The beer buckle.

• Author: Peterson, Eric
• Position: [small biz] COLORADO COOL STUFF

As a recent college grad from South Texas, Jay Kriner found himself carousing many a night with nary a place to put his beer. "I would always rest my bottle on my belt buckle," he said. Inspiration struck when Kriner realized a built-in shelf with a drink holder would in fact be a better belt buckle, and he went to work.

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"I studied a little bit of engineering in college, but I actually designed the blue-prints on Microsoft Paint," he said. "It's pretty basic geometry."

The result: The flashy star-and-pistol-clad buckle folds down into a shelf, and a spring-loaded ring pops up to accommodate the wearer's can or...