New Product Review - Lock Laces

I like to think that I know some successful people. Several of my childhood friends went on to become teachers, lawyers, and even surgeons. In speaking with them through the years I'm sure at some point we have all agreed that we wanted to invent something cool, patent it, market it, sell it, and then sit back and watch the cash start rolling in. I have a short list of inventions written down at my desk at work and since I am still sitting at that desk everyday, it's quite obvious that none of these ideas have amounted to anything lucrative. I was sure that my idea for a toilet paper book would make me millions. You know, you read the book on the toilet and then you use the paper from that same book to....well you get the idea. What I just recently discovered through the magic of Facebook is that I know a guy that actually did it. He invented something cool, patented it, marketed it, sold it and although I don't think he's banked his first million yet, he is at the very least enjoying the ride.

Eric somehow looks way younger the me

Meet Eric Jackson, owner and creator of Lock Laces, a locking elastic twist on shoe laces. That's right, shoe laces. No wait, let me rephrase that, friggin shoe laces! How can you improve on shoe laces, right? You pull them through the holes, pull them tight and then tie them. Done, get on with your life. Wrong again, he's actually improved on this age old product that dates back to 3500 BC. Let me tell you more about Eric. He and I go way back, like 2nd grade way back. Gerald Ford was President at the time. I think I've made my point. Eric is the President, CEO, and founder of Street Smart LLC. Eric started Street Smart in March of 1999 to bring his new invention to the competitive sports apparel market. Eric manages the daily operations of the company and drives the marketing, sales, and product awareness campaigns. Eric was granted a patent for his invention in February of 2000. He was featured in the May, 1999 edition of the Baltimore Business Journal. In 2002 he appeared in Inventor’s Digest and in October of 2003 he received the Micro Enterprise Council of Maryland’s “Micro Business Person of the Year” award. Lock Laces has also been featured on QVC and is a National Sponsor of The Special Olympics Healthy Athlete/Fit Feet Program.

Laces...locked

Okay, so this sounds like a lot of work to me now. When does he get to sit back and watch the cash roll in?

Now that you know a little more about the creative sort of people that I grew up around, I'm sure you have more questions about why I turned out they way I did. Some other time, please. It's time to lace these things up and put them to the test. Now I'm not talking about testing these out at some lame track event or wimpy triathlon. I'm talking about the highly competitive and brutally challenging world of over 35 club lacrosse!

To keep my friendship induced bias for Eric's product in check I made sure that I used a controlled scientific method for testing. I wore a set of Lock Laces on my right cleat and good ole' fashioned cotton laces on my left cleat. My first impression was that the locking device that allows you to avoid numerous knots wouldn't be strong enough to hold the laces in place and they would loosen during the game. That hypothesis proved incorrect. The lock held firm for 2 hours of running and the shoe never became loose at all. Another early impression was that the Lock Laces were much more forgiving on the top of my foot then the tight cotton laces. The Lock Laces flexed as I ran while retaining their snugness even at the extreme speeds that I can generate while driving to the goal. The cotton laces went from cutting off the blood in my veins in the first quarter to being some what loose by the end of the first half. The cotton laces actually burst into flames in the 3rd quarter as I chased down a defensemen during a ride. Luckily, some of Anne Arundel County's finest firefighters were there to extinguish the flames. The Lock Laces never caught fire even when I was hitting Steve Austin like speeds. I gotta admit it, by the end of the game I was totally digging the Lock Laces and I quickly changed out my left cleat to a set of Lock Laces after the game.

So I'm giving Lock Laces a thumbs up and a symbolic high five to my former classmate for improving a product that seemingly didn't need to be improved upon. Hopefully Eric will remember me and this glowing review of his product when he makes it to the top. Yes, I'm a suck up and don't forget the free schwag for the Blarney Lacrosse Club either my friend.

Around 5 bucks a pair and they come in some cool colors to boot my friends. Check out the Lock Laces site and Facebook page if you get the chance.