Hi. My name is Matt Stum.  For what it's worth I'm a NAR member (#73280) and Level 2 certified. My involvement with rocketry started only very recently after witnessing about an hour of SMURFF III in the spring of 1998. I had known about Estes rockets from my early childhood, but never knew anything above D impulse existed. I stood dumbfounded at the flurry of H's and I's... and then Ray Halm's Arcon flight on an M. I spent that summer flying Estes and Aerotech rockets and certified Level 1 at SMURFF IV in the fall.

Not too long after, I ordered my first rail and set of buttons and fell in love with the technology. I knew this was (or should be) the future of hobby rocketry. The only problem was that at the time there was no standard and the prices were too high. Prices wouldn't come down until there was a standard that generated high volume sales, and a standard wouldn't develop until enough people were using rails. A classic chicken-and-the-egg scenario.

Of the various solutions at the time (Unistrut, BlackSky, etc) I liked the 1/4" slot design the best because it could be used on everything from HPR down through larger modrocs. However, rails were still considered the strict domain of HPR given the relatively high costs of the buttons. At $2.50 or more per rocket, the cost of retrofitting my entire fleet added up quickly. I could understand why others would balk at the idea.

To defray my own costs on my smaller models I tinkered around and came up with the three-piece nylon buttons. I made a few by hand and showed them to my club mates. I submitted an article to our local newsletter on how to make them. I had intended it to end there, hoping others would take the initiative and make their own. Instead I was asked "How much would you charge to make me a few of those?"  My only goal was to get more folks using the club rail so, if that's what it took, I said I'd make up a few.

Now, I'm no engineering genius... far from it. I figured I couldn't possibly be the only one to come up with a low-cost button... someone with some business experience would introduce it to the world and rails would soon dominate the landscape, right? I waited a year, but nothing happened. Other vendors were starting to offer alternate extrusions that were compatible with the 1/4" buttons at a slightly lower cost, but the cost of the buttons remained fixed. Rails were not any more prominent at launches than they had the year before.

I then made the mistake of thinking out loud on RMR and asked if anyone else would be interested in my nylon buttons. I expected a lukewarm response at best based on the frustratingly slow impact I was having on my own club. However, I was so overwhelmed with positive and supportive responses that I still haven't quite recovered. Things sort of took on a life of their own at that point and I've just been along for the ride.

Again, my goal was never to start a business. I just want to see rails made available to the masses, standards established, and rails be the norm rather than the exception at launches. A year and 10,000 buttons later I hope I've had at least a small impact on that goal. I would also encourage you to check out the FAQ and Articles links above for more information about low cost rails, maintenance tips, etc.

Thank you for your support!
Matt