"Necessity is the mother of invention" is the saying. However may I add to that observation my own;" the child of invention is persistence despite all evidence to the contrary". These two truths represent the essence of our product, the Multi-purpose Uniaxial Litter Enginery or MULE. On a vacation to Salem Oregon some years ago I was invited to hike along the coast of the nearby Pacific Ocean. Being born and raised on the west and south sides of Chicago, Illinois, hiking wasn't exactly a recreational option for me coming up. One of the hikers in our group lamented his increasing inability to enjoy hiking anymore. For him, it had become more and more difficult to backpack needed gear in the field. "Don't they have something that helps a person with backpacking loads in the field? No, not really. "After all, aren't there many people that enjoy hiking, there must be something?" No and we've all looked. Hmmm... On my flight back home to Tennessee, I began brainstorming what would become the MULE. Necessity was indeed the mother. Since then many thousands of hours of designing, testing and developing have gone into the MULE. With the issuance of United States patent # 4,664,395 came the solo MULE expeditions such as the 3000 mile coast-to-coast walk from Newport Beach, California to Cape Henlopen, Delaware, the Death Valley summer expedition and other shorter field expeditions-all done without motorized vehicle support. Thus came invention's child, persistence. The continuing strive to improve the product, often at risk of injury or worse is always pursued with childlike persistence. We at IDI believe that in the MULE, we have improved a centuries old basic human endeavor that has essentially remained unchanged. Increasing a man or woman's load bearing ability in the field by 100% both in weight and volume by use of our simple, reliable and effective product is, we believe, of benefit to humankind worldwide. Welcome to the revolution.

1. PRESS ALERT: CONTACT:
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE Denise Mayes
www.themule.com (901) 860-5220
Facebook: melvinthemule mccoythemule@gmail.com
Instagram: @melvinthemule
Twitter: #mulewalk
THE MULE Kickstarter.com Walk From Knoxville, TN to Washington, D.C.
WHAT: The MULE Kickstarter.com 600 mile Walk from Knoxville, Tennessee to
Washington, D.C. is a crowdsource funding campaign (http://www.themule.com/).
The Multi-purpose Uniaxial Litter Enginery, or the MULE, allows one person to carry
the weight and volume in the field that would normally require at least two people.
This walk will be a low impact, “green”, environmentally friendly expedition.
WHERE: Follow the expedition’s daily updates on Facebook, Instagram and Twitter.
WHO: Melvin McCoy, an experienced long-distance hiker, is the designer of the MULE. In
2004, using the MULE, Melvin became the first man to cross Death Valley in summer,
alone and without vehicle support (BACKPACKER MAGAZINE, March 2005).
During this expedition, Melvin will be accompanied by his canine companion,
Maxwell.
WHEN: Starting on July 3rd
, 2015 at 10:00 am at the World War I Monument (101 E. Fifth
Avenue 37917) in Knoxville, Tennessee, Melvin will be walking along scenic routes
through Bristol, TN, Danville, VA, Richmond, VA and into Washington, D.C.,
completing his journey at the American Veterans Disabled For Life Memorial (150
Washington Ave., SW 20024) about August 15th
, 2015.