Gentlemen/Gentlewomen:
I have been hanging on every word…..and biting my tongue the whole way. Just so you know, Trail Designs has been working on this idea for quite some time now. We have come up with a design that is probably very close to finalized, and even have prototypes in the hands of some of the folk that are participating on this board. At this point, I would like to make a few comments:
First, I want to thank our early adopters for keeping their word and keeping quite about the design…and would encourage them to continue to do so for a little longer. I suspect that when you read what I have to say below, you will realize why I would like to keep your designs under wraps.
Second, the reason we haven't been more vocal about this design is that it is incredibly difficult to manufacture in volume….and if we were to leak it too early….we know we wouldn't be able to meet demand. Now, with that said, we are developing a machine that CAN make this in volume but it only exists now in many pieces and mental concepts so we can't go "big time" yet. (side note….one of the TDesigns founders is a manufacturing tool developer/manufacturer ….so we are confident this will happen)
Third, back to your discussion…and taking you to the place you haven't quite gotten yet. At the highest level, you are going down the right path…..and just about have it….but you now need to start considering the pot that has to go in it. If you look across the vast majority of the pots out there, there are two aspects that prevent them from being candidates for this design. The first issue is the handle. Again, the vast majority of the pots out there have handles that will cut completely through your top cone making it almost impossible to hold its shape. The second issue is the pot height. This design only works with the taller aspect ratio pots. If you think about it, the two cones need to overlap, and consequently, either one of them will be taller than the shorter pots…..and therefore won't fit inside the pot for storage (which is the objective of this exercise).
Fourth, you now should see that the problem is 3-fold. First the design (which you all are closing in on), next is being able to manufacture in volume (which we are closing in on) and finally sourcing a pot that will actually work in this space. To this last issue, I don't know how many of you have been following the trail designs website evolution…..but if you have, you will have noted that we have gone into the Evernew pot business in a big way. This was not random chance. We were fully aware of the potential of the split cone (Caldera Fissure?….that sound good?) and the need to get a source of pots to support it. As it turns out, Evernew makes a nice line of tall aspect ratio pots with handles shifted WAY up toward the top….PERFECT for the Caldera Fissure (again…that name sound good?). If you take a look at our Evernew pots page at http://evernewpots.com you will note that there are 2 pots in the 640ml range (ECA264 and ECA401), 3 pots in the 900ml range (ECA721, ECA402, and ECA265) and 2 pots in the 1400ml range (ECA722 and ECA403) that we have been stocking up on and are targeting for this product once it is released. Again…..we're trying to think ahead here and get all the pieces in place so we can meet the market demand once we unveil it.
Fifth, this mail thread, and our proximity to a finalized solution is prompting me to reply now…..and to consider a limited, word of mouth only, "pre-release" to the BPL crowd. This is not an offer yet….but just kind of an open thought. If we were to do an early release, the price would reflect the heavy hand crafting we have to do at this stage for each cone…probably something in the neighborhood of $100, and would require purchasing one of the Evernew pots from us to fit it. Is this something that we should consider?
Thanks again for all your energy around our designs….we do read every word and appreciate all your support.
Rand :-)
