Fiddleback Backpacking Tarps

If you could get a tarp like that in brown, or a more 'drab' green than the typical Etowah tarps, I would definitely purchase one for $60. I doubt I'd go any higher than that for a urethane coated tarp though. Anything more is silnylon territory. Like a lot of people, I too am currently in the market for a toned down coloured 10x10 tarp. It seems like a good product idea.

A good stainless steel water bottle would be nice, as well. I'm particularly fond of the Klean Kanteen brand (I boiled water on the fire in mine today, in fact). I've tried several different stainless bottles, and theirs is the best quality around. I wonder if they would be willing to print some with your logo?

Hmm.. Fiddleback Firesteels? or is that overdone? lol
 
A stropping kit? I'd be down for one of those.

ETA: and if we're talking swag... Beanies, sweaters, softshells....
 
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HikingMano said:
A stropping kit? I'd be down for one of those.
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UL field "stropping" kit:
IMG_1328.JPG


I think you can handle this one solo bro. :p
 
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Andy, if you want to enrich hiker's lives vs just branding items that are already available, I'll give some suggestions:


1) Carbon Fiber Sheaths, waterproof and, lower trail weight. Seriously, leather is awesome, but it's about as high-tech as plowing a field with an Ox.

2) Encourage your customers to switch to 30D Sil-Nylon tarps, instead of heavy ass PU coated ones, who's coating breaks down after a year.

3) Order more machetes!!!! =D

4) Make some 4" blade length knives with skeletonized tangs from 1/8th stock. Wrap them with 1.8mm dynaglide or some other equivalent 100% spectra/dyneema line. (1.8mm dynaglide has a 1000lb breaking strength, and you can get 3 times as much wrapped around a tang as 550 paracord)






Seriously, if you're interested in a collaborative design of some *real* gear, other than some generic "re-branding", we should talk.
 
javand said:
UL field "stropping" kit:

[snip]
Click to expand...

Psh, real men just use the back of their leather belt. :p

And I agree with javand; if you're going to do a tarp, do a silnylon one. Unless you'd really like to keep the price down. Although silnylon isn't without it's weaknesses... it does burn and ignite more readily than PU coated nylon. And PU coated tarps are slightly easier to fold up, if you prefer that over stuffing. They seem to hold a crease better. Just in my experience, anyhow. I don't think that they're worth the extra weight overall, though. Cost savings? Maybe.

How about a Fiddleback axe? Forging axe heads might be fun. Make it a tad larger than the typical Gransfors and Wetterlings 18-19" model that bushcrafters usually carry... maybe 21 inch or thereabouts. Just enough to cement it in place as a dedicated two handed tool (I never use my 19" pack axe one handed anyway, does anyone?) and still reasonable to pack. There isn't an axe in that range on the market that I can think of. You'd monopolize business from everyone who wants just a tad more heft from their pack axe without buying the 25 incher! ...or maybe just business from one guy -- me. Hah.
 
What color do y'all prefer? I can order grey, black, white, red, green, blue, yellow, and might be able to get limited amount of hunter orange.
 
As to the $50 survival knife, it would be impossible for me to offer a knife that cheaply. Maybe if I design one that is made by someone else. But for me make a blade, HT, to put a knife together, etc, even very small ones are necessarily over $100.
 
Fiddleback said:
As to the $50 survival knife, it would be impossible for me to offer a knife that cheaply. Maybe if I design one that is made by someone else. But for me make a blade, HT, to put a knife together, etc, even very small ones are necessarily over $100.
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By put together, do you mean put scales on it?

I've seen a few tin kit knives that had scales, but really that just takes up space...

Just a little necker/blade blank style blade is all that is needed. Give it about an inch of cutting edge, the rest can be unfinished, with 2-3 fingers worth of handle that can be wrapped with whatever can be found if needed. A couple holes for lashing if needed. Decent amount of belly for skinning if you have to...

Please forgive the awful Paint job (not to scale! ;) ), but something like this:

kitknife.jpg
 
I still say you should do the tarps in kahki. ...khaki, I don't know how to spell it. You know what I mean. :grumpy:
 
javand said:
UL field "stropping" kit:
[...]

I think you can handle this one solo bro. :p
Click to expand...

Not for field stropping. I already have a simple one I made, a little piece of wood with compound saturated leather on both sides, and a few pieces of wet and dry all in a sandwich baggie. That one works best for me.

I'm talking something more along this line:
http://www.jreindustries.com/EMS.htm


ETA: I agree about the silnylon though. That's why I've been looking at the equinox and Integral Designs ones....
 
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Um. The thing with Silnylon is that at the quantities I can buy I can't really compete, or give any kinda good deal on the tarps. They're more flamable too I'm told, and not as easy to fold.

I liked the Zippo idea.

I can do strop kits, but I always just use cardboard. Its easiest to carry and gives the best strop results of anything I've used.
 
Gotcha. :thumbup: As for the color of the Etowah tarps...I like the grey. Red, yellow, and orange wouldn't be bad either.

Cardboard, eh? You should post a thread on that sometime.
 
Fiddleback said:
What color do y'all prefer? I can order grey, black, white, red, green, blue, yellow, and might be able to get limited amount of hunter orange.
Click to expand...

I like most of those color options. Especially green, red and yellow. I also apreciate hunter Orange. I tend to do a lot of camping in the fall and hunter orange would be great for that time of the year.

The stainless steel bottle with your logo on it sounds cool, so do lighters.
 
Fiddleback said:
As to the $50 survival knife, it would be impossible for me to offer a knife that cheaply. Maybe if I design one that is made by someone else. But for me make a blade, HT, to put a knife together, etc, even very small ones are necessarily over $100.
Click to expand...

Oh, I was not talking about scales, if that's what you mean by put together.

Andy, I think you spend more time on a knife's scales than you do on the
whole process up to that point! (Or it is very close)

By the way, they might look pretty cool in orange.
Just saying, that way you have a great signaling device.

Plus, when all your buddies come over to check out your tarp
because of the awesome color, you can proudly tell them
that it is a Fiddleback tarp, and then, not everyone is a knife buff,
you can pull out your Fiddleback knife and tell them about
the company.

I was just thinking, how big is the logo going to be?
 
Fiddleback said:
Um. The thing with Silnylon is that at the quantities I can buy I can't really compete, or give any kinda good deal on the tarps. They're more flamable too I'm told, and not as easy to fold.

I liked the Zippo idea.

I can do strop kits, but I always just use cardboard. Its easiest to carry and gives the best strop results of anything I've used.
Click to expand...


Too bad on the Silnylon being too $$

I like it because it's so much more water repellant that if it's wet and you are packing up you can shake a lot of the moisture off before you put it in your pack = less water you are carrying. Where standard treated on 1 side nylon tarp retains more.

Match safes would be another cool idea. :thumbup:
 
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