Katana: A satisfying hardware Kickstarter investment!

I have backed quite a number of projects on Kickstarter, and over time, I've come to realise that that backing hardware based projects is the most risky of the projects that you can back. Board/Card Games and books can also be tricky, and software (games) are often the most satisfying.... that said, every project is not without risk... as you are backing the vision, and that is by no means a guarantee that the outcome lines up successfully with the vision!

However, the hardware projects are the most difficult... they are often quite complex in design and production and supply chain, and they have the added problem that once they ship... they can't be tweaked and updated! Done is done, and the finished shipped product is what you get.... if you are lucky enough to get that far without the project running into financial or other problems that cause it to shut down completely!

So, I've learnt... for hardware, back the simple ones! If it sounds complicated, just wait till the idea has hit mainstream and the concept gets a few chances to iterate and improve!

So, in keeping with the simple visions for hardware kickstarters... I was quite happy to order myself and my wife a handful of these credit card sized Katana carbon fibre cards. You can just pop one in your wallet or pocket, and you have a pretty sharp and durable scraper/slicer or other situations where you might need a thin but strong tool.

Well, the advertised use of the Katana is for ice scraping for car windows... basically, you have this always in your pocket and so you will have this tool with you for scraping snow and ice from your window. Of course, if you live in places that snow more often than the Netherlands, you probably have proper de-icing tools and equipment, but the Katana is more than adequate for the amount of snow that we get here for about a couple of weeks in the year.

Unfortunately, with one of the cards, I did try to use it to scrape ice from the front stoop... and it delaminated a bit from scratching against the concrete (you can see the notched corner in the first photo)... so, concrete beats carbon fibre! However, it is still functional and smooth on the other three sides, and that roughed up side is pretty damn sharp now! That does make it useful for other things... like ripping holes in my pockets and drawing blood when I'm not careful!

I've used the card for many things other than its intended advertised use... cutting gut strings for my violin is a trick that I'll never tire of! It is also funny to see that other musicians are dubious about trying to cut a string with what looks like a regular black credit card... but it is no ordinary credit card!... well, actually, it is really good at cutting and scraping.. but it is pretty useless for spending money, no chip.

So, this is my advice to people looking at hardware Kickstarters. Stick with the simple ones... the ones that are more complex are likely to run into either production woes or be unable to meet their design goals and visions. On the other hand, if you are just curious how a piece of hardware will turn out, drop the money and back the project... just don't be surprised if you end up with an expensive paperweight that gathers dust in a drawer somewhere!

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