If the high-heeled shoe was designed by a man, I'd have to say women have gotten revenge by designing nail aprons. The things are clumsy, awkward to put on, and - worst of all - clearly designed for people whose clothes zip in the back: it's bad enough to have to use one of those stinky blue porta-potties on the job, but what do you do with an apron while you're standing there doing your business? You know what I mean?
The folks at Duluth Trading Company (yep, the same tool gurus who brought you the Bucket Boss) have a solution, one that's definitely in the "why didn't I think of that?" department: the Split Front Waist Apron. It's a product that could only have been designed by someone who carries stuff in pockets instead of a purse!
The Split Front Waist Apron is two giant "pockets" that, like most products from Duluth, is made of heavy-duty 10.7-ounce canvas - they say it's the same weight that's used to cover fire hoses. The pockets hang from a 1½-inch nylon webbing belt. The belt has a nylon quick-release buckle front and center, and adjusts for "any" waist size (as long as it's in the range of about 20-48 inches). For those of us who live in the sweaty end of the Sun Belt, the "fire hose canvas" construction is better suited to hot and humid work than a leather belt.
The key to the apron's design is the two halves of the apron, mirror images of one another. Each has a large gusseted pouch nearest the front for holding nails, screws, or other pieces-parts; the gussets make it easier to get a paw in and then out with a fistful of nails. Two more large pockets are behind the pouches (closer to the body) for bulky tools like a tape measure or speed square. On each side are clusters of three more pockets, one large, perhaps for a cell phone, and two small ones for that carpenter's pencil or a screwdriver or pliers. That's a total of ten pockets in four different sizes; with all of the edges reinforced by double-stitched black tape. Finishing off the design are two heavy-duty hammer loops, one on each side.
The split front is a great improvement over conventional, one-piece nail aprons that tie in the back. It moves the tools and supplies around to the sides, where they're out of the way when a wearer sits, kneels, or crouches - ever tied to dig nails out of an apron while hunched over like you're doing a duck walk? It puts the clasp on the front, where your hands are. And, by golly, it gives you complete access to the zipper in your jeans - what more could a boy want?
I've got a slew of Duluth's products around the house, from a mini Bucket Boss pencil-holder that fits a coffee mug to an over-the-top pouch for step ladders. They may be made out of cloth, but they wear like iron. The company makes their products with a tool-user in mind, so form clearly follows function - and the Split Font Waist Apron is a case in point. Get one for your favorite carpenter (male or female)!
Suggested by one of our trades panel members down South who wanted a cooler, super lightweight tool belt. But he wanted something else too: "I need to...More at Duluth Trading Co.
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