This is an archived article that was published on sltrib.com in 2015, and information in the article may be outdated. It is provided only for personal research purposes and may not be reprinted.
This week's Utah Crowd-Funding Project is for people who are serious about their gin rummy.
Kyle Sorensen, a mechanical engineer and hobby machinist from Eagle Mountain, has designed the last set of playing cards you'll ever buy. His "Sly Kly" cards are printed on carbon fiber, and he's introduced a hybrid version that combines carbon fiber with bulletproof Kevlar woven into the rigid fabric.
(This begs the question: Exactly who is Sorensen playing cards with?)
The Kevlar/carbon-fiber version comes in red and black, and Sorensen is planning a blue-and-black version if his fund-raising campaign is successful.
The cards aren't cheap. A new deck will retail for $135 to the early-birds, and $155 to the late-comers.
Sorensen has launched a crowd-funding campaign on Kickstarter, seeking $35,000 to manufacture his unique cards. So far, he has raised $4,835 of his goal, with a deadline of Feb. 20.
Benefits for backers range from a pack of carbon fiber cards (for a $110 pledge) to a case of 20 of the Kevlar-hybrid decks (for a $2,500 pledge).
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If you have a crowd-funding project you'd like mentioned on The Cricket blog, email it to: spmeans@sltrib.com. Be sure to put "crowd funding" in the subject line.