Hello,

After seeing the Outdoor Retailer Summer Market 2007 about the
Blue Desert Keep2Go containers: some "conclusions"

I think the containers are simply non-extruded PET-bottles.
If you look on the big picture down the page
http://www.kenplas.com/project/pet/petblow.aspx
you can see some coloured tubes with "screw-threads"
in the process-photo of PET-bottle production.
You can see several photo's of "PET Preforms for PET bottles" as they seem to be called.
http://buy.ecplaza.net/search/1s1nf20sell/pet_preforms.html
They look a lot like the keep2go containers.

Blue Desert seem to have designed the caps that fit.
Hence the "compatibility" with normal caps from pet bottles.

This is some clever out of the box thinking of Blue Desert.
The tubes might cost them very little when bought in large quantities. Adding the cap with the "eye" for attaching it to things is a clever idea.

This might give you DIY-guys some ideas (if you can get the pet preforms and caps). You would not have the caps with an eye however.

Greetings
Vince.

Hello tranx..... I think you're absolutely right, they do indeed look like the PET bottle preforms. I wonder when they will be available?
Keep2Go

smitty

It does indeed look as if they are unextruded cola bottles

I received one of those PET preforms nearly 25 years ago on a tour through a plastics manufacturing facility. It was an un-extruded 2 liter Mountain Dew bottle. I wish I knew where it was, because it seems like it would be easy to DIY a lanyard carrier for it.

The ones in the Keep-2-Go pictures look shorter than the one I had, so they might be unextruded 1 liter bottles. It's been so long though I could be mistaken.
.

Nicodemus,
Are you saying that these may be simply "blanks" from a bottle factory with a cool cap added?

I have two that I got at Outdoor Retailer; one is longer while the other has a slightly wider neck below the screw threads. The wider neck does not really allow for wider items to fit.
These tubes are kind of cool but as I try to fit different items into them it is apparent that they are limited to containing small and thin items only. Also they are a bit bulky to use as a module IMO.
Regardless I thought they were cool when I first saw them at OR; they were giving them away like hotcakes.

Tranx suggested it originally, but yes I believe he is correct in the assessment that the tube is an un-extruded PET bottle. Just giving proper credit.

I was basing that on un-extruded 2 liter preform I was given in middle school while touring a plastics manufacturing facility.

Also, a good number of PET bottles these days, whether used for soda, bottled water, or any other number of products, use a standard neck and thread size for caps to keep the manufacturing costs down. If you scroll down the Blue Desert Site you'll see an item called Cap2Go, which appears to be the same cap used with Keep2Go and they are holding various water bottles.

It really is marketing genius.Due to the amount of PET bottles used these days, the preforms have to be extremely cheap to buy in quantity. It appears that all Blue Desert did was have caps made with their logo on them. And I'm betting that there's a company out there selling the exact cap they use and offering to add company logos cheaply as well.

Yes definitely a great idea if these things already existed as a raw material so to speak.

According to Doug's Outdoor Retailer Summer Market 2007 Report the Keep2Go containers will sell for $5.00 apiece.

I would hazard a guess that they're putting these together for $0.25 to $0.50 per unit (depending on labeling, packaging and quantity). That would leave Blue Desert with a pretty good profit. Of all the parts used; cap, tube, nylon cord and cord lock; the cap is probably the most expensive due to the specialty dimentional labeling.

For several years I've been using the orange plastic screw top match boxes from Coghlan's for similar jobs. Useful for storage of things like: pills (medications, water purification, etc.); condiments/food (instant coffee, sugar etc.); I put tinder in another, and even matches in one. Just mark the contents with a black sharpie.

I keep one in my pocket with my daily "pills." I found they work really well for this because they seal tight and keep out the humidity which destroys most medications. I found that commercial "pill boxes" didn't and came open in my pocket.

Haven't given it much thought, but I don't think it would be hard to rig up a ring or something to use it with a lanyard.

If your careful, you can even get a spark off the "flint" in the bottom.

And at a dollar or so (last time I bought a bunch) you get a couple for the cost of one Keep2go...

I am more interested in the container for the cap which is to be marketed as Cap2Go. I'd keep the container and put a pull-top cap on it.

DO you know how much it costs to make an ipod?? It's just a shame that someone else though of a cheap simple idea before anyone else did!

I received some of these tubes from the manufacturer and they are pretty tough! I used a couple to store CR123A batteries and another for a first aid kit. Hats off to someone clever enough to sell us something that doesn't cost much to make!

Oh by the way. You're wrong! The most expensive part is probably the shipping! They are made in Israel.