As I mentioned in my original post, I'd like to share some of the development process that went into the product. My business partner and I really just measured success with this one on bringing a product to the finish line. That proved to be more difficult than we initially thought, but we learned a lot along the way.
Below is the original prototype I built. This is the picture I shared with Randy (this was before I was even on HT). We got an encouraging response and continued down the development cycle:
INITIAL PROTOTYPE:
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We went ahead and modified the teeth and used a larger push button. This was a final product version of the design above.
INERATION 1:
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Notes: It worked pretty well but the design caused a decent moment arm due to the poles being far apart causing them to flex in when a rifle was set on the handles. The release button was also hard to get to and it would kind of lock up when you tried to release it.
I modified the design to the below. We thought this was the one. It worked pretty well but was still slightly difficult to engage/disengage. I also had the teeth break on me after using them in the field for a season. Snow and stuff would get stuck in the female side and the teeth eventually became brittle and cracked.
ITERATION 2:
Prototype v2
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Pros: compact/light. Easier than original version to reach the button. We built up 10-15 of these and got them out to friends. Didn't get a lot of feedback but I used them myself for a season and thought there was more to be desired. I had an instance where snow got into the female side, and I couldn't get them together and some of the push button components were showing signs of rust. Also, the assembly process wasn't great.
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I added some fingers to help the user pull the male side from the female more directly. This made it slightly easier to use.
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At this point we weren't sold on the design as there were still questions with how easy it was to engage/disengage, and the assembly process wasn't super repeatable.
We shelved it for a while and I kind of just kept thinking about ways to improve both functionality and manufacturability. Eventually deciding to try a much larger stainless push button release.
Iteration 3:
Here is the initial prototype of the concept used in the final version:
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The female/male teeth were much stronger. We had a through hole on the female side so we could easily clean out any debris that might enter. It was also much easier to assemble as a washer is placed on the backside of the female to secure the balls in the pushbutton.
Many 3d prints and integrations later we landed on the version we're selling now.
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My engineering brain is constantly wanting to improve and tinker but eventually time/money have to be factored into the development cycle. We decided it was time to get it out there and see what the market thinks. As mentioned above, we're using fusion jet printing which is not as strong as molding.
We have other ideas we're considering and would like them implemented in the event we invest in an injection mold. A molded part would be stronger and bring our costs down to help us turn this project into an actual profitable business.
We really are selling these things for barely above cost to get them in the hands of users and have honest feedback of whether or not you think this is a product you'd recommend, if not what could we do to get it there. I don't have any of the competitor's product but would be interested in knowing from those that do how it compares.
There's also so many different trekking poles out there that I'm interested in knowing if there are certain ones that this product doesn't accommodate and why. I have probably 8-10 pairs between ski poles and hiking poles that I was able to test them on, but it certainly isn't all encompassing.
Any issues at all we'll gladly refund. We appreciate the business as I know a lot of you guys get out far more than the average hunter.
Anyways I better get back to my day job, I hope you guys enjoy reading through the cliff note version of our design process.
