Thursday, September 2, 2010

Pushing forward

I'm starting a few product development projects and I figured some Way Upstream community conversation would be in order to help push things forward. The projects I'm referring to have to do with fishing gloves specific to the sun as well as a mask. I'd like to hear your thoughts on these. If you have opinions on what works, what doesn't or what you'd love to see regarding these kinds of products then please chime in. This could get interesting.

Illustration and arrangement by Steve Stracqualursi

9 comments:

Anonymous said...

big fan of breath like a fish top/mask

El Pescador said...

interesting. tell me more.

Burl Productions said...

I've been all about hoods lately. Breath better than masks. Could also build sun shades for hands into a shirt.

WindKnot said...

Sort of think the Buff has the mask thing covered: breathable, UV resist, etc. Beauty.

As for gloves, I think they should come in 2 types: 1 for folks that need to pole, and 1 for folks that don't. I've seen the Buff gloves and they have too much palm/finger padding for straight casting. Maybe you'd need that much to prevent excessive wear from pushing a pole though.

El Pescador said...

I know where you are coming from Mikey. The hood is good. I think the only potential weak point is when you're on the run, but I could be wrong. Explain the hand protection further if you can.

Thanks for the feedback WindKnot. I agree that Buff maintains a high % of marketshare with regard to masks but can it be improved? I also agree that a sun glove and a polling glove are two different things...and I'm working on both. Tell me more about what you'd like to see in each.

Peter said...

I got feedback on pull-over fishing shirts from a friend. This is what he wants "I hope you can come up with a lightweight, long sleeve shirt that blocks the sun, has a zippered pocket, and doesn't snag!" I was surprised to hear he wanted a zippered pocket, they always seems to get messed up with salt but he needs a place for his phone or a couple flies when he's wading. Anybody else have thoughts on zippers and saltwater?

El Pescador said...

shirt zippers often are nylon coils (not teeth) and the only part that's metal is the pulling mechanism (which can still corrode and jam due to salt). packs and bags are often the most problematic when it comes to zipper failure, mainly because they don't get washed like shirts do.

regarding snagging, can anyone describe this issue further?

DumpsterFire said...

Re: snagging

The Patagonia sunshade shirts are great and all, but the mesh fabric is highly prone to snagging. An errant hook, walking through the woods and doo-dads on a chest or hip pack have all contributed to numerous snags in my sunshade.

As for the sun mask, I haven't tried a Buff yet, but it would be great to have a mask that can be worn completely over the bridge of the nose and not fog up the inside of my sunglasses whenever I exhale.

El Pescador said...

Snagging feedback noted and appreciated DumpsterFire. I'm searching for a UPF rated textile that isn't so shut down but will resist snags. It's a tricky problem to solve. The fogging glasses issue with masks is tricky too, but I'm working on it. Keep the feedback coming.