New vacuum bottle will keep cold drinks cold and hot drinks hot with the same magnetic Quick Stick lid™
Liquid Hardware, located in Victor, Idaho, was started in 2011 with the idea that water bottles need to be functional in more ways than one. Grown from an epiphany into reality, Liquid Hardware continues to look for ways to improve its product offering with innovative solutions.
Liquid Hardware’s flagship hydration bottle, the Outrigger™, is made from food-grade stainless steel. The bottle has a magnet hidden in the lid and a magnetic stainless steel band seamlessly embedded between the container and an outer cover. When the lid is removed from the bottle opening it will magnetically attach to the collar, creating an invisible tether for the lid. They call it the Quick Stick lid™, and it pushes the envelope on water bottle innovation – perfect for outdoor
enthusiasts on the go. Liquid Hardware further improved the bottle last December with a streamlined No Drip Lip™, and the company has already developed its second-generation single-walled stainless-steel design.“As a studio furniture maker by trade I’ve conditioned myself to continuously look for improvement of function and form,” says Steve Kitto, LiquidHardware’s founder. “This task always remains on top of my list. I am pleased with the recent feature additions to our functional drink-ware and will continue to expand our technologies as the product matures.”Kitto started Liquid Hardware with the idea that he wanted to grow the company organically, in a grassroots style. That’s why he chose to launch his idea at Kickstarter on December 5, 2011, and filed his first utility patent for the magnetic lid technology around the same time. The Kickstarter campaign was a success, and in less than a week Kitto had reached the goal of $5,000 and ended the fundraising in 30 days with 209 worldwide backers and over $10,000 in pledges.
Currently, Liquid Hardware is working on a new vacuum bottle that will keep cold drinks cold for 24 hours and hot drinks hot for 8-12 hours. The first prototype is nearly complete and the expected launch for the vacuum bottle is mid-summer 2013. There also are several must-have features in development and the company will introduce those when they are closer to completion.
Since Kickstarter, Kitto and his team have attended two outdoor retailer shows in Salt Lake City as exhibitors and have been selling to outdoor stores around the country. The team recently finished a trade show with Patagonia Korea in Seoul, South Korea in March and the public was very responsive to the magnetic lid technology. The company has also been looking at markets in China, Japan, Canada, Europe and Australia.
Kitto also just purchased a laser to engrave logos and graphics onto the bottles. Co-branding gives Liquid Hardware the opportunity to customize bottles for organizations and companies alongside its own logo. The work can be completed right here in Idaho instead of shipping the bottles off to be logoed in another state, and it gives the company greater visibility.Liquid Hardware now has three part-time employees, although Kitto hopes to bring one to two of them on more full-time as the business grows. The hope is to have five to ten employees full-time in the next three to five years.
Liquid Hardware bottles are available online at www.liquidhardware.com and at about 40 national retailers.