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ReadyCase combines iPhone case with multitool

This already-funded Indiegogo project delivers seven handy tools in a single slimline case. And early buyers get bodies for iPhone 4/4S and iPhone 5.

Rick Broida Senior Editor
Rick Broida is the author of numerous books and thousands of reviews, features and blog posts. He writes CNET's popular Cheapskate blog and co-hosts Protocol 1: A Travelers Podcast (about the TV show Travelers). He lives in Michigan, where he previously owned two escape rooms (chronicled in the ebook "I Was a Middle-Aged Zombie").
Rick Broida
2 min read
See that kickstand? It's also a USB flash drive that tucks away inside the ReadyCase when not in use.
See that kickstand? It's also a USB flash drive that tucks away inside the ReadyCase when not in use. ReadyCase

Most iPhone cases serve exactly one purpose: to protect your iPhone.

Occasionally you find one that can pull kickstand duty as well, or perhaps open a beer bottle or add a tripod mount.

The ReadyCase includes, among other things, a clip for keeping your earbuds close and tangle-free.
The ReadyCase includes, among other things, a clip for keeping your earbuds close and tangle-free. ReadyCase

Pbbblllttt. Indiegogo project ReadyCase offers seven handy tools in one iPhone case. It's already well past the $15,000 goal the developers set, so now you just need to decide if you want to get one for an early-bird price.

Despite measuring just 3mm thick, the ReadyCase includes a removable USB flash drive (8GB or 16GB), a removable multitool (with standard and serrated blades, a flat-head screwdriver, and a bottle opener), a lens ring for use with three interchangeable lenses, and a headphone clip for keeping your earbuds close at hand and tangle-free.

All that's pretty cool already, but the flash drive can double as a kickstand, propping up your iPhone in portrait or landscape orientations, and at multiple angles for each.

Also, lest you forget, it's a case.

The ReadyCase is designed for the iPhone 4/4S, but there's already an iPhone 5 version in the works. In fact, anyone who pledges at least $40 to the project will get bodies for both models, which I think is a pretty generous offer.

Several of the early-bird options are already sold out, but you can still get the base ReadyCase with an 8GB flash drive for $40, or a ReadyCase with lenses and a 16GB drive for $60. Retail prices will likely be higher -- though hopefully not much higher, because I think the current prices are pretty spot-on in terms of value.

My current kickstand case, the Zero Chroma Teatro, needs replacing, as the hinge that holds the stand is wearing out. Given that I'm already used to a sliver of extra bulk in my pocket, the ReadyCase seems like a logical killer upgrade. The only downside is I'll have to wait until February, which, according to a company rep, is the earliest these will ship. So much for getting Santa to put one under my menorah.

What do you think of the ReadyCase? I'm sufficiently excited about it that it just became the second crowdsourced project I've ever funded. (This is the first one.)