5 Mins w/Skinth

We’re happy to introduce you to a serious carry brand who you may not be familiar with yet… Skinth.

Founded and operated by Eric Au, an Industrial Designer based out of Winnipeg, Manitoba, Canada. Eric found a very unique niche to fill – well-made and highly functional EDC gear pouches. Take a look around the Skinth website to get a closer look into these awesome products. We have an upcoming Road Test on two of these Skinths, so we’ll refrain from talking too much about them directly right here.  Let’s get to the questions!

1 – What key insights drive your stuff?

Skinth is derived from the terms Skinny and Sheath. Finding the factory issue sheath for most multi-tools and even aftermarket sheaths not well made or designed, Skinth is a response of a demand for a tool sheath that can carry MORE than just a multi-tool. We made this even sweeter by having it made specifically to your tool selection. It is true that our larger models exceed the original dimensions of a factory sheath, but often those who carry the larger Skinths like the versatility of a larger pouch. It means having everything available to you at the flip of a flap, skipping out on the padding and unnecessary bulk for the everyday gadget guru.

2 – Who else is doing rad things in the world of carry and why do you think they’re important?

I am huge fan of Tareinco. Their minimalistic and no-nonsense military style is akin to our own designs and they really incorporate those features that civilian and military operators really need. Things as simple as T-Shaped wallets and other stuff that make you think “damn, I wish I had thought of that” make their line up a DEEP catalog of experience and professional knowledge. They are a source of inspiration, innovation and are at the leading edge of nylon gear design. We even got permission from them to modify, enhance and sell a similar product (our M7 Toollet).

3 – Are there any things other brands do that you think are great or could be improved?

We love bespoke gear, our company ethos is based on personal preference so any company that allows you to make any decision on the final product gets three thumbs up in our books. Companies like Timbuk2 which allows for custom colours to be selected and Zazzle with their vast array of customizable goods deserves the highest praise as producing a quality, individualized end product is very difficult to achieve.

4 – What’s next for you guys?

We are constantly producing more and more Skinths but the demand is exceeding and pushing our production staff to their limit. Naturally this means expanding our staff and facilities to achieve a greater volume. Unfortunately success is a double edge knife, so this means lowering our offerings of options and limiting our business model of personalised cases. This does not mean we will stop offering what we do, it just means we need to implement alternative plans for those future and current Skinth users that want something a bit more of a standard offering.

5 – What do you carry daily and how?

As a product designer, tinkerer and gear modifying fiend, you’ll never find me without a custom multitool. Custom? Multitools don’t come customizable? They do when you ignore and void every warranty that they have!

In my day to day, I find myself needing a serrated knife, plain edge knife, Phillips/flat/Robertson drivers (we are Canadian after all), scissors, pliers, an awl and a file. Those take care of nearly every problem I encounter. Of course, every custom multitool is carried in a custom Skinth, usually a Skinth Shield variant.

Other items are my prized Tissot T-Touch (so I know when it’s quittin’ time), custom self made leather wallet and a huge custom XL Timbuk2 messenger for when I have to drop off manually mailed packages.

Other than that, most of my time is spent in the Skinth Design Bay where you’ll find a couple of workhorse industrial sewing machines, a large cutting table with several rotary cutters, scissors and a custom straight edge ruler to measure and cut bolts of CORDURA nylon and a wall pasted with patterns. It’s always a fury of activity, but we always find time to shoot some arrows, sling some steel shot or draft up one more prototype to blow off steam.