The Design Process Behind Our New Lishi Storage Pouch

Today we’re excited to be launching our new Lishi Trio Pouch, which is the ultimate rapid-access storage method for carrying the three most commonly used Lishi 2-in-1 Lock Pick Tools. Sleek and thinner than a card sleeve wallet, the Lishi Trio is made from durable ballistic nylon, velvety smooth interior-fabric and flexible elastic. It keeps your Lishi Picks protected, organized and ready to deploy at a moment’s notice.

We’ve been developing this pouch for the last few months and wanted to take you a bit behind the scenes on our design philosophy and process for this new product.

Origins of a Lishi Pouch

We’ve sold thousands of the Lishi 2-in-1 Lock Picks over the last few years and we truly believe they’re the most revolutionary lock picking tool on the market. Each tool combines a keyway-specific molded pick channel, along with a single hook-pick lever, tension bar and even a decoding interface.

The only downside to these specialized tools is that storage options for them is fairly limited. They include a hard case that helps protect all the delicate parts of the tools, but these cases are bit large, adding unnecessary weight and bulk. With this in mind, we knew that we had to produce a nylon pouch that would perfectly fit and protect the tools.

The Prototype

Our goal when setting out to design a pouch for the Lishis was to protect the delicate parts, while also being able to quickly access and deploy a pick. We knew that we needed to hold all three of the popular models we sell (SC1, KW1 and M1) but this was a bit of a challenge, as they’re all slightly different in size.

For inspiration, we turned to two of our existing designs, the ITS Slimline Pouch and the ITS SPIE® Pouch. The front of the Slimline Pouch offers slanted-cut corners and a slightly smaller front flap when compared to the pouch body. This same style allowed us to not only have a fast-opening pouch, but the smaller front cover perfectly fit the smaller M1 Lishi Pick. Additionally, the elastic retention strap of the SPIE® Pouch offered us the perfect method for keeping the new pouch closed. After a quick mock-up using some materials laying around, as well as generous use of a stapler, we had a rough prototype ready to be used to make a sewn sample.

The Final Product

What resulted from this process is one of the most streamlined pouches we’ve ever produced. The new Lishi Trio Pouch perfectly stores all three Lishi Picks, while being no thicker than a standard card wallet. As a bonus, because of the shared DNA with the Slimline Pouch, one or two of the loaded Trio Pouches fits perfectly within the Slimline Pouch. If you’re looking for a belt or MOLLE mounting option to carry Lishi Picks, the Trio inside the Slimline is an unmatched combo.

The soft interior of the Lishi Trio Pouch offers three channels for storage of Lishi Picks and was designed to store (1) each of the SC1, KW1 and M1 Lishi Picks. Additionally, there are two smaller interior channels to store things like our Ti Concealment Toolset and/or a hex wrench for adjusting/changing the orientation of the Lishi Tension Bar.

On the exterior of the case, the Lishi Trio Pouch utilizes a small elastic strap to keep the pouch closed until access is needed. By pulling down on the strap, the pouch can be opened and a Lishi Pick can be easily retrieved.

Click here for more information on the all-new Lishi Trio Pouch!