Zipper Fix to the Rescue!

It’s a tiny piece of equipment but when it breaks it can be a major pain: zipper pulls. Isn’t it frustrating when a zipper pull breaks off a piece of your foul-weather gear or equipment? It renders that item virtually useless. This was the situation that faced Tom Medsker a number of years ago when a zipper pull on his boat canvas broke.

At the hardware store, he could only find a nickel-coated steel split keyring. This was functional but a temporary replacement since the material easily rusted. Then Tom had his zipper epiphany: elongate a portion of the ring, craft it from stainless steel and add a plastic piece to the centre ring to easily attach to zippers. Thus, Dr. ZipTip was born.

Annapolis School of Seamanship Captain Mark Talbott decided to try Dr. Zip Tip when he saw the product at a boat show — and is now a fan.

“I have an older jacket that is still quite useful, however, the main zipper handle broke off a while back,” Captain Talbott says. “I was able to rig a paper clip through the remaining parts to operate the zipper, however with some difficulty and daily risk of stabbing myself with the ends of the realigned paper clip.”
Then Captain Talbott spotted Dr. Zip Tip at last year’s Annapolis Boat Shows and replaced his paper clip for good.

“Once I saw the zip tip I immediately ditched my risky paper clip and easily attached the zip tip,” Captain Talbott says. “I can now operate the zipper easily and painlessly, not to mention it adds a lot of style to my otherwise drab jacket!”

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