Match Cases by K & M Match Case
Just a little note about K & M match cases
K & M Industries, Inc. began manufacturing a product called the Safe
N Dry Kap Kover about 1980, a device designed to function both as a safety
and a moisture seal for the nipple and cap of percussion muzzle loading weapons..a
product that continues to plug along and enjoy modest success yet today.
About the same time that the Kap Kover was taking off (early 80's) Keith got an idea for a percussion cap container for muzzle loaders that would keep fresh caps instantly available for a quick reload, an idea inspired by missing a monster buck that appeared to be fascinated by the entire reloading process until Keith started digging around in his pants pocket for a fresh cap. The Kaptainer, an easily-opened waterproof container designed to be worn on a string around the neck, was born that night. Think small matchcase without the button on the bottom fitted with a plain-Jane plug and you'll know what it looked like.
It didn't take long to saturate the local market building Kaptainers for friends and family and since they've never been mass-marketed, their most valuable contribution to date has been their evolution into a larger version that in time became the matchcases seen on this site.
About the time the Kap Kover was becoming nationally known and receiving lots of good press Keith and Marge purchased a combination farm store/welding shop in another town 40 miles away from Elk River. At that time machine tools were purchased and put to work repairing and fabricating parts for the local logging and farming trade.
Between 1984 and 1990 several original inventions and/or improved versions of existing items were developed for local needs without any thought to mass-marketing anything other than the Kap Kover, which had been granted a patent and was becoming well known in the muzzleloading fraternity. Meanwhile two factors contributed to frustrating Keith and Marge's efforts to try marketing the matchcase ---- their frustration in finding a high-quality button compass and their inability to squeeze more than 24 hours of work into a 24 hour day.
After several years involving a lot of inquiries in search of a suitable compass two really nice samples were obtained from Silva, small survival compasses that had been developed for British military pilots. Excitement ran high as Keith dived into the task of building original production tooling from scratch, a process usually left to highly trained tool and die makers who are to job shop machinists what brain surgeons are to chiropractors.
Tooling was developed through the time-honored trial and error process (with a heavy emphasis on error) and a serious effort was begun to produce match cases. Initial production runs involved installing the tooling on a standard shop (engine) lathe after regular working hours, fine tuning it to work properly, and making cases until exhaustion won out over determination. The tooling then had to be removed and the lathe returned to a normal configuration for the next day's regular shop work.
The first big break was a small order from L.L.Bean that prompted Keith to
inform Marge that within a year they would be riding in a Mercedes, a prophecy
that was fulfilled to the letter when one of Keith's high school buddies showed
up the following summer and gave them a ride in a mid-60's Mercedes his wife
had inherited from her grandmother! Beautiful car, built like a rolling bank
vault. Fortunately Keith's prophecy mentioned nothing about ownership because
Marge still hasn't seen her name on a Mercedes
title.
The Bean's account proved to be the proverbial "foot in the door" and between Bean's and later Cabela's, matchcase sales skyrocketed yearly for four years - until 1995 when Silva commenced a redesign of their compass capsule that resulted in an unmitigated disaster for the K & M matchcase and ultimately a compass that with each "improvement" became more undependable and worthless.
Needless to say, Silva's extensive down time (usually about 2 years for each "upgrade") redesigning, retooling, and remanufacturing each "improved" model of their compass capsule had a devastating impact on K & M's matchcase sales, rendering them virtually nonexistent. Despite the fact that K&M was the largest civilian user of the Silva capsule, Keith's pleas to Silva reps to return to the original design fell on deaf ears. Silva insisted in reinventing the wheel until after much trial and error they came up with a perfectly square one.
After nearly 8 years of on-again off-again availability coupled with extreme disappointment in the deteriorating quality of the Silva units Keith finally called their U.S. outlet (Brunton) and informed their sales rep that K & M would not be purchasing any more compasses as they weren't high enough quality to put into Cracker Jack boxes, let alone a piece of survival gear. The rep admitted that they were pretty pathetic. He also admitted that Silva's policies had been financially devastating to K & M's business.
After several frustrating months without compasses Keith finally decided to search the internet in the hope that something would turn up. He stumbled across the Suunto site and was able to obtain some sample compass capsules that looked an awful lot like something they had seen before, the only difference being the color of the dial. The samples proved to be high quality units identical to some that Silva's distributor had shipped to K & M a couple of years before.
Without question the match case's biggest contribution to K & M's continued existence has been the encouragement that has come from seeing that a Mom and Pop business can still make it in a business climate viciously competitive against small operators. For example, every visitor to this site has probably seen the counterfeit knock-offs of K & M's matchcase in big name catalogs or on other web sites, and while K & M has never purchased a copycat version of their matchcase they have received a number of very negative reports about them, some of which can be viewed by clicking on Match Case Copies or Bad News Blues on the home page.
Tragically, American retail outlets don't seem to realize that if trends continue as they are the knife cutting the throat of American manufacturers will inevitably cut theirs. Who's going to buy imported stuff when the last American factory has closed and we're all drawing unemployment benefits? Haven't we learned anything from the Chinese dog food tragedy (which Keith and Marge's dog didn't survive), or more recently, the lead-painted toys? Is it smart to buy inferior foreign made products that in our case RETAIL FOR MORE than the original home-grown version, especially when that piece of equipment may be critical to survival? What's it worth to be able to pick up a phone and call the owners of a U.S. company, who just happen to speak English, rather than be shunted around the globe to people you can't understand and who really don't give a hang about your complaint? Americans need to consider these questions seriously and quickly while they still have a remnant of their former manufacturing capacity intact, because once it's gone it's probably gone forever.
At the present time all K & M products are produced in a garage that's been converted into a reasonable facsimile of a manufacturing facility. The business is located in the heart of beautiful Elk River, Idaho - a mountain village sheltering a full-time population of about 110 hearty souls within its 3 by 4 block borders. Within walking distance one is apt to see deer, elk, bear, cougar, chipmunks, pine squirrels, grouse, etc., a beautiful pristine mountain creek complete with brook trout, and a lake that's home to bass, crappie, and rainbow trout.
For those wishing to experience the romance of howling wolves we have plenty of them too, please feel free to take as many as you want. After years of exhaustive study some really bright bureaucrats have finally determined that, yes, wolves really are killing and eating everything, including other large predators, and have decided to de-list them to allow state regulation. They say that will take a year or more, which in itself is a commentary on the glorious ability of government alchemists to turn gold into lead. Hopefully there'l be enough elk left to restore what was once the world's largest herd.
About 12 miles up the creek you can stand at base of the largest known tree between the Cascade Range and the Atlantic, a western red cedar 18 feet in diameter and 177 feet tall that's estimated to be over 3000 years old.
Like the nearby world-famous Clearwater River steelhead (the largest in the world), K & M match cases have come full circle back to the place of their birth in Elk River. After many false starts and disappointments Keith and Marge feel that they are finally in a position to supply outdoorsmen, survivalists, military personnel, etc., with the finest piece of survival equipment of its kind available. That each matchcase is virtually hand made and assembled has insured that over a period of 16 years and many thousands produced, all those returned for reasons other than compass failure could be held in one hand. Like the lady who makes sure every Honda starts on the first pull, if Marge isn't satisfied they go in the scrap barrel.
Over the years many customers have reacted to them like an L.L.Bean buyer did way back in 1990, "This thing is heirloom quality, they will be passed on for generations." That's been our goal from the start and we're satisfied that they're better now than ever. So try one on us, if you don't like it after any amount of time and use send it back for a replacement or a refund. The only thing to lose is your fear of a cold camp.
Keith and Marge Lunders
Elk River, Idaho
www.kmmatchcase.com
www.kmmatchcase.com