In the time of the coronavirus, everyone’s had to become something of a germaphobe. Face masks and frequent hand washing are the norm rather than the exception. So, a few weeks ago, when Gino Gavoni’s wife, Lisa, expressed an interest in “something so I wouldn’t have to touch buttons,” the owner of Brand O’ Guitar Company (asi/41461) in Sanford, FL, didn’t bat an eye.

Instead, Gavoni fired up his laser machine and started cutting out prototypes of what would soon become the Vital Hook, a lightweight, business card-sized piece of personal protective equipment (PPE) that lets you open doors, flip switches, push elevator buttons and type into ATMs and touchscreens without having to touch potentially contaminated surfaces. The ergonomic design includes a finger hole, multifunction hook, multiple touchpoints and a belt hook and keyhole for easy storage and transport. It also incorporates a strip of conductive copper around the edge so it can be used as a stylus for smart phones and tablets.

Gavoni finalized the initial design on a Monday, built a website for the product on a Wednesday and sent an email blast to 7,000 distributors on a Thursday. By Friday of the same week, Brand O’ Guitar was already taking orders for the Vital Hook.

“We’ve been selling it like crazy,” Gavoni says. “The phones are ringing off the hook.”

Orders range between several hundred to several thousand pieces, though Gavoni has also received inquiries to produce quantities in the hundreds of thousands.

Because the product is considered PPE, Brand O’ Guitar has been deemed essential and has opened up shop to produce the Vital Hook. Gavoni says he never laid off the nine people on his production staff during the coronavirus lockdown, essentially paying them to stay at home for several weeks before production of the Vital Hook ramped up. The pivot to PPE has been an exciting change of pace, while many of its traditional orders have been on hold due to the coronavirus. “We hired on some more people just to handle the load of the Vital Hook,” Gavoni says.

Since it launched in mid-April, the Vital Hook from Brand O’ Guitar has been a hot seller.

Gavoni has been selling the product in very small amounts for retail through an e-commerce website. The bulk of the orders thus far have been through distributors who are having them imprinted and using them as self-promos or as part of promotions for big brands, Gavoni says.

Gavoni has two patents pending on the Vital Hook. “You won’t be able to find a Made-in-America protective stylus that uses conductive copper anywhere else,” he says. “We’re the only place you’ll be able to get them from.”