The first thing you need to know about Yellow Jacket is that their iPhone case doubles as a stun gun capable of delivering a searing 650,000 volts into the flesh of a would-be attacker. The second thing is that it’s totally available in pink for your wife or girlfriend.
Dreamt-up two years ago after young Louisianian and Army vet Seth Froome endured an armed robbery, the case—which also charges your phone—is now a painful reality, ready to save your battery life and, potentially, your actual life.
The $140 device, priced only slightly higher than premium models of other charging cases like Mophie, has a shock designed to be non-lethal, and features a two-tiered safety system (a toggle switch and an electrode cap) to prevent accidental discharge. Because pocket dialing is bad enough.
Still not totally convinced that arming America’s smartphoned citizenry is a good idea? Well, it doesn’t really matter, because apparently everyone else thinks it is: Yellow Jacket’s raised over $100,000 on crowd-sourcing site Indiegogo, which they report placed them in the platform’s “top 10 most-funded campaigns out of over 16,000."
This may largely be due to a promotional video featuring some of the best crime reenactments since America’s Most Wanted. It also doesn’t hurt that previous phone-defense systems were limited to an overly conspicuous pepper spray canister-case and, seriously, a brass-knuckle case.
Regardless, we had to test the thing out, and Yellow Jacket CEO Sean Simone obliged us, though only after explaining that his invention is meant for personal security, not for messing around. So if you haven’t yet clicked on the video, do it now, and watch as we become the first journalists ever to get “stung.”
Our shrieks should be enough to convince you to never try this at home.
Nate Hindman and Joe Epstein are "On the Road With Free Enterprise" this summer, visiting small businesses and entrepreneurs, checking out the local flavor, and telling the stories of free enterprise in more than 20 communities across the U.S. Follow their travels on Facebook, Twitter and Instagram.