Inhalers are one of those everyday objects that millions of people carry around without ever thinking about how they look or feel. They roll around in bags, get shoved into pockets, and come out in public with all the elegance of a used tissue. Nobody designed them to be personal, and it shows. The hale Flow, a colored SLS nylon case made in the UK, wants to change that by treating an inhaler less like a clinical tool and more like something you’d actually want to pull out of your bag.
The person behind it is Matthew Conlon, who built hale from his own experience living with asthma. That starting point matters because the material choice isn’t just cosmetic. The case is made from PA12 nylon through selective laser sintering, a polymer grade found in aerospace and medical implant applications. At just 1mm of wall thickness, it wraps tightly around the Ventolin Evohaler without adding bulk, and the slightly grainy, matte surface gives it a tactile quality that immediately separates it from the cheap silicone sleeves floating around online.
Designer: Matthew Conlon
Two halves snap together through concealed magnets, each only 0.85mm thick, so there are no visible clips or latches breaking up the surface. The mouthpiece cap bonds with a small dot of adhesive, the one permanent step in an otherwise reversible setup. Subtle contours across the grip area help with one-handed use, which is the kind of detail you appreciate when you’re having a mid-asthma episode and fumbling isn’t really an option. Three colorways are available (Lemon, Pink, and Black) at £29, sitting comfortably between throwaway accessories and hale’s own aluminum Classic at £59.
What genuinely sets the Flow apart, though, is laser engraving. You can add a name or even upload a custom image, like a pet illustration, etched permanently into the nylon. For a parent buying one for a child with asthma, that turns a medical necessity into something personal, something a kid might actually feel proud pulling out of a backpack. No other inhaler accessory on the market currently offers that level of personalization at this price, which is surprising given how large the potential audience is.
The honest caveat here is compatibility. The hale Flow works exclusively with the Ventolin Evohaler, and while salbutamol remains one of the most dispensed bronchodilators in the UK, with over 22 million units in 2020 alone, millions of asthma patients rely on entirely different devices. Hale says it is exploring additional models, but for now, the design promise stops at one inhaler.
At £29, manufactured in the UK by a single founder who actually lives with the condition he’s designing for, the hale Flow sits in a category that barely existed before it showed up. Whether it can grow beyond that single compatible inhaler will determine if it remains a thoughtful niche product or turns into something with a much wider reach.
