After years of using bungee cords to wrap pipes and other supplies, Auburn excavation contractor Mark Inman decided he could create something more efficient.

And he did.

“I just came up with a looped piece of rubber that seemed to work better,” he said Monday. “It started out as a gasket off some concrete pipe, made for putting concrete products together. It was the perfect link to throw over the rack, and using existing hooks, hold a small load on the truck. ... I tested it that way and it seemed to work pretty well.”

Then he had another inspiration.

“I came up with an idea to make a hook that would slide up and down the loop and stop anywhere along the loop to tie any size load, “ Inman said.

He spent a year tinkering with the concept to get the hook exactly right and then getting it manufactured.

“It was trial and error,” he said. “I just started bending the wire and trying different shapes and configurations.”

Then he found a wire-bending company in Gilroy that was able to duplicate the hook and manufacture it.

Once he had perfected his invention, Inman named it the Rack-Tie and applied for a provisional patent —good for a year.

He now has a utility patent pending, he said.

He also brought on a business partner — Mike Bast, a longtime Meadow Vista resident and owner of Bast Construction. After seeing a demonstration of Inman’s product, Bast agreed without hesitation.

“When Mark came to me with the idea, he said ‘I’ve got this new product I’ve designed’ and he wanted to know if I’d help sell it,” Bast said. “I couldn’t believe how easy-to-use it was.”

He and Inman manufacture the Rack-Tie in their garages. The hooks are still being made in Gilroy, but they plan to take over that part of the process, too.

They sell the device through a Web site, as well as at several local stores including Sierra Pipe and Supply, General Plumbing, 84 Lumber and Warehouse Paints, Inman said.

At Sierra Pipe in Auburn, purchaser Jerry Messner said the store has stocked them for a while and, in fact, it’s time to order more. Customers like the ease of use, he said.

“It is just the adjustability of it, compared to a regular bungee,” Messner said. “It is much longer and a little more versatile.”

Inman and Bast also sell the Rack-Tie at construction sites and plan to start displaying them nationwide at distributor shows.

The Rack-Tie comes in only one color — black — and sells for $10.

“It’s one size fits all,” Inman said. “Because it is adjustable, it’s always the right length and it hooks to itself. With a bungee cord, you have to hook one hook somewhere and find a place for the other hook. The Rack-Tie will grab anything within a 4-foot circumference and doesn’t need any other hooks to work.”

So far, they’ve sold about 1,200 and the orders are increasing, Bast said.

“It will tie anything down to a rack up to 1,000 pounds,” Bast said. “It will keep a tailgate closed and tie down skis.”

For more information see www.rack-tie.com.

The Journal’s Gloria Young can be reached at gloriay@goldcountrymedia.com or comment at Auburnjournal.com.