Spuds Adventure Gear
After graduation I thru-hiked the Appalachian Trail from Maine to Georgia (2200 miles). During that time, I came up with an idea to solve one of my biggest pain points while on trail - how to quickly and easily store my trekking poles when not using them.
After completing my thru-hike, I started a hiking gear company and created the Stick Stashers - magnetic trekking pole mounts. I have sold over 6,000 units to date.
The photo above is of me and my “Tramily” celebrating at the finish by drinking champagne from our hiking shoes.
Pictured above are some of the early prototypes and designs for the magnetic trekking pole mounts.
Pictured above is the first version of the product that I showed customers. I 3D printed about 30 units and gave them out to thru-hikers to beta-test and provide feedback on.
The video below shows one of the life cycle test fixtures I built to qualify my designs to over a 1/4 million “Clicks”.
After gaining lots of positive feedback for the idea, I took the leap and invested in tooling to have the parts injection molded. Pictured below is the first iteration of the product that I sold online and in stores.
After gathering more feedback, I improved upon the design with a version 2.0 which was easier to use, more secure and lighter.
