Housekeeping
almost 7 years ago – Sat, May 20, 2017 at 11:51:52 PM

We just have a few housekeeping updates for you today.  

KODIAK SIZING  

Please use coupon code K50 to order replacement Kodiaks. 

Here are some details about this coupon:

• 50% off Kodiaks and free shipping in the USA
• Cannot combined with any other coupon/offer
• Valid through the end of June 2017
• Can only be used once per user 

ITEMS TO ADD TO WEBSITE

We will be adding the Mini-Screwdriver/Reflector and a Pack of Replacement Ferro Rods to the website soon based on backer requests. These will not come with retail packaging, but just shipped in small bags. I should have these up on the site on Monday. Remember, your Firebiner already comes with 2 extra ferro rods in the blister on the backer card. 

We also just added some Paracord Remnants to the website in limited quantities. These will be at least 100’ of paracord, but may come in 2 or 3 lengths, and will most likely be around 120’ total for only $12.50, which is half the regular price of 100’. This item will not be displayed, but can be added by searching “remnant” on the site.

MISSING INTERNATIONAL ORDERS 

Huge thanks to Andrew Trevors for his inquiry into his shipment. That prompted us to find that 33 pledges had been put into a canceled status in our distribution system, for some odd reason. We restored all the pledges and got them shipped today. They are on their way to our forwarder. I added in an extra Accessory Kit for Andrew since his inquiry helped us a ton. Thank you all for your patience with all of this. Shipping almost 4,500 pledges in less than 2 weeks with all sorts of hurdles has been exciting, frustrating and challenging, but most of all very rewarding. 

WIRE GATES 

We have had several backers write in letting us know that their wire gates have come off their Firebiner. We are working on an improvement for future production. Thanks for all the great feedback. In the meantime, if you are concerned about the wire gates coming out, a good immediate fix is to put a dab of super glue into the holes where the wire gates get inserted. This adds enough friction to make the gates a lot harder to be pulled off. We now have shipped out all pledges, all replacement parts and are caught up on our website shipping. Thanks to everyone for all your patience. Now, please help us spread the word. 

 - Mike & Joe  

Circumstances...
almost 7 years ago – Mon, May 15, 2017 at 11:53:51 PM

This past couple of weeks we have had our share of "circumstances" – with logistics, systems, etc. Shifting our software from one program to the next presented a series of events including changing many of the weights of the packages unbeknownst to us ...until 90% of the packages were already out. We got a nasty-gram from USPS to come back for visit. We spent way too long at our local post office adding additional postage. Many of the parcels had already left. On top of that, what one postal worker thinks is acceptable as a "flat rate” envelope may not be what others think is acceptable. We found that out the hard way. With these issues, some of you may have had to fork out $0.18 or $1.48, and/or had to make a trip to the post office, to get your parcel. We understand how annoying that is! We also understand some orders didn’t get filled perfectly. Please accept our humble apologies. Please feel free to email us at [email protected] to give us an opportunity to make this right.

We would also like to thank all of our friends again. They donated so much of their time and energy for the never-ending packing party. We had IT Directors, med students, insurance broker, real estate investor, stay-at-home moms, computer programmers, HR manager, hydraulic engineers, the list goes on and on. The fact remains, we have some awesome friends for whom we are very grateful.

Overall, we are quite satisfied with the Firebiner. Mojica hiked four 14ers to put the Firebiner to the test ...he was unsuccessful in his ascent at North Maroon bells but the Firebiner never failed him. As these items are shared with the masses, inevitably we will discover some opportunity to improve the design. Many of you have already shared your recommendations for improvements. Please continue to share your ideas at [email protected]. We take your comments seriously. Mike is already working with the factory for some cool improvements.

To our International friends, we finished up sending all pledges out late last week. The parcels were bulk-shipped to our forwarder in California who will then forward the individual parcels on to each country. You should be receiving your pledge with the next week or two, depending on the postal service in the US and in your country.

As for our USA friends, there were some delays as mentioned above with USPS. You should all receive your pledge by the end of this week. We look forward to getting your feedback and we apologize again for any delays or mishaps with the delivery.

Good news – the website now has the Firebiner as a regular item where you can combine with other items for an order and take advantage of the discount. We also have the Accessory Kit and the Vial up for order on our site as well. Let us know any feedback. We are working on better pictures to put on the website, but just threw some up quickly to get it going.

Many of you have communicated with us on shipping or other issues. We will be addressing those concerns this week, now that we have many of the “circumstances” under control.

Thanks for all your support and patience thru this journey. We will host a lengthy "lessons learned" session and move forward. Richard Branson once said "You don't learn to walk by following rules. You learn by doing, and by falling over." We had the opportunity for a lot of doing and a lot of falling. We are excited to take what we learned and become better both in product design and delivery.

- Mike & Joe

Almost done!
almost 7 years ago – Wed, May 10, 2017 at 10:09:38 PM

There is light at the end of the shipping tunnel. We have had many bumps along the road, but have worked around them. One of the largest hurdles was our shipping plan. We intended to use BackerKit for our shipping, but ran into some unexpected issues and had to make other arrangements. It caused some delays, but the solution will be great for Outdoor Element in the long run. We continue to get very positive feedback on the product and heavy interest from some very exciting channels. It has been a lot of late nights recently and a lot of work since we are fulfilling the orders ourselves, but it has been a lot of fun also. You, our backers, have made it all worth it to us.  

Now, let me get to some housekeeping stuff:  

INTERNATIONAL ORDERS  

I mentioned above the delay in shipping as we sought alternative methods. Well this affected International the most. We are now shipping international orders and should have them all out the door within the next few days. We are sorry for this delay. It is unfortunate we were not able to stick with our original plan, but the alternative we set up is even better in the end. Please note that your tracking number might take a couple days to get activated since we send the packages in bulk to a company who then forwards each one internationally and the tracking activates when they scan it in.  

FIREBINER FERRO ROD REPLACEMENT  

Please use caution when unscrewing the set screw and do it in a controlled environment. There is a spring inside that can fly out and, if not handled properly, you could lose your screw and spring. This is especially true when the ferro rod is at its full length (like when you first get it) since the spring tension will be at its highest. That has happened to several people already. We will be getting more replacement set screws and springs very soon that we can send out to those who have already lost theirs. Mike will soon post a video to our YouTube channel to give some tips on this.

KODIAK SIZING  

We have had some requests to exchange the Kodiak for a larger size. We are working out how best to help you out with that. We are thinking of providing a one-time use promo code for 50% off new Kodiaks with free shipping to those who want different sizes. Instead of wasting all that money shipping the Kodiak back to us and then back to you, you can give the original one away as a gift. If, in the end, you just want to return your Kodiak for a different size, then we can work something out.  

FREE LABOR  

We have solicited the help of friends and family to ship these pledges out to you with pizza and chocolate as their compensation. They are doing an awesome job, but we are still human. If there are any issues, just let us know and we will make it right. We are swamped trying to get out the rest of the orders, but will address each issue as soon as we finish shipping in the next few days. Thanks for your patience and for allowing us the opportunity to make things right.  

OUTDOORELEMENT.COM  

The Firebiner is still in a pre-order status on our website which means it can only be pre-ordered one Firebiner SKU at a time, not combined with any other product. We know it is inconvenient, but unfortunately that is how the pre-order plugin works in WooCommerce, our shopping cart. As soon as we finish shipping all pledges and pre-orders (within the next few days) we will change the Firebiner to a regular item which can then be ordered with other product as normal. We will also put the Accessory Kit and Vial up for order as well at that time. We will send out another update as soon as we make this change.  

Here is Mike and his lovely wife about ready to start their pick-n-pack “shift”. For all of you familiar with Colorado, we get afternoon hail storms in the Spring on a regular basis. The other day, I had to scramble to move all remaining boxes down to the basement so I could move my truck back into the garage to avoid it becoming a vehicular golf ball (like the kid’s car which doesn’t have a garage spot). Talk about organized chaos. The good news is that we shipped out most of the pledges already, so I did not have as many boxes to move down. The pool table has become our primary staging area and has seen more “use” the past week than it has the past year.  

Mike got the pens engraved and they look awesome. They write smoothly as well. These turned out absolutely fantastic. Here is a shot of some of the pens.  

We will hopefully have another quick update out to you by the weekend. Thanks again for all your support. You guys and gals have been wonderful.  

- Mike and Joe

Let's Get This Party Started
about 7 years ago – Fri, Apr 28, 2017 at 12:03:23 AM

The shipping party that is. We are receiving product in daily. The factory has been shipping as they complete the goods. I decided to put the boxes in the garage to keep the harmony in the house. That means my truck is banished to the elements for a few days. We have received a bunch of product and the rest is scheduled to arrive in the next 2-3 days.  

We received the vials in the first few shipments so we could start kitting the Accessory Kits. Here you can see the partners, spouses and a couple of my kids diligently putting kits together in my basement in preparation for the shipment. 

Huge thanks to Noelle, Ryan, Becca, Sarai and Shem.  

We put together about 2,500 Accessory Kits in basically just one evening. Since my wife was out in CA helping her sister, I had no shame putting my kids to work while Mike’s and Ryan’s younger kids stayed home. Not exactly grueling taskmasters, but we got the job done and had a lot of fun in the process.  

On the second evening, we finished up the remaining Accessory Kits and moved on to packing Firebiner pledges! We are working closely with a logistics rep to refine our shipping documentation, shipping labels and shipping process. We are running lean and mean. In the meantime, we will continue to take advantage of some friends and family for free labor (thanks Tom and Noelle)!  

More product will be arriving today, tomorrow and Saturday. We should have the shipping labels all worked out with BackerKit today. That means we will begin shipping out tomorrow. 

Hot diggitty!  

Firebiner in Action on YouTube  

Check out this nifty little video Mike made showing off the Firebiner. He gives some pretty cool tips on starting a fire using the Firebiner and stuff you are likely to have on hand. This video will provide some insight why Mike typically has very little hair on his knuckles. You can also check our other videos on our YouTube channel for other ideas. We will put the Vials, TinderQuiks and Accessory Kits up on our website very soon (after we fulfill the pledges).  

Help  

We need your help spreading the word about the Firebiner. If you have any contacts with any distributors, retail stores or any other potential outlets, please make an introduction. We would love all the help we can get to put a Firebiner into everyone’s hands. Potential outlets are national park stores, college campus stores, truck stops, convenience stores, outdoor/camping stores, sporting goods stores, fish & tackle stores, scout huts, girl scout cookie stands, etc. Thanks a ton in advance.  

Prime the Firebiner  

We have found, that sometimes the very first turn of the EverSpark spark wheel may be difficult due to the positioning/shape of the ferro rod. If this happens, just spin the EverSpark wheel in the reverse direction and then back in the proper direction (annotated on the Firebiner with a circular arrow) and you should have no more issues with the wheel turning. The ferro rod needs to be “shaped” by the wheel. Sometimes there is a tiny burr that needs to be kicked off. Piece of cake.  

Custom Yellowstone Firebiner  

As we noted before, Mike will be up at Yellowstone running the half marathon. We will be selling custom Firebiners there. Here are some pics of the blue one. We think they look great.  

 

Promo Code  

When you get your pledge, you will find a promo code on the inserted letter and on the Kodiak card. That code is KSFB for 30% off select OE items. Since we originally expected to ship these by the end of February and printed the Kodiak cards back in December, the card states the code expires by May 1, 2017. Well, obviously that won’t work now, so we have extended that code to be used before July 1, 2017.  

We are so close we can taste it. Thanks everyone for all your support. Please enjoy and be safe. You will hopefully have your Firebiner, and other stuff. in your hands very soon.  

- Joe & Mike

Leavin' on a jet plane...
about 7 years ago – Mon, Apr 17, 2017 at 10:27:58 PM

OK everyone, sing it with me. I’m leaving on a jet plane…

No, that is not for us but for the Firebiners. We decided to bite the bullet and put these on a plane instead of a boat so we can get these into your hands as quickly as possible. We are eating a few thousand extra greenbacks with past presidents to fly these things over, but we are tired of waiting as I am sure you are. This hurts our wallets a bit but you are certainly worth it. And, we ran into some weighty logistics snags with shipping these on the water combined with other goods. We will work out the ocean-view paddle boat experience for our next order. We should be on track to get these out the door by the end of April and into your hands in May.

As you field test it, we would love your reviews on our website and on Amazon (when we put it up there). If you have other ideas how to improve, we take constructive criticism rather well. Bring it on.

Production is complete and ready to go out the door this week. Here is a picture of the first wave being shipped after they went through final QC and got all boxed up.

We also got back the final tensile test report from the third-party lab. We were expecting at least 200 lbs and hoping for around 250 maybe even 300 lbs. Boy were we pleasantly surprised when it came back at 403 lbs. Holy cow this is awesome. We still want to make our lawyers happy and state this is not to be used to support a human or anything else with a heartbeat, but rest assured your gear will be safe with this little bad boy. Not for climbing!

You will see that the sample broke where it rested on the hard, sharp edge of the metal cylinder on the testing machine. We will test this more to see how well it does with a nylon strap instead.

For those of you who pledged for the Wood Pen, they are looking sweeeeetttttt! I can say that humbly since Mike is the one hand-making these himself and I am truly impressed. I guess that is what happens when you give a talented, creative engineer his own lathe, some beautiful wood and have him go play.

If you pledged for a custom hand-turned pen and have not provided a name to etch in the pen then we will only etch outdoor element in it. These look awesome and would be even more impressive with your name on it. Make sure to email us back by the end of this week if you pledged for a pen and would like your name (or other custom text) on the pen.

We have been carrying the Firebiner around with us all over. I have been driving my wife crazy lighting up Tinderquiks around the house to show it off to friends. I use it all the time to get our wood fire-pit going in the backyard, to cut carton straps, threads, twine, you name it. Mike even used it at his “other job” instead of wasting time trying to find a screwdriver. His co-workers, who all backed the Firebiner, were anxious, jealous and putting pressure on Mike to deliver their Firebiners. Soon, very soon.

 

If anyone happens to be up at Yellowstone National Park in early June, come root on Mike as he runs the half marathon on Saturday June 10. On Friday June 9, we will be manning a booth and selling customized Firebiners that have “Yellowstone” etched in them. Come get one while the limited quantities last.

As always, a huge thanks for your patience and feedback. You have helped make a good product great and we have very much enjoyed our interactions with you.

- Mike and Joe