I was a bit annoyed when I first saw some of his products, but we all need a reality check on this.
1. Did Kifaru or Seek outside make the first TP? How many different ways are there to make a TP? Did the Tut come out before the Cimmaron, or was it the other way around? Who copied who on that one?
2. He makes tarps and bivies and bags just like every other sil nylon sew company. They are all the same with a few minor differences. Don't forget that his first item ever made was a unique little tarp that was his own. Similar to others, but it was his own.
3. He made bags that drop onto kifaru frames. I don't know if he still does, but these are plain simple bags without as much webbing and buckles that makes a kifaru pack what it is. In my opinion, this was a little too far. The problem is, people want the best of everything. I have a krux frame and terminus bag with kifaru belt, grabit and lid. That is really all he made when he made the simple bag, but when a guy markets these things is when he crosses the line to some.
4. I have 3 of the webbing connectors that he makes to hook belt slide equipment on the Kifaru webbing belts(or any molle webbing). This is a great piece and people want it, but Kifaru doesn't offer it. I hope it is not because it would reduce the sales of their own products, because I think that is a little foul. For as modular as they claim to be(which they are!!), this would be a great pc for them to offer that would support many other products. Now if they did add it, they look like the bad copycat guy.
5. Every product is on a slow and steady pace toward perfection by innovation and design. That is reality. The closer to perfection a product becomes, the closer all of the manufactures will look. Manufacturers have to be creative to find a feature to try to call their own that makes their's unique.
I suspect his business venture is similar to many others when they first start. He has skills to make items for himself, and quickly learns that there is a market for him to sell. With a one man show whos R&D is trying to remember what he dreamed up the night before so he could make a sketch, or thinking of how to improve a pc of gear that he owns from someone else. His overhead is basically nothing, and he is not running off a business plan where this venture is his sole support. Which would be more insulting? A guy who is appearing to undercut a larger business but is likely still making a reasonable profit, or a guy who is making 400% because he charges just under the price of a large business with substantially more costs?
I will continue to support his business if his offerings seem genuinely unique, but I also like to support good R&D from places like SG, Kifaru, Seek outside or ??? Let's face it. Some of us including myself have the resources to choose to spend more money on principle if we feel inclined. Some people are not in that position, but they want to get out there and hunt.
Sorry this is so long. It just kept going...
