha Design Company get started?
TL: Cha-O-ha got started when I caught on to the idea of survival bracelets as an idea. I realized you could carry this useful cord around with you, and it could look good doing it too. Though I soon saw how flooded the market was with cheap para-cord bracelets. That’s not to say there aren’t some great designs out there. There are: it’s just unusually flooded with a lot of cheap material, and I tried to stay away from cheap as much as possible.
Cha-O-Ha EDC CardIO: What is the EDC Card tool?
TL: The EDC Card is a tool for everybody. Even if you don’t see yourself as a “handy” person, this gives you the ability to be handy in the moment when you need it most. Usually when you are away from your toolbox, or if you don’t even own a toolbox. The EDC card gives you 30 tools that can take care of most daily fixes.
IO: What sort of tasks was the EDC Card designed to handle?
TL: The EDC Card is my idea of the ultimate upgrade in card tools. There are other ones out there, but none made with S35VN blade steel; which is specifically designed to hold an edge, and create a wonderful balance of strength and heft. It’s designed to handle anything from small tasks, to really tough ones, it’s not a gimmick. The steel allows you to apply as much torque as possible without breaking it; and the maximum amount of torque that shape can give is applied by holding it in its unique torque position: upside-down with your thumb resting on the grip. It’s particularly useful for really stuck hexes.
IO: The TSA will allow the EDC Card to be carried onto commercial flights?
TL: I talked to the TSA and it is well within guidelines for safe air travel. They said it was ok to fly!
IO: Has the EDC Card been thoroughly field tested?
TL: It has been tested. I’m consistently amazed by this steel. It’s really very advanced, it gets treated in a vacuum, and is cryogenically cooled to get as much strength out of it as possible. I’ve been using mine for a couple months now, on heavy and light tasks, and I have yet to even find a dent or scratch on it. It surpassed my expectations. I’m very happy with it.
IO: Is the EDC Card comfortable to use?
TL: I think it is: I wanted it to be comfortable to use when I set out to design it, it‘s a feature I think is lacking in most tool cards.
IO: What makes the S35VN blade steel a good choice for the EDC Card?
TL: S35VN is a great choice because of its balance of strength, corrosion resistance, weight, and ability to hold an edge. It’s well regarded as a top tier steel in the world of knife making. You can easily pay $500 for a blade made out of this steel.
IO: Tell us about your stretch goal and the improvements you can make to the EDC Card.
TL: While S35VN is an amazing steel and is great for this application. There is stronger steel, with the caveat that a lot of it is not really corrosion resistant, and will rust quickly. There’s usually that tradeoff for strength in steel. But CPM 3V is well tested, and it‘s another one of those steels that is argued about as the best blade steel out there. The fact that CPM 3V is not stainless is easily remedied by using a high end coating method called PVD (physical vapor deposition). It’s actually harder than the steel, and I can say first hand it’s amazing. So it’s a slim version with an upgraded steel, with an upgraded coating to make it even more hard-wearing.
IO: Is the EDC Card totally made in the U.S.A.?
TL: The EDC Card is completely sourced and manufactured in the USA, 100%.
There are a couple of weeks left to get in on this Kickstarter project. Check out the link to see more about the EDC Card and Cha-O-Ha.