ALMOST ESSENTIAL GEAR: KEEPa magnet devices

I had seen the targeted advertising. I kept receiving the text messages after signing up on its website that said: Buy three KEEPas, get one free. At $25 each, four would cost $75, which seems pricey given that stick-on hooks cost about $1.50 each to hold up the same chairs, trash bags and hammocks. Of course, I have broken 10 of the 12 hooks I have purchased in the past half decade, usually by misuse. And hooks are not easily moved.

My one KEEPa arrived for testing, courtesy of the company.

I had trouble right out-of-the-box understanding the best ways to use it. It was more complicated than you could expect for a little device that consists of two super strong magnets and a strip of plastic uniting them.

I looked at videos and pictures and finally understood the uses. The videos from other users showed many uses, including:

• Attaching it to any metal on a vehicle to hold up a trash bag.
• Connecting the two magnets in a loop to attach it to another loop like on a backpack or a pair of jeans. Then you can easily connect a water bottle, a leash or other essential gear to the loop.
• Connecting the magnets to each other through a nonmetal surface. (Yes, the magnets are strong enough even through thick fabric like a seatbelt, to hold up items like a mini-fan.)

One thing for sure, it is easier for arthritic hands to open and free gear than opening carabiners, the giant clips used for rock climbing. And you don’t need something on a wall like you do for those clips.

The small size is a great feature, but I thought it could be an issue in more ways than one: I connected mine to a cooler that was loaded with two cans of Dr Pepper and ice packs. The device in a loop, though strong, was not strong enough to hold it all up. The package slipped down, and I let it be. But it was really user error. By attaching each magnet directly to metal the next morning, it easily held up my package. The KEEPas seem to hold a load.

“They can hold on a vehicle with a towel in between the two magnets 7 pounds,” Bryan Meyran of KEEPa said. “They also come with a countersunk hole in them that can be screwed to any material and mounted ... like that, they can hold up to 15 pounds.”

Unfortunately, out-of-sight, out of mind, and I promptly forgot where I had left my single, olive green KEEPa. Maybe if it had been one of the six other bright colors, I would have spotted it earlier.

After accusing the dog and my wife of running off with the super strong magnetic device, I saw it attached to the cooler.

I attached it to a belt loop in my hiking pants to keep it close until I found the next use.

The single KEEPa performed strongly, especially around metal, as a hat holder at my desk in the Albuquerque Journal newsroom, holding a trash bag to the side of my vans, attaching a lantern to my van, and acting as an extra hand to hold tools while I was working on my rig.

The next time I am in a gear-spending spree, I may purchase at least one, if not three, more to use with my portable solar panels. Being able to quickly move the panels to follow the sun would make the KEEPas worth their weight, if I could only remember the piece of gear or metal where I last attached it. These work much better than cheap hooks or suction-type devices, which always fall to the ground after a while in the dry New Mexico wilds.