What Had Happened Was…
Spark Of Innovation
My name is Patrick, and I am the creator of Pirates Patch. It all started with a simple idea for a relatively freshly inherited problem: How do I best protect my brand-new firearm’s optic? As a licensed-to-carry firearm enthusiast, I suddenly found myself searching for ways to keep my new investment protected and clean while it was holstered on my body. Surely there must have been a viable solution out there, I couldn’t have been the only person with this problem! Unfortunately, however, my search was constantly coming up short-handed. Sure, I found a couple of “lightweight” solutions here and there, each with their own problems and issues that would have eventually resulted in a lackluster purchase. I wanted a “heavyweight” solution, one that worked, and WORKED WELL. So, I had to set out to create one!
Design and Development
The idea and the concept took shape as I explored the specific needs of firearm enthusiasts and professionals in the same situation for their everyday-carry (EDC) rigs. Precision optics, such as mini red dot sights, are essential for accurate and repeatable aiming, but are also susceptible to damage and/or less than stellar performance from dust, debris, and impacts. I envisioned a cover that would offer robust protection, especially for open-emitter style optics like mine, without compromising functionality or ease of use. While this may seem like an easy task at first glance, the tremendous variations and offerings of firearms, holsters, and optics on the market, both from OEM manufacturers as well as aftermarket, made this no easy task. I went through many different prototypes, concepts, and configurations in this process. I wanted to keep it simple, something that did not require exacting tolerances in measurements that would limit its application to specific models and combinations. It needed to have an almost “universal” quality, to be applicable to as wide a combination of offerings as possible, which would in turn keep its production costs down, ultimately keeping it’s final consumer costs down. That way, you and I are not stuck overpaying for just a piece of form-fitting, “maybe” model-specific plastic piece that only does half the job you actually want it to do. Finally, I needed a device that also looked good as well. Afterall, I was going to be wearing it daily. It needed to compliment my investment while also protecting it! Out of this grew the best concept for this task, the Pirates Patch.
The Perfect Fusion
After numerous prototypes and tests, I arrived at a design that seamlessly blended the spirit of the classic eye patch, intended to cover and protect the eye (or in this case, the optic) with a universal design that allowed it to wrap around a wide variety of firearm/holster/optic combinations for protection. It turned out that the general design of a ship anchor, with it’s upward-angled hooks on either end, made the perfect concept for wrapping around an open emitter setup in either a left or right-handed configuration, while also keeping within the pirate spirit of the product itself. Additionally, the use of rugged, “crazy horse” leather added the finishing touches to provide a winning combination of durability, spirit, and bad ass-ness!
Thank you for being a part of this journey.