The idea for Tune Belt originated in the summer of 1983 when the company's founder and president, Richard Wagner, a CPA, was vacationing with two friends in the Wyoming Teton Mountains. While there, he noticed a material that he had never observed before - neoprene. It's the stuff wet suits are made out of. A friend was using a product made out of it to keep his sunglasses on. The Neoprene was lightweight, comfortable and stretched so it held the sunglasses snugly. While Wagner admired the sunglasses holder, a climbing instructor with the group commented that he had actually known its inventor and proceeded to share the story of its origination. Inspired by the story and impressed by the material, light bulbs flashed when it occurred to Wagner that this neoprene material might be useful for solving a problem he was searching for a solution to.
Wagner enjoyed listening to music while running but didn't like the hassles of trying to carry a FM Walkman radio. The belt clips on the back of the radio would come loose or slip off his shorts causing the radio to fall; the weight of the radio would cause his shorts to sag; and hand carrying the radio was cumbersome. An early attempted solution using a black leather belt strapped around his waist not only resulted in the radio bounding annoyingly, but also allowed the radio to shift around his waist resulting in the headphone cord getting tangled around his body and arms. So the possibility of making a belt with a lightweight, comfortable material that would stretch to snugly hug the waist and stay put seemed a perfect solution. And, perhaps others would find it the perfect solution too! It certainly has.
Today, Tune Belt manufactures a variety of neoprene carrier belts for CD, MiniDisc, MP3 and cassette players, three armband carriers for MiniDisc, iPod and MP3 players, CD/Water Bottle and Cassette/Water Bottle Combo belts and a Mike Belt for instructors' wireless microphone transmitters. Tune Belt also custom manufactures specialized neoprene carrier belts for customers in a variety of industries. |
|