Hi guys,
I’m Jack, the originator of the Modus Cigar Tool. I assure you I did not copy Hekthor’s Redeemer, nor is Modus some big corporation set on screwing “the little guy”. I’m just a little guy myself, a one-man operation.
Anyway, I don’t think the Redeemer had been announced when I designed the Modus. If it had, I certainly was not aware of it. I think it’s just a sensible format, so no surprise that more than one product designer would come up with similar ideas.
The design work on the Modus was done back in mid-2015, but I didn’t pursue plans to produce it commercially until late in the year when I was forced to resign from my job rather than relocate. It was originally inspired by a cigar shaped tool used for breaking up special teas that come in hard-packed cakes. I bought one of those thinking I would adapt it as a draw tool. Loved the format and threaded cover protecting the sharp skewer. But, just doing a conversion would have had shortcomings, so I designed what I thought would be a perfect cigar tool. The “tea needle” had the threaded metal ferrule at its center. I moved it up to more closely resemble the placement of the band on a cigar. As I did that I realized that the top was a perfect place to add a nubber. And the notches in the draw tool skewer are something many of us have used on homemade draw tools for many, many years.
I’ve gotten a lot of great feedback from guys who have bought a Modus. But it’s not perfect… yet. I’ve had several requests to add a cigar punch, making it a 3-way tool and I already have plans to add that on future versions. But that’ll be quite a while coming.
As for “ripping off” someone else’s design, that’s simply not true. And I really don’t want to get into a full discussion of patent law. I will say, though, that the Modus is also “patent pending”, independent of Hekthor’s Redeemer. I met with Hekthor at the IPCPR show to discuss the situation. Yes, we are both “the little guys.” And no, I have no desire to see either one of us destroyed in a lawsuit that would likely really only serve to enrich our respective IP attorneys (no offense to any attorneys present, but you guys know these matters can be rather expensive for your clients). We parted, I thought amicably, with a handshake agreement to co-exist. If there is to be more to the story, I think that is best left to Hekthor and me to sort out. In the meantime we both have great products on the market. If you don’t buy mine, buy his. They are terrific accessories that most any cigar smoker should be pleased to own.
BTW, you’ll notice my registration date here is from back in January though this is my first post. I never could get the necessary confirmation email to complete it, though. So after several attempts to get a resend I eventually gave up. I finally sent an email after seeing this thread and was rewarded with a completed registration and an explanation of why the confirmation emails kept getting rejected (my particular provider blocks them). I originally registered just for my personal enjoyment of cigars, not to promote Modus. I’ve been smoking cigars for over 30 years and post on several other cigar forums. But, I did want to answer about the Modus.
Nothing new under the sun, Gents. 
