Matthew Putman served in the U.S. Navy as an AEGIS Fire Controlman aboard the USS Ticonderoga. In 2019, an RV shore-power cable failure caused a fire that could have killed his family. He spent two years looking for a product to prevent it. There wasn't one — so he built it.
The Strain Guard story starts with a near-miss. On a family RV trip in 2019, Matthew's shore-power cable overheated at the plug and caught fire. The Putmans got out safely, but the moment changed everything.
Matthew started looking for a product that would have prevented it — a way to keep the cable from pulling on the inlet connection that causes overheating in the first place. What he found instead was a category of RV safety products (surge protectors, electrical management systems) that all reacted after a problem had already started. Nothing on the market prevented the mechanical failure at the source.
So he built one.
Strain Guard is a passive mechanical strain-relief device that takes the cable pull off the shore-power inlet connection. No electronics. No batteries. No firmware. It works because it doesn't fail — and it prevents the specific failure mode responsible for a $129M annual fire problem in the U.S. alone.
Every Strain Guard is designed, injection-molded, and assembled in Michigan. We chose Michigan on purpose: our home state, our supply chain, our jobs. Proudly made in the USA.
Strain Guard is a service-disabled veteran-owned small business (SDVOSB). The financial and operational disciplines of the Navy — accountability, checklists, safety-as-mission — shape how we design, manufacture, and support this product.
Strain Guard is patent-pending, in first production, and shipping beta units directly from Battle Creek. We're partnered with Western Michigan University Engineering for independent testing, completed the NSF I-Corps Customer Discovery program at Michigan Tech, and are working toward UL / ETL safety certification for national retail distribution in 2027.
If you're an RV owner, dealer, or safety-adjacent professional and want to talk shop, we'd love to hear from you. Email sales@strainguard.com.
