Michelle Liu Photos
O’Leary at MakeHaven with 3-D printers that started it all.
O’Leary’s new “BAT” tool, a MakeHaven first.
New Haven inventor Thom O’Leary fiddled with a mere piece of stainless steel — composed of some jagged and pointed edges, just a smidgen larger than a quarter. He believes it may change, if not the world, how we open bottles, start fires, unscrew screws, or escape from danger.
O’Leary calls the coin-sized piece of metal a “B.A.T.,” or “Bring Anywhere Tool.” He developed it out of New Haven’s own tech-oriented workshop MakeHaven on State Street.
With the B.A.T, O’Leary is set to give age-old multipurpose tools like the Swiss Army Knife a run for their money. And it doesn’t hurt that the B.A.T. looks oddly similar to the logo of one Gotham City-based superhero.
O’Leary, who works in e‑commerce and marketing and has a background in product design, is now raising money on Kickstarter to bring batches of the B.A.T. to the market just in time to serve as a stocking stuffer for holiday season.
This effectively makes the B.A.T. the first product developed out of MakeHaven to hit the crowdfunding circuit in this fashion.
“I wanted to create something that could cut, open and ignite,” he said, demonstrating the B.A.T.’s versatility inside the MakeHaven space.
For example, with the aid of a ferro rod, the B.A.T. can start a flame …
… or it can help you with pesky screws you might encounter in the wild, thanks to the modified Phillips head screwdriver.
The B.A.T. can fit anywhere, O’Leary emphasized: in a jeans pocket, on a keychain, or threaded through a shoelace. Which means it can also help you in situations in which you might need to cut through duct tape or zip ties.
“Not that people are getting kidnapped,” he added.
A gradient — from early prototype to later successes.
O’Leary first came up with the idea of the tool about a year and a half ago as a personal project, striving to create a small, versatile instrument, but not so sharp that it would cut you, tear up your pocket, or be confiscated at airport security.
He headed straight for MakeHaven, where he began developing prototypes using the 3‑D printers offered there. O’Leary, who became a member after stumbling across the maker space while walking down State Street about two years ago, said MakeHaven has since provided him with not only the tools, but also the training to use those tools for projects like the B.A.T.
Original sketches to an 8,000-dollar idea.
The prototypes can be read across a timeline: One is too big, another not the right shape.
There were of course, some ideas that didn’t make it to the final product, such as having the B.A.T. feature survival directions on microfilm that you could read by holding the coin up to the sun.
“That was just not going to happen,” O’Leary said.
But his final design seems to have resonated with backers. With less than two weeks left in the product’s 21-day crowdfunding campaign, O’Leary has raised over $8,500 from 155 individuals, surpassing the Kickstarter’s $8,000 goal to manufacture the tool en masse.
Still, O’Leary’s aiming for somewhere between $12,000 and $15,000. And he’s already in talks with retailers — soon you’ll find the B.A.T. on Amazon, and perhaps on shelves too. Even the packaging is sleek: a small white and clear plastic case, meant to emulate the aesthetic of tech-giant Apple.
“It’s the most fun I’ve had all year,” O’Leary said, noting that he’s already got other projects in the works: he’s looking to build a brand.
Looks like the ultimate concealed weapon, to me.....