I'm a klutz, and I freely admit that I break things easily. Neat little electronic toys like the PalmPilot recoil in fear when I hold them in my hands, as it's certain they'll be dropped on a concrete sidewalk and have their high-tech innards shatter to pieces. You can laugh at me now, but other klutzes who are reading this article know exactly what I'm talking about.

Klutz proofing
To deal with these problems, I've klutz-proofed my entire life. Instead of the smart-looking leather attache all the other New York City professionals are carrying, I've outfitted myself with a Zero-Halliburton equivalent, made out of aircraft aluminum, like the kinds you've seen Colombian drug lords carry on old episodes of Miami Vice. Instead of a nice thin dress watch, I wear a bulky stainless steel Omega Seamaster, designed to resist crushing pressures 1000 feet under the sea. I've even added a large lithium-ion battery to my StarTAC cell phone, just so that it gives it some extra heft and I can feel better when I'm carrying it.

As a freelance writer and a computer consultant, I depend on my PalmPilot to store all of my valuable contacts and schedule information. When I heard that Rhinoskin made a case out of space-age Titanium alloy for it, my interest was piqued. I had already dropped my PalmPilot a few times, and the results were nearly disastrous. On one occasion it landed on the floor so hard, the memory card popped out and I had to scramble to get the card back in -- only to find that I had to do a hard reset and I lost all of my data. My advice to the PalmPilot Klutz -- hotsync frequently.

The metal
Titanium, atomic number 22 on the Periodic Table of Elements, is the ideal material to use in a case for the klutz. It's lighter than stainless steel or aluminum, it's extremely strong , and it feels and looks just plain cool. My attitude was, if it's strong enough for the Space Shuttle or the B-2 bomber, it had to be strong enough for me. I went to the Rhinoskin web site, pulled out my credit card and ordered it via their secure transaction server, and about a month later, it arrived. The cases are in very high demand and the manufacturing process is difficult, so you'll have to be patient (and real careful) until it arrives.

The case
The Rhinoskin Titanium Cockpit, as shown in Figure A, is a real piece of solid workmanship. The product is completely hand-made and uses aircraft rivets to hold it together. Its color is sort of a polished tan metallic, similar to that of the heads on titanium golf clubs. You know by the look and feel that you're getting a quality product here.