It was 1941 and Swiss electrical engineer George de Mestral took his dog  hunting in the Alps. During the trip he noticed his dog and clothes were getting covered with small burrs. Inquisitive, he decided to take a peek at these under his microscope upon his return. What he saw was how spikes of the burrs were engaging with the fur or fabric, and his idea for the popular hook & loop fastener was born.  As well-known as Velcro® has become, it actually took 20+ years before his creation was a hit.

De Mestral found the process of getting his invention right was a marathon, not a sprint. It took trial & error, and a Herculean effort for nearly a decade to perfect the nuances of this concept and to effectively manufacture the creation he'd named Velcro® (a blend from French words velour for 'velvet' & crochet, for  'hook'). He applied for a patent in Switzerland in 1951, which was granted in 1955.  But it took until the 1960s when NASA happened to be looking for fasteners to be used during its missions that gave Velcro® the big boost it needed to finally become astronomically successful. 

Since we use Velcro® ourselves to create PortaPocket, perhaps we're on the same trajectory...
we've been here 14+ years now, and still hiding in plain sight. lol! Maybe one day we'll reach critical mass as this one of our components has done...which would be wonderful as we know we help make people's daily lives easier. While we can't cure cancer or COVID, we can get that proverbial rock out of your shoe in giving you a safer, simpler way to keep your cell phone & other small essentials handily available. We're grateful for the road we're on, though it'd be nice to get in the faster lane for awhile! ;)

If you think your friends would like to know about a more versatile solution for ineffective pockets in their clothes, please share this.

Together, we can all help change the world.
For better!