About SnapIt! Mobility
SnapIt!™ ventures into Functional Solutions for the Mobility Market
Snapit!™ products have been respected by many as the class of the field in marine accessories since their creation in the early 1990’s. As you can read on our marine accessories page the time proven saying, “Necessity is the mother of invention.” is a good description of the motivating factors behind the creation of the SnapIt!™ line of boating accessories. The addition of few years has served to reinforce the truth of the old adage.
The venture into the mobility market began tentatively several years ago; probably some time around 2002. Some friends from church discovered that we manufactured boating accessories and came to us with an opportunity. “We can’t purchase a commercially available drink holder that will hold up for more than 6 months under the abuse of being mounted to a wheelchair. Can you make us something?” Always relishing a challenge we dove into the project with enthusiasm and in about two weeks presented them with a prototype. At the time we commented that this was probably a market we should explore, but we were busy with other projects and this idea moved to the back burner and then eventually off the stove entirely.
About six years later, now in 2008, our friends approached us again. They needed a new drink holder. “Why, what happened? Did the original one break?” “No,” was the response, “we purchased a new chair! The drink holder is fine, it just doesn’t fit the new chair.” The original prototype had performed flawlessly for six years and still appeared in nearly new condition compared to six months for those commercially available. We built a new prototype incorporating a new mounting system that was immediately preferred over the original prototype.
Again we thought, “This is a market we should explore–there is a great need here.” This time we actually put some elbow grease into it and developed several prototypes. Mike, being the antithesis of a salesman, reluctantly gathered up the prototypes and dropped in on the good folk at All About Mobility in Sherman, Texas. Much like our original foray into the Marine Accessory market at the Winter Dallas Boat Show back in 1994 the response was overwhelming. This confirmed our impression that there was a great need for durable, high quality convenience accessories that would enhance the lifestyle of those utilizing mobility aids such as wheelchairs, walkers, canes, power chairs and scooters.
For the better part of a year with the help and insight of our friends at All About Mobility, the experience of Mike’s dad, Mark who uses a walker on a daily basis and input from those in the medical field, SnapIt!™ has been developing a base line of quality of life enhancing mobility accessories. One of the key features to come out of this prototyping experience has been the development of a mounting system that accommodates all of the most common sizes of tubing used on walkers and wheelchairs. This allows for the option of upgrading or changing equipment without having to purchase new accessories. In addition to the universal round tubing mounts SnapIt!™ has developed several mounting styles to attach to square tubing and to utilize the receiver hitch found on many power chairs and scooters.
SnapIt!™ is proud to provide functional solutions to the needs of those utilizing mobility assistant devices. Try one today, you’ll like it! We guarantee it!
Mike Catchings
Dave Rogers
Snapit!™ Mobility Products