The World’s Most Innovative Knife From Iain Sinclair is a Hit

LONDON, August 8, 2011 -

- Cardsharp® - Credit Card Sized Pocket Knife - Outsells Leading Knife Rivals Worldwide.

Cardsharp® is the first real innovation in penknives since the first folding knife, which has been around for more than 2,000 years - virtually unchanged from today’s Swiss Army penknife.

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Cardsharp® is thinner, lighter, and due to its use of surgical stainless steel for the blade, sharper.  So sharp in fact that it has been selling more than one unit every minute at peak times.

Three ingenious folding operations metamorphose Cardsharp® from credit card size to utility knife in a flash of hi-tech origami - watch the exciting video

Invented by Iain Sinclair, Cardsharp® was originally designed as a lightweight surgical knife that can be easily transported (suitable for First Aid and survival kits) and safely disposed of by hospitals and medical centers together with paramedics and aid workers throughout the world (without needing expensive and wasteful sharps containers as the blade edge is covered when closed).

The mass market consumer version was originally launched in December 2010 and immediately appealed to gadget, outdoor, cooking, gardening, art and many other enthusiasts worldwide (the original YouTube promotion video swiftly received over 500k hits).

Cardsharp® is an ingenious conversation piece - a sharp idea that slips safely inside your wallet or kit bag (same form factor as a credit card).

Cardsharp® is shipping worldwide and available exclusively via iainsinclair.com web site at RSP $25 USD (price includes ultra thin eco gift box pack) - see unboxing video

Cardsharp® is a great chef’s knife. The blade is sharp, long and thin enough to cut bread and extremely useful for fast cutting of ultra thin slices of vegetables including tomatoes, cucumber, garlic etc. Suitable for camping and expedition use, Cardsharp® is an essential outdoor companion/survival tool. The waterproof design is dishwasher proof and will not rust up like conventional penknives - uniquely friction free as there are no conventional hinges.

Director Grant Sinclair explains the success: “We soon discovered that over 50% of those who tested the Cardsharp loved it and wanted to buy it on the spot. At first we put this down to the James Bond gadget factor but soon found out that actually the majority of consumers understood the tool’s superior benefits.”

Benefits:

Cardsharp®’s unique surgical blade technology features an extra long 65mm stainless steel cutting edge that ensures longer lasting rust free sharpness (a conventional utility knife blade edge is only around 25mm long).

Cardsharp® weighs only 13 grams (regular Stanley type utility knives weigh around 150g, Leatherman same sized blade knife weighs around
85g, smallest Victorinox Swiss Army penknife weighs around 23g).

Less weight equals carrying and storing convenience plus reduced carbon footprint.

Cardsharp® features a built-in safety sheath that cannot get separated from the blade. The safety sheath also helps prevent blunting as conventional knives easily lose sharpness when touching in kitchen drawer/dishwasher.

A subtle protective hilt appears when the knife is in an open position and helps prevent the hand from slipping onto the 2.6 inch (66mm) long blade.

A new child friendly lock mechanism ensures the knife is safe and secure to use once opened or safe to put away once closed (when in open mode, blade is locked solid with no blade tremor, allowing accurate precision cutting).

Polypropylene has been selected for the handle as the polymer’s unique molecular structure allows infinite numbers of folds through 180 without the hinge cracking and this feature is therefore guaranteed for life.

Product dimensions: 85.6 x 54 x 2.2 mm (same size as a credit card).

Notes to editors - Download high resolution images/video via Flickr

About Iain Sinclair Design:

Founded by Iain Sinclair in 1964, Iain Sinclair Design is a design house that conceives, designs and develops highly innovative consumer products for global markets, using an in-house team of specialist designers and engineers.

The team is directed by Iain Sinclair and Grant Sinclair.

Led by a belief in, and commitment to superior quality design and innovation, Iain Sinclair’s design team have created many world first products including: Liteblade (the first ultra thin flashlight of 1987), Flashcard (the multi-million selling, ultra thin flashlight of 1993), Smartlite (the first smart flashlight in 1988) and Eon (the first white LED and credit card sized flashlight of 1997).
The company designs are in the permanent collection of several museums worldwide including:

The Museum of Modern Art in New York and the Science Museum of London.

Press links:

‘Iain Sinclair’s Cardsharp is doing for pocket knifes what the MacBook Air did for laptops’ - instash.com

‘That’s Not A Knife, This Is A Knife!! Credit Card With Big Blade’ - inventorspot.com

‘On this year’s “must-have” list for the gadget-lover’ - mobilemag.com

‘How thin is the CardSharp? Thinner than your MacBook Air, that’s for sure’ - geek.com

‘A Folding Knife for Grammar-Nazis’ - wired.com

‘Swiss Army Knife has nothing on this credit card blade’ - dvice.com

‘When you just need to carry a blade in your wallet, and to do so in style, Iain Sinclair comes along and designs this fantastic little beauty’ - walyou.com

‘If you’ve ever felt the urge to feel more like James Bond, then you need the Iain Sinclair ‘CardSharp.’  - trendhunter.com

‘Brilliantly designed knife that fits anywhere your credit card does’ - novoparatus.com

‘Sounds crazy, but I’m gone fishing. Or if you’re just into real good product design the CardSharp is for you, too. Tough design guys need the elegant CardSharp’ - getaddictedto.com

‘You will never know when you need a knife, don’t you? If you are a frequent flyer, negotiator or a secret agent that dealing with lot of risky thing, there is always chances that one day, you should have a knife in your wallet’ - thecoolgadgets.com

Video: multivu.prnewswire.com/mnr/prne/iainsinclairdesign/50532/

Notes to editors - for more information and/or sample requests, please contact: iainsinclairmedia at gmail.com, Tel +44(0)117-954-4005.