By Elliott Brack, editor and publisher | You know the uneasy feeling at the airport: you’re waiting for your luggage to arrive on the baggage claim area, hoping your bag will be next, and hoping it’s not lost. You are a little uneasy, since you know bags can be lost or tampered with.
A Peachtree Corners person has produced a device that may relieve some of your anxiety when traveling with bags on airplanes. He’s Jim Dunn, a “product developer,” someone we may call a tinkerer or inventor, who works on ideas and produces outcomes.
His new venture is called GripAZip, a device to help secure your luggage. Jim kept hearing stories about luggage theft and tampering. When your baggage is tampered with, it’s difficult or impossible for you to easily recover missing items. People tampering with your luggage may be “baggage handlers, hotel employers, or even the TSA.” He learned that incidences of tampering number in the hundred of thousands each year, costing consumers headaches with the airlines when trying to get a reimbursement.
So Jim kept thinking, and eventually developed the GripAZip. It’s been put through all sorts of test and consumer trials. At the center of the activity Jim has a goal of helping people secure their luggage, and having more peace of mind while traveling.
To perfect and refine GripAZip, Dunn tested various materials and securing devices with numerous live travelers to get in-field results. Based upon these “customer safaris,” he was able to better understand the right combination of durability, flexibility and security. After finalizing his design, he filed a patent and began manufacturing the “GripAZip.” Click here for 90 second product demo: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZMLPP67G0tk.
Jim feels that whether it is lost possessions, lost time, or even a sense of personal violation, GripAZip provides peace-of-mind to the weary traveler. For a family traveling on a vacation they’ve been planning for months, or a veteran business traveler that has little time to spare, the thought of wasting time and money dealing with a luggage tampering claim is a strong catalyst to act. The GripAzip becomes a major deterrent to theft.
Here’s how he feels it can help you:
- It presents the same “warning” to criminals on your baggage, such as a “This home is protected by….” sign in your front yard.
- It presents an unwanted obstacle so criminals will bypass your bag in lieu of less secure baggage.
- It provides evidence of baggage tampering allowing the traveler to quickly notify proper authorities.
The GripAZip also prevents lost luggage. While an airline barcode paper tag comes off, a hidden ID holder built-into the GripAZip holds your contact info so airlines can still identify your luggage. And it comes in a selection of colors and personalization or “Branding” options which reduces the chance of someone picking up your bag by mistake. Check out more details at http://shop.gripazip.com/.The product currently sells for $35, but Jim hopes that when manufacturing in larger quantities, he can reduce the price more.
Meanwhile, though Jim’s key mission now is to market GripAZip wider, he’s also working on other products. His innovative mind continues to work, as he looks to radio-frequency identification methods and additional security features to keep ahead of the industry. Jim says: “….as new enhancements become available, current customers will be offered special purchase discounts because we value the loyalty of customers that have placed their trust in us.”
He also produces an internet blog, (http://blog.gripazip.com/) with TSA travel news, tips and links to airport/travel information.
Luggage thieves be warned: GripAZip is here!
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