I hope I’m not being too personal by asking: 'Are your clothes usually bulging?'
It’s a modern dilemma. With phones, keys, multi-tools, flashlights, water bottles and charging cables, the modern trouser and jacket pocket has a tough job coping. That’s why the market is flooded with a huge array of organizers, bags and packs, known in the industry as 'everyday carry' (EDC) gear.
They’re all designed to solve a critical design oversight in nature: the human body comes with no built-in pockets. Fabric pouches stitched onto our clothes carry basic essentials and if they overflow, gear has to be dumped into a backpack where it clatters around in a dark, chaotic void at the bottom of the main compartment.
A neat solution to this daily hassle has just launched on Kickstarter. The PD EDC Vault M3 has been designed to transform a small bag or organizer pouch into a fully functional, multi-angle mobile workstation.
The UK-based design team at PD EDC has spent years trying to solve organizational problems of portability. Regular readers will remember our look at its previous products, like the rugged Vault 2.0 series and the more recent Vault-M2 organizer. But while those units behaved like a beautifully designed photo album for tools, the new Vault M3 is more like a portable desktop or workstation.
It has three angles of opening, four different ways to access the interior and seven ways to be carried. The M3 is so versatile that you start wondering whether it is overcomplicating the simple art of putting things in a bag.
Admittedly, there’s is a fine line between genuinely helpful engineering and gimmickry. But after careful consideration, we think the M3 hits the sweet spot of offering lots of clever options that are actually useful rather than just for show.
For example, a pouch that has three different quick-set standing angles (55 degrees, 80 degrees and a flat 180 degrees) is obviously overkill if you only carry a wallet and a set of car keys, but for many of us it really IS a clever solution.
A closer look at the actual mechanics shows the ingenuity of the M3. The multi-angle layout transforms the pouch from a passive storage bag into an active, vertical tool board. Instead of constantly digging blindly into deep pockets or tipping a flat pouch forward to see what's inside, the rigid support structure presents your gear where you need it… whether you’re perched on a workshop bench, sat at a table in a coffee shop or leaning on the hood of a car.
The book-like interior design fixes the exact flaw that plagues most tactical pouches: rigidity of layout. Rather than forcing you to adapt to a permanently stitched grid of elastic loops, the M3 utilizes heavy-duty, modular pages.
You can choose between elastic grids, zippered mesh, clear slots or laser-cut webbing sheets. If your day relies on tech cables and flashlights, but your weekend demands camera batteries and multi-tools, you don't have to painstakingly repack the unit. You simply un-Velcro a new entire "page," slap a pre-loaded alternative in and zip it shut. It treats physical gear like a digital library of custom profiles.
On the outside, the versatility continues with seven distinct carry methods. It can be a standalone clutch case, traditional backpack insert panel, shoulder sling bag or strapped to larger luggage. The premium hardware and 500D nylon build offer IPX4 splash protection and rugged longevity without relying on the loud, militaristic styling that makes other tactical packs look out of place in a professional office.
The unit measures a compact 25 x 18 x 6.5 cm (9.8 x 7.1 x 2.6 in) and weighs a highly portable 450 g (15.9 oz) when empty.
As with its previous gear releases, PD EDC is bypassing traditional retail avenues to bring this project to fruition. The device is live on the Vault M3 Kickstarter campaign page. The funding window is open until 26 October, giving early adopters a chance to grab limited early bird tiers before full manufacturing takes off.
Naturally, we must include the standard caveat that all crowdfunding campaigns carry inherent risks regarding manufacturing timelines and delivery logistics. However, given the company's solid track record of successfully delivering previous generation organizers to thousands of backers globally, the M3 represents a calculated bet rather than a shot in the dark. Super early bird pledges start at £45 (US$59), representing a healthy discount before it jumps up to its anticipated final price of £69.
While it flirts close to over-engineering a simple task, the M3 ultimately lands on the right side of innovation. For serious gear collectors tired of pocket clutter and dark backpack voids, this clever mobile workstation is a genuinely smart, highly functional evolution.
Source: Kickstarter
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