YOUR SUPER SPECIAL END OF SUMMER EMAIL.
Let the rambling commence...
Last time I emailed we had a few shop updates, new employees and some super deep questions.
This time around... It will be the same. But also different.
San Util went to MADE for the first time this year.
For those of you who haven't heard of MADE. It is a bike show in Portland Oregon that is pretty much a kid walking into the biggest candy shop in the world. Every direction you look there is art, beautiful, insanely unique bike art in the form of components, frames, bags, and everything else you can think of.
I didn't know what to expect showing up to the show this year, but I did know I wanted to do something special.
The bike shown above was that something special. Andy (hideaway park brewery) and I built my first ever frame from the ground up for the show. It was a bit ambitious (stupid) for a couple reasons.
- I have never built a frame before
- I don't (didn't) know how to braze... or cut steel... or make things straight
- We only had 5 days to get the frame done from steel to cutting to brazing to paint to bags to building the frame with parts.
- We planned on bringing the frame to most prestigious hand built frame show in the USA.
I will write more about this whole process on a blog post at some point this month. The bike turned out better than I ever could have imagined for a first go. Other than the bike, we had an all time show. Said friend Andy decided I was going to need help at the show and bought a plane ticket to come help. Boy am I happy he did. I don't know what I was thinking, there is no chance I could have had as successful of a show without him there. The show was 3 days and I think we both were talking to people from 7am - 11pm every day. If there was a break it was to get food, water, bathroom and reset for the next wave.
I learned a ton at the show this year and can't wait to do it again next year and really show what we can do.
It is that time of year where we start to think about sliding down mountains on planks of wood.
Lets talk packs.
This year we are going to be doing the same 2 ski packs we did last year. The Piste-achio will be nearly unchanged for the 2025/26 season besides some harness system changes. We want to keep it sparced down and fairly simple to attempt to keep the MSRP down. The Off Piste (our flagship pack) will be getting a few small updates to make it even more plug and play as a ski touring and ski mountaineering pack.
2026 Updates
Both Packs-
New closed cell foam that doesn't deform as much as the last foam we used (the pisteachio will also get this update). Hip belts will come with a gear loop on the right hand side and a pocket left. Both Packs will use a new tunnel harness system that will carry heavy loads better.
Off Piste- Dual zipper side closure so you can run a RAD line out the base of the pack. An integrated helmet carry that pulls out from the bottom of the pack and clips onto the 2 vertical daisy chains on the outside of the avy tool pocket. Slightly updated side closures. Trying to get our time down on the pack.
Pricing for 2025-26
We are well aware these are premium price point packs. They are sick and we want to make them. They also take us almost 10 hours to manufacture. That puts almost $300 of labor into each pack plus all the super nice fabric and buckles. They are not cheap, but I promise we are not taking advantage of you. We make them because we love them and are proud of them. We are constantly trying to figure out how to get our production time down on them and pass that down to you. For now...
Piste-achio - Starting $450 for EPX400 or 1000D Cordura, $560 for the ULTRA400X version of the pack, Customs staring at $520
Off Piste - Starting $540 for EPX400 or 1000D Cordura, $720 for the ULTRA400X version of the pack, Customs starting at $660
Timing - We are shooting to get to wait list folks mid October and have packs delivered mid November. We are shooting to have normal stock online mid November and open orders to the public.
Manufacturing and growth talk....
The topic I am thinking about nearly 24/7. How to grow this business to a sustainable level. Pay people a actual livable wage. Where to do that best. How to transition from doing 100% of production in house, to partnering with other manufacturing companies. What to put my money and more importantly my time into.
Like I said. I have been thinking about this a ton. I still don't know the best way forwards, but I am starting to make steps in the right direction (or rather, a direction).
We did our first ever run of bags through another production facility a couple months ago. Our friends Jeremy and Cody built them for us in Portland Oregon. We cut all the fabric off our bolts in shop, counted all the buckles, measured all the webbing they would need and sent a couple big boxes of material off. A couple weeks later, we had a box of completed Whirlpool Hip Packs. That is the only reason we have had them in stock all summer. There is no way we could have kept up with demand without that run.
I am currently working on getting our Off Piste ski pack through sampling with another production partner. It is a product I am proud of and I actually think it is pretty good amongst the competition. If things look good with them and we get pricing back in a range that looks good, I am hoping to do a run of 200 packs through them. That will allow us to have our own packs in shop all season as well as work with mountaineering shops as stockists!
There is a good chance the packs are going to cost somewhere around $200 plus material so we will still be at a high MSRP, but at least have enough margin to work with other folks. That being said I am going to need to come up with about $50,000 to do this first run of packs. That is a load of money. Do any of you guys have suggestions on how to come up with that? If this production partner ends up working out, I will be able to go presell bags and have accounts receivable to put a loan against, but I still don't know the best way to go about it.
If you have done anything like this in the past or have ideas. I would love to buy you a coffee or beer and hear your experience with it. Continuing to step in is pretty terrifying. Currently I don't owe anyone anything. We just do what we want. But I think it is a necessary step for this to become the dream I have in my head.
My pal Andy (Hideaway Park Brewery Owner)
This business started out of my bedroom and then garage 4.5 years ago. 3.5 years ago I moved into a workshop in Winter Park and just over 2 years back, we moved into our current retail space and work shop. It has been a crazy journey with twist and turns I could have never predicted. This business could actually work! That is insane to me! You all have been here for it all. Thank you so much for your support fiscally and through your kind words and encouragement.