Three guys from San Diego and their friend from NorCal have proven the saying true… necessity is the mother of invention. And their invention is so genius it’s gonna leave you saying, “Why didn’t I think of that?”
 
Picture it: you’re at the shores or Mission Bay and you realize you need a bottle opener. Sure some people have them on a key chain or even on their shoe (ewww), but what about on your sunglasses? Think about it. The earpiece totally lends itself to becoming a bottle opener and that’s just what Patrick Eckstein (29), Matt DeCelles (24), Zach Luczynski (23) and Steven Dempsey (24) thought too. So they made one and it worked. Beautifully.
 
Luczynski and DeCelles both graduated from SDSU in 2010 with an emphasis on entrepreneurship and that seems to be money well spent. Eckstein, who graduated from CSUSM in ’08, was brought on to handle marketing and branding. And Dempsey, a ’11 Cal Poly graduate, is the NorCal consumer audience connection.
 
Officially dubbed the JackHawk 9000, it boasts quite a bit of modern ingenuity to pop those caps. The arms are made from aerospace grade, lightweight titanium, and sealed with a powder coat to help keep your shades looking their best. The secret weapon hinges are vacuum welded to the arms for strength in action. With sound product engineering and durable titanium strength, the JH 9000 not only open bottles, they open a whole lot of bottles. The guys will be the first to tell you that the prototype pair has opened 350 beers, and counting.
 
For starters, they went with a Ray Ban inspired look. Polarized lenses will protect your eyeballs, filtering out UV light, and are coated with Iridium to reduce glare. Currently, there are no other bottle opener sunglasses on the market although Reef toyed with the idea at one point. Being the smart entrepreneurs that they are, they have three patents pending.
 
But now they guys could use your help. Kickstarter, a large funding platform for creative projects, accepted the JH 9000 idea back in December. And the official fundraising campaign has begun. Starting today (May 24th) through July 5th they’re trying to reach their goal of $15,000. If they can do it, the glasses will become a reality.
 
For more information and to find out how you can contribute click here.

- Jennifer Markham, Energy 103.7