14er knotting tool.

After Darryl Lusk got out of the Air Force in 1989, he worked in a lumberyard and raised the ire of a foreman with his knot-tying skills--or lack thereof. "He said, 'I can't believe you were in the Air Force and never learned how to tie a knot.'"

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Embarrassed, Lusk went home and practiced tying knots all night, a skill he dusted off a decade later to bond with his wife Sara's nephews. In the process, he bolted a bunch of hardware to a board for the boys to practice every imaginable kind of knot, and inspiration struck.

"I wondered, 'Why isn't all this hardware on one tool so you can practice tying knots?'" said Lusk, now a high school teacher in Arvada.

So he invented that very tool, got a patent, and in 2003 started selling the knotting tools with a how-to booklet Sara wrote covering all sorts of knots--including her own patented Lusk Knot. Five years later, the tool has an international market.

"We get more orders from Japan than anywhere else," said Lusk, adding, "It's kind of like the American dream. I always wanted to patent something." $14.99 retail (includes, tool, rope, carrying bag and instructional booklet).

Made by Complete Knotting Systems LLC, Westminster, www.14erknottingtool.com.