Reinvention happens at an alarming rate with a majority of products on the market but some products are left alone and never improved. The current run of the mill zip has been around for over a 100 years causing problems daily for many of its users.  These problems seem to be coming to an end as the zip has been redesigned and modified by an American family and their neighbour.

Here at bespoken we like to make life a little easier and that’s what gathered my interest in this zip. Scott Peters, his mother Nancy Peters and David Lyndaker invented the Quick zip which has now been rebranded as the “Magzip” by high end sportswear giant Under Armour.  The zip reinvention arose as Scott’s uncle Dave has a degenerative disease myotonic dystrophy which limits the use of his hands. Nancy always thought of ways in which to make Uncle Dave’s life that bit easier and the idea of making a new zip clicked into gear. Scott and his mother Nancy tried many different ways to improve this and kept coming up short but one thing that was apparent was that using magnets was the way forward. David Lyndaker joined the project after a quick discussion at a camp fire and happened to be an experienced mechanical designer. After every prototype is made they would sew it onto a jacket and Uncle Dave would test it. They made the prototypes at a very fast pace and over six years and 100 prototypes later they found a design that worked.

The magzip uses a “hook-and-catch” design.  “The magnet on one side of the jacket pulled the pin from the other side over the top of a catch and guided it into place. Once the first set of teeth are joined, the user can grab the slider and pull the zipper closed with ease — even with one hand” as reported by ABC news.  This zip was made for medical reasons and it became apparent that this zip was better than the current product on the market.  This zip has the potential to revolutionise the current market ;

Do you think this zip would make your life a little bit easier?