October 13, 2025 • 43 mins
A dream trail broke his knees and changed his life—Steve Evans went from hauling “light” heavy gear to engineering tools that feel like cheating on a portage. We bring you the origin story of Suluk 46, where a licensed mechanical engineer applies stress analysis and real-world testing to build ultralight, ultra-strong equipment that actually earns its place in your pack. From a titanium-and-carbon ice axe born for Nepal, to award-winning tent stakes, to a folding saw that weighs like a candy bar, Steve shows how obsession, iteration, and field time create gear that lasts.
We explore the design logic behind two very different saw families—an ultralight buck saw and slim folding pull saws built around Silky blades—plus the realities of supply, custom blade development in Sweden, and choosing performance without extra grams. You’ll hear the surprisingly relatable story of a packable grill that snaps together at camp and disappears into a small tube when you hike out, solving the “gross site grate” problem without adding bulk. We also dig into the market divide between canoe trippers and ultralight hikers, why product choices shift with terrain and portages, and how to think about comfort versus weight when you’re planning multi-day routes.
Looking ahead, Steve teases a carbon fibre, refillable fuel canister with a titanium valve assembly—a TSSA-informed answer to disposable isobutane canisters that could save weight, reduce waste, and make fuel management smarter on long trips. Along the way, we talk about building a small, family-powered company, launching products at Canadian outdoor shows, and redefining success around time outside, not just scale. If you care about backpacking gear, canoe tripping essentials, and thoughtful design that starts on the trail and ends at your workbench, this conversation will spark ideas for your next kit rebuild.
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Transcript
Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
SPEAKER_03 (00:00):
Hello and good day.
Hey, welcome to the Super GoodCamping Podcast.
My name is Pamela.
SPEAKER_01 (00:04):
I'm Tim.
SPEAKER_03 (00:05):
And we are from Supergoodcamping.com.
We're here because we had amission to inspire other people
to get outside and enjoy campingadventures such as we have as a
family.
Today's guest loves to adventurein the backcountry, being that
he is also a mechanicalengineer.
He loves to design and buildultra-light, ultra high strength
gear for backcountry camping.
Please welcome super nice, supersmart.
Steve Evans of SueLuk 46.
unknown (00:27):
Yay!
SPEAKER_00 (00:28):
Welcome! Thank you very much.
Well, that's a wonderful intro.
And no stuttering, like you justnailed it right there.
SPEAKER_01 (00:36):
She does this once a week for about 40 some odd weeks
a year.
SPEAKER_00 (00:41):
So yeah, yeah, you got a down pat.
Well, thanks for having me.
I really appreciate it.
It's good to see you guys.
SPEAKER_01 (00:47):
It's always great to see you.
So so just to throw it out tothe audience, we've we run into
Steve on occasion.
We we live in the same city, andusually we know that we've run
into Steve because he yells outacross, oh, I don't know, the
lobby at Roy Thompson Hall, hey,super good camping.
(01:09):
I forgot about that.
SPEAKER_03 (01:12):
Being that we live in the same city and we have
similar taste.
SPEAKER_01 (01:15):
It's not surprising that he's there for it.
SPEAKER_03 (01:17):
It's just so this was at uh National Geographic
Live, which was was amazing.
We were like, hey.
SPEAKER_00 (01:25):
I forgot about that story.
I have seasons tickets forprobably the last like decade,
and I was go I usually meet mywife just outside in the lobby.
I can't was it it was after theshow, right?
Yeah, because you guys are goingdownstairs, probably pick the
subway or something.
Like, wait, it's super goodcamping.
And then I I was like, if I justscream out Tim, he's no one's
gonna know, he's not gonna turnhis head around.
(01:46):
So anyway, well I made a season.
SPEAKER_01 (01:48):
And same deal up at Paddler Co-op because apparently
you said you you said Tim, Tim,Tim, super good camping.
SPEAKER_00 (01:58):
Yeah, that's kind of it's kind of funny that we've
bumped into each other randomlynumerous times in the single
year.
SPEAKER_01 (02:04):
I totally expect to see you at the you know
adventure shows and stuff likethat, but not just in the middle
of like no one.
So crazy stuff.
Uh so being that you're amechanical engineer, how how
does that how does that parlayinto what you do for to look 46?
Like how did I understand thatyou need to be an engineer to
(02:26):
make I've seen all of yourstuff, it's awesome.
How did how what made it you go,oh well I can make all this cool
gear?
Was it because you were doingultralight stuff?
Stuff that would be happier tohave ultralight gear, and you
went, I can make a better one ofthose, I can do uh something, or
maybe I can, you know, whetherit's the tent pegs or the saws
(02:49):
or you know.
SPEAKER_00 (02:50):
Yeah, so there's a like a little story that I can
tell sort of uh how it allstarted.
Um so yeah, I'm a mechanicalengineer, I'm licensed
professional engineer inOntario.
Um, and I kind of grew up indoing robotics and automation uh
when after I graduated in around1999 and kind of started in a
mostly focused on nucleartooling and automation for
(03:12):
nuclear reactors.
That's sort of what I what I didfor you know decades almost.
And I grew up as like aflatwater paddler with my dad,
cut my teeth in the bush up inKalarney Provincial Park, like
used to go up there multipletimes a year.
And then he passed away when Iwas in uh when I was younger in
high school, actually.
And so then I I continued, butfor some reason, like the
internet wasn't super prevalentthen, and I didn't really know
(03:35):
about solo paddling.
I didn't even know that wasreally a thing.
I don't know how.
I just I just didn't.
And so I started backpackinglike in the early 2000s, except
I had all canoeing gear.
And uh at the time there was,you know, like a light tent
would be probably like fivepounds, and a light sleeping bag
would be like three pounds, andyou'd be backpacking with um
(03:56):
like 80 pounds of gear kind ofthing.
And in the mid-2000s, I tried todo the Lacloche Silhouette Trail
uh in Colorado Provincial Park.
It was like a dream of minesince I was younger, and I
failed immediately on like daytwo.
Actually, for those that knowthe trail, I went to go do it
counterclockwise.
I started at George Lake, and Ihad to bushwhack at Bell Lake
(04:18):
access point three days laterwith like broken knees, not
broken knees, but like you know,my knees are just killing me.
And this is when I was young,this is 15 years ago, I was 32
years old, I was like inphenomenal shape.
And uh, so then back then uhforums were really popular, not
so much like I don't if Facebookwasn't really big or whatever.
So I joined a forum calledBackpacking Light, and the guy
(04:39):
that owns it, uh it's now like afull website, his name's Ryan
Jordan, and there was like asection called Make Your Own
Gear, and it was all thesefanatical backpackers, like
people doing the AppalachianTrail, and they'd be on the
trail for you know three monthsor six months doing the CDT or
the PCT, those are the bigtrails kind of down there.
And I was like, you can sleepunder a tarp that you like sew
(05:02):
yourself, sort of thing.
And I I put together um like anultralight kit where like all of
your gear and stove andeverything in your backpack
would weigh like eight poundskind of thing.
Like it would be super, it'svery minimalistic, it's not not
super comfortable or anything,no chairs.
And um, yeah, I went and youknow, ripped the Laclache
Silhouette trail in like fourdays at the time.
(05:23):
That was like pretty good.
And then I I started backpackingall this all these trails, and
uh, I don't even know if youguys know this, but I I've
backpacked every singlemulti-day backpacking trail in a
provincial park in Ontario.
It took me seven years tocomplete the project.
Yeah, and I was I actuallystarted a book.
Kevin Callan knows this, and sodoes Jeff from Jeff's Maps,
because Jeff was gonna do the umthe maps for the book.
(05:44):
This is going back years ago,and then uh long story short,
then I started getting into likeuh a little bit more um like
some more advanced stuff.
I started traveling places likein the late 2000s, and I was
going to Nepal for I used toclimb a lot in uh I think I was
going in 2006 or 2007, and Iwanted a lightweight ice axe,
and there wasn't really anythingon the market.
(06:05):
And in this make your own gearforum, um, there was all these
really competent individualsthat like worked at all these
places because climbers andbackpackers and paddlers, you
know, they all have thispassion, but then you learn
there's like lawyers and realestate agents and rocket
scientists and like all thisstuff.
And so I built, I designed andbuilt a titanium and carbon
fiber ice axe for my ownpersonal use through the help
(06:28):
with like um all these people.
I remember one of the guys inthe forum, I'll never forget
this.
He was like, I'm an RD engineerfor Aldeela carbon fiber in the
States.
We make all the shafts for Nike,and you know, to get a custom
carbon fiber shaft wouldprobably be like$50,000.
He's like, Oh, we'll do it inour spare time for you.
Just give me a couple axes, andI was like, Okay, that's cool,
like just you know, for fun.
(06:48):
So I built the Isaacs and uhcame back from my trip, and then
everybody was asking for it.
So I put up uh a website in2008, and I just had a single
item on it, the ice axe.
And I sold like 20 of them thefirst year, and I remember
telling my wife, you know, Imade like 2500 bucks or
(07:08):
something like that.
And I remember telling my wife,if I can make two thousand
dollars a year on the side,because I had a full-time job at
the time, I can pay for like avacation for us every year, and
it won't go, it won't like uhtake away from our income.
So to me, the the 2500 bucks waskind of like a success, and then
it sort of stemmed from there.
So then over the years, I waskind of like looking at what's
(07:29):
available, and I'm like, well,I'm an engineer and I can do
stress analysis and calculationsand manufacturing and all that
type of stuff.
So um, probably in 2010, twoyears later, is when I rented
like a small, I actually renteda garage, like a storage unit
with power, and I purchased atthat time, you know, I had like
(07:50):
a lathe and a milling machineand sandblasters and stuff like
that.
So I started manufacturing smallbatches of just weird things,
and these are like more simplerproducts that we we do now
because now we've got a prettybig supply chain and stuff like
that.
And so then over the years, it'skind of every year kind of grew
a little bit and grew a littlebit, and then in 2015, I was
still working full-time, and atthis point, I was like a general
(08:11):
manager of like a kind of like abig company sort of thing.
So it'd been, you know, I was40-ish or so, yeah, maybe not
40, 38.
And the the interest keptgrowing, and then I started
getting people reaching out forlike like retailers, and I was
like, I've never done likeretail packaging, I have no idea
how to do this kind of thing.
And then I met an individual inthe States named Devin, and he
(08:32):
had had a little startup companybecause when you're like in the
outdoor industry, you're kind offriends with other companies, so
you know, like Ado Tech or theAgua guys, you know, we'll we'll
call them up when we're dealingwith like all the tariff stuff
that's happening right now.
There's kind of like a littlebit of us, we're we're like
competitors, but we're kind ofnot, you know.
I mean, like we're there's lotsof room in the industry for
small Canadian businesses, so wekind of work together.
(08:54):
And so retailers were chattingme.
And uh, I had a company down inthe States reach out to me that
kind of said, We love whatyou're doing, but we we can kind
of tell you don't know whatyou're doing.
And so they and I was like,Yeah, I have no idea what I'm
doing.
So then I uh they put togetherlike a little bit of a marketing
plan that's sort of when Ilaunched, like you know, I
didn't know even know aboutInstagram and all that type of
(09:14):
stuff, you know.
So they they uh launched allthat stuff, they did proper
product photos, we redid thewebsite, and then by about 20
like 18, 2019, you know, is whenI was like, okay, it's it's big
enough that I have to startmaking some some adjustments.
So then um I partnered with acompany for a few years where I
(09:34):
would where they were doingtheir own work and I was doing
my own work, and so we wouldshare a facility, and then
things didn't work out, youknow, it's just like two CEOs
trying to work together, we'rebumping heads and whatnot.
So then in 2021, got my own unitand then fully on my own now.
So that's the story, and so uhyeah, do you need to be an
(09:56):
engineer?
I mean, it certainly helps forsure, but there's lots of uh
companies that just got a greatidea, and you you pay an
engineer to do some of the moretechnical stuff, so we just you
know, so oh and I want to sorry,one more thing I want to tell
you really quickly becauseeveryone always asks.
So Suec 46, the 46, everybodyalways asks that so in I had to
(10:16):
come up with a name in 2008, andI had started it.
So the company was actually usedto be called Ev Tech because my
last name is Evans, and it wastechnology, so Evans
Technologies.
So I started EvTech, and thenover the years, it was like, I
don't know if this is such agood name for a company.
So I came up with the name in2008, but never incorporated it,
and then I actually changed myincorporated name.
(10:38):
I can't remember when, this islike a decade later or
something.
So Suluk is like a uh like anInu evaluate name, like a
Western Arctic dialect for theInuit.
Um, it means feather.
It can actually translate to acouple different things, but
when I was thinking of it, I'mlike, well, I want to I want
like I wanted to call it likeyou know something lightweight,
because we do lightweight stuff,but I wanted to kind of like
have an ode to like you know theoriginal ultralighters of
(11:01):
Canada, like the ones that cankind of survive off the land.
And you know, when I think ofthe Inuit lands and and the nort
northern peoples and whatnot, itwas always kind of like I valued
what they valued.
So I I chose a word, actuallywent through a big process of
contacting some of like thecommunities to make sure it was
like like like that it wasright, it was correct.
I didn't want to use like anincorrect term.
(11:22):
So Suluk and the number 46 isthe line of latitude that runs
across Silver Peak in KillarneyProvincial Park.
And when I was younger, this isgonna sound so crazy.
Um, so my my father passed awaywhen I was uh in high school, it
was pretty tragic of cancer.
And our dream, like when I wasyounger, I'd always be like,
Dad, one day I want to go and uhclimb uh Silver Peak.
(11:44):
And to me, Silver Peak was MountEverest.
You know, I mean you're in gradesix.
And uh I never got to do it, sothen I was like, Oh, I want to
like put this in my companyname.
And I remember I was driving byat like um or I saw like a gas
station in the States, and I sawthat 76 gas station with the
little logo in the corner, and Iwas like, I'm gonna call my
graphic arts buddy, and I got abuddy named Trevor Bowman does
graphic arts.
(12:04):
I told him my idea and Isketched it out, and he's like,
sick, let me put a logo togetherfor you.
And that's so that's where thethe it came from.
And the name is super hard topronounce, and everyone kind of
pronounces it differently, butit's Suluk 46, and I don't know
if it was a good idea, but it'sno, it's great because I I've
been I've known you for a littlewhile now, and we I've certainly
known of you for even longerthan that, and I've always kind
(12:25):
of wondered like where the helldid that come from?
SPEAKER_01 (12:27):
Where it what yeah, yeah, I think at some point I
probably did too.
SPEAKER_00 (12:33):
I don't know why.
There was there was a lot ofthought put into it.
I just don't know if it was likea good thought process or not,
but it you know it was it waswell thought out at the time.
SPEAKER_01 (12:43):
No, it's a good one, and it and it is, you're right.
It's uh it's unusual enough tostick in somebody's head.
Like it's you know, you can havethe easy peasy ones and then
you're you're trying to scratchyour head going, you know, I
what's what uh I can't rememberwhat the name is, but that yours
yours sticks.
I I like it.
What so you started with the iceaxe?
What did you sort of get intoafter that?
SPEAKER_00 (13:06):
So um, you know, I I this might not be verified info,
I'd have to go back and check,but I remember another um like
kind of like when a light wentoff.
So the the the ice axe was likeI'd never even thought about
starting a website and andselling it, but and then I was
like, oh, maybe I should like dothis.
Um so I did it, and then I wasthinking of kind of my next
(13:27):
product, and there were sometimes when I was actually like
by I used to sell this is soweird, like sleeping mats and
stuff.
I used to get like sleeping matsmade by uh there's actually a
company in Ontario that would doit, and so I I got them to make
it.
It was kind of like a little bitof a flop, like you can't
compete with Thermorest and andthose guys.
But I remember another big partof the business was me reading
(13:48):
through some forums in like Idon't know, must have been like
2010, 2011, I think around 2011,because I remember I launched a
titanium trowel, which was apretty simple product to make.
And the reason why I did it wasI had seen a uh company in the
States, I have no idea who itwould have been at this point,
and they said they that they hadan ad on the forum, and it was
(14:11):
like for uh celebrating our1000th trowel sale of the year,
uh, and they had some special.
And in my mind, I was like, thatguy sold a thousand trowels in a
year.
I'm like, it's the easiest,like, and I and in my mind, I
was like, it's not even thatgood.
Like, I can totally make abetter trowel.
So I went down, like you know,designed it all up and made it
(14:32):
all funky and whatnot.
It's it's evolved huge.
I still sell trowels, it's stilla huge product for us, but it's
very different.
But I remember that was a bigthing where I'm like, oh, maybe
I can sell more than like ahundred items a year, maybe I
can sell a thousand sort ofthing.
So I think it was it wasprobably the trowel.
I know I did a really uh I did awood stove, which we call the
(14:52):
Una stove, which doesn't have ahuge following in the community
uh canoeing community or likethe climbing or whatever, but
for um people who are on longtrips, fuel becomes like a big
issue when you're doing like athree-month trip or something
like that.
Actually, even for me, when I godo like a three-week trip or
something up north, uh it'sreally hard to to manage fuel
because you're just bringing somuch in.
(15:13):
So if you can have like a smalltwig stove, so I used to make
this little I don't even haveone around here, but a really
small twig stove.
And I remember the the leadingbrand at the time was called the
Bush Buddy, and it was a guynamed Fritz, I think he was out
in BC or something, and he washe seemed at the time, you know,
this is 15 years ago, as theguy, and he was making uh
(15:34):
stainless steel versions, and Icontacted him and said, I want
to make a taint stain uhtitanium version, and he would
he wasn't interested in workingwith me, so then I was like,
Okay, well, I'll make my own.
So then I uh I made my own uhtitanium version, and then uh an
interesting thing with that,there's a company called
Enlightened Equipment that'sactually quite big now down in
the States.
They make uh lightweight likesleeping bags and stuff.
(15:55):
And I remember um me and him hadworked together on a project uh
a couple years ago, and and hehad contacted me and was like, I
really like that stove, I wantto uh carry them in my store.
And I was like, you know, thisis around coming back to the
2015 where I was like, retailproducts?
Like, I don't even know how Igot to get like a UPC code.
Like, how do you do this?
So, and then from there, uh Iyou know I don't remember
(16:17):
because we have about 40 someodd products at this point.
You know, we do the the alldifferent variations of
potlifters, we have the saws, wehave a bunch of the stoves, and
we've retired products over theyears.
I used to do a lot of alcoholstoves, but they've with the um
popularity, like as technologychanges, you know, canister
stoves are really good now.
There used to not be really goodlightweight canister stoves, so
(16:37):
everybody was using like alcoholand ezbit and wood.
So we're slightly moving awayfrom that, focusing a little bit
more on the heavier technologystuff.
But that's sort of the the prosas went between potlifters,
saws.
I'm thinking what else I gothere, carbon fiber stuff, some
tent stakes are really good.
Uh, we won some awards on thetent stakes.
(16:58):
Those were those came outsometime in like seven or eight
years ago.
SPEAKER_01 (17:02):
Little side note, Thomas has determined that we're
going to go to every show thatyou're at for the next about
seven years so he can collectenough free tent stakes from you
so that we can that was at theHamilton Outdoor Adventure show.
SPEAKER_00 (17:19):
I I made I made like 400 D 400 defects.
Like they were they wereslightly defective, and I was
like, Oh, I can't sell these.
What do I do with them?
And my wife was like, just givethem away.
And I was like, Alright, cool.
So I just gave them away.
Yeah.
There'll be more coming outbecause I've got a every time
you make like a couple thousandof them, you've got like a bunch
that are all kind of like notpretty or you know, just have
(17:41):
like just can't be included.
SPEAKER_01 (17:46):
Right on.
So cool.
I I see that you've got twodifferent types of saws.
You've got you've got a buckstyle, and then you've got I I
don't even I don't know what youcall it.
I I always think of it as like aa hand saw because it's a
flip-out, right?
And it's much smaller, much it'sa single sort of deal.
SPEAKER_00 (18:06):
Yeah, um, there's a good story of that as well.
And this is probably prettytypical because I'm um I go on a
lot of trips each year.
Like I take several months offeach year to go on trips.
So most of the gear that I sellI use.
Like, you know, if there's evera time that I won't really use
the gear, I might stop sellingit, unless it's just like
selling like crazy.
(18:26):
But um, I think there's a lot ofpeople like me, and I was
looking for I never wanted asaw.
Well, I shouldn't say I neverwant a saw.
The saw that I had when I usedto canoe was was quite large, it
was a big saw.
And so I just wanted somethingsmall.
And so I made that the firstsaw, we call it the Uki Bok saw,
and uh, I don't have one hereeither.
But um I I made one and I usedit for probably like a year and
(18:46):
a half just on my own.
Like I just designed it and kindof made it, and then I'm making
YouTube videos and stuff, andpeople are asking for it.
So I'm like, okay, well, I wasnever gonna bring a saw to the
market because I didn't thinkyou know backpackers would
really use a saw.
So I designed it as light aspossible.
It's it's ridiculously light, itweighs like five ounces, like
it's the same weight as aSnickers bar, but it's small,
right?
It's it's it's small, and um anduh at the time, so I I brought
(19:11):
it to market and then I I gaveit out to a bunch of people to
try, and I think it was uhMartin Pine Pine Martin, you
know, the um is from Huntsville.
I sent him, I'm pretty sure itwas him, I sent him one, and um
he he gave me a bunch offeedback on it, and he's like,
Hey, have you ever seen likethese Silky style saws?
And I was like, Yeah, I have.
And um, I I had a couple becauseI think they're great, whatever,
(19:33):
but I didn't think there was Ithought people preferred a buck
saw.
Like I thought most people wouldhave preferred a buck saw, so I
was kind of focused on that, butI also didn't want to make a
huge buck saw.
And so then um I started workingon just uh the the little pole
saw one, and I actually the thethe relationship between us and
silky, because they so theyactually supplied the blades to
us.
I was talking with themyesterday actually.
Um, I contacted them originallyto manufacture for me like a
(19:56):
private label saw.
So I contacted them and said,Will you guys make me a because
Silky's I feel like it's thebest blade, but they're very
expensive.
I said, Can you guys make me aprivate label one?
They said no.
Well, not he, but I guess theywent to their superiors or
whatnot, and they said no.
And so then I made the Gone Boy240, which is like the I think
it's a nine-inch blade.
(20:16):
And the general goal with thatis to take a silky saw, use the
blade, but cut the weight inhalf.
So if you've got a one-poundsaw, I'll make you, I'll make it
half a pound kind of thing.
So I started with the 240, whichI feel like is a pretty good,
like if you're on a like likethe trip I just did with my
wife, which was like a six-daycanoe trip in Calarney, I
brought like I brought my hugesaw, uh, because we're like
(20:38):
having almost irresponsiblefires and you know, drinking
wine and making steaks andstuff.
But uh the Yeah, oh yeah, yeah.
And not and not reallyirresponsible, completely
responsible, but just quitelarge for a typical, like bigger
than in my solo stuff.
So the 240 would be like forsomebody who's you know doing
some pretty heavy portages andwhatnot.
And then because of my thefollowing of the business is
mostly backpackers, likeultra-light, you know, then kind
(21:00):
of bringing a big saw is noteven on their list.
Um, the next one I did was the130, which is the little
handheld one.
And then I just right now, uhI'm just making prototypes right
now of the the 500, which is thehuge one, which is so it's a
it's uh I don't know if it'sgonna fit.
Yeah.
So that's the that's actuallycarbon fiber if that comes up.
(21:23):
Yeah, so this is sort of likeeverybody was making um all the
people that the so the 240 wasgenerally and the 130 was
generally focused on sort ofpeople either doing like really
big trips or huge portages thatwere watching like the weight of
their gear, but it started tospill into a little bit more
traditional um like camping triptype things.
(21:43):
So I was getting a lot of notpressure, but interest in making
just a uh a very large likewinter bushcraft saw.
And so um I've made five or sixprototypes and the blades.
That's why I was talking toSilky I saying the blades will
be coming like in the next week,and those will go out, so I'll
give them out to all theYouTubers, you know, the
Xanders, the Maxims, the Joes,and whoever else will take one
(22:05):
and do a test, and then uhprobably at the Hamilton Outdoor
Adventure show or the outdoorbench.
So we'll we usually launch aproduct.
Yeah, production made up.
SPEAKER_01 (22:13):
Uh so and just to just to speak to the side, I
would judging if that's a 500, Iwould say it's probably the 240.
Well, although you might knowbetter.
Uh Jay from uh Beauty of theBackcountry, he was processing
we were on a trip with himrecently, and he was processing
he doesn't he doesn't sit downwell, just just saying he's he's
(22:34):
he's in motion.
Um but he was processing a bunchof wood, and he was just like
zuk, zuk, zuk, done, juke, zook,juk, done.
And so I was like, holy crap,man, that thing is is something,
it must just rock through thatstuff.
So pretty impressive.
SPEAKER_00 (22:49):
They're definitely yeah, the the the Silky Blades,
and actually we actually haveour own blades as well.
We haven't released them, but wewere Silky was having a supplier
issue with this where theycouldn't keep up with the amount
of blades um that we wereselling.
So then we actually went to umuh Switzerland and got uh or
sorry, Sweden, not Switzerland,Sweden, and got uh blades
(23:09):
manufactured for it.
So we also have a private labelblade that's a little bit more
economical, and that'll launchyou know in the next couple
months or something like that.
So when you go to the website,you'll have a choice.
You can either buy the silkyblade, because the one of the
biggest complaints we get is thesilky blade.
If you ever try and buy one,like even a replacement blade
for the 240 is$75 at MountEquipment Co-op because it's
very, very expensive, obscene,you know.
(23:33):
So there's people that justdon't require a$75 blade.
That would be a$20 blade, we'llbe fine.
It's maybe so cool.
SPEAKER_01 (23:44):
Uh anything, is there any one product in
particular that you enjoy makingthe most or enjoyed the
designing process or or youknow, like all the math and all
that sort of jazz?
What is that's your favorite?
What's your favorite?
SPEAKER_00 (24:00):
Yeah, I don't I don't know if it's a favorite,
but I definitely, you know, Ihave people ask me about
starting your own business andthings like that.
Um, and I I generally tell themlike a I'm a bad person to ask
because I'd started it byaccident.
It's not like I had like abusiness plan and did all this
stuff, but I really likeengineering, which is weird.
And um, I used to do a lot ofschool uh back in the day, like
(24:20):
when I was sort of like more inthe corporate world, I used to
do a lot of school presentationson engineering.
You know, I'd go to like highschools and stuff that and tell
people like what it being anengineer is like.
And I always told them, like, ifyou don't love engineering,
don't become an engineer becauseit's like when you get into work
generally, um, depending on whatyou were like.
I mean, now I'm a little bitmore diverse, I do a whole bunch
of stuff.
But when I was working as like amechanical engineer for Atomic
(24:42):
Energy of Canada, there was atime like you would get to work
at eight o'clock and you youengineer until five o'clock, and
then you go home and you wake upin the morning, you and
engineering is like you'redesigning stuff, you're doing
stress analysis, you're doingcalculations for bolts and loads
and and that type of stuff.
So I have a sickness where Ilove doing that, which is really
(25:03):
weird.
I know it wouldn't I tell peoplethat they're like really we we
will me and my wife will go onvacation.
We go on vacation every year,usually somewhere like just
after the trade shows, and Iwill literally be on the beach
drinking a beer and designingsomething.
I know, isn't that crazy?
I love it, it's so much fun.
And my wife is just like bobbingin the water with a cocktail,
(25:23):
and I will design products likejust in my spare time because I
like it so much.
So um, if you don't like if itwas it's probably a pain in the
butt for other people, I reallyenjoy it.
And then I also love like makingprototypes and testing them.
So I think there's might be abenefit in that I I spend so
much time outdoors that I canidentify market needs maybe a
(25:46):
little bit easier than somebodythat just has like an idea and
might not spend a lot of time inthe outdoors, and then my
preliminary testing is generallydone by me.
So I generally will make aproduct, design it, you know,
the more challenging the better.
So I I love doing the saw, Ilove doing the big 500, that was
that was a big challenge.
The the ice axe was a bigchallenge, and then you know,
going out in the field, youknow, working it until to death
(26:09):
until I have to make somechanges, and then I generally do
a small batch run, you know, 10to 15 and give it to a bunch of
people to test, and then I'll doyou know the launch after that.
So no specific product, but themore complex the better.
SPEAKER_03 (26:22):
Well, and the grill that we have is pretty cool.
SPEAKER_00 (26:24):
Yeah, it is.
It's you want to tell peoplethat sure.
SPEAKER_01 (26:28):
Uh so we we have a grill that weighs you can tell
me how much it weighs or howlittle it weighs.
Oh, off the top of my head, Idon't know.
It weighs nothing.
I don't know.
Here's how he's on looking forone.
So we'll put it on a scale.
SPEAKER_00 (26:44):
Oh, I have a scaler here.
I do too.
Yeah that's the one you have,that's the large.
It's a hundred and hundred andsixty-eight grams.
SPEAKER_01 (26:52):
It it fits in a tube.
It fits in a tube, it's aboutmaybe the diameter of three
pencils, all told.
It's it's itty bitty.
It's a loony, a loony, maybe.
Probably smaller than I wouldsay smaller than a loony, yeah.
Um yeah, yeah, it's three threefits in a three-quarter inch
(27:13):
tube.
Yeah, and it it's awesome.
It it's it's individual pieces,it's two long pieces for the
outside edges, and then it's awhole bunch of cross pieces, and
and they alternate between theyso they hook together.
I I don't think I can come upwith a better explanation that
they they have tabs that thatinterlock, but they interlock
(27:35):
one one cross piece willinterlock on the outside, the
other cross piece, the next onewill interlock on the inside,
and they rotate back and forthlike that.
Oh, sorry, alternate back andforth like that, and it's rock
solid.
Once you snap it all together,it's rock solid.
You can do stakes over yourfire, give it a quick swish, put
it back in the teeny tiny tubethat weighs nothing, stick it in
(27:56):
your pack, you're not draggingyou know, your dollar store
beater piece of crap and leavingit at a campsite, because that
seems to be a thing with people.
Using a nasty grill that's orusing a nasty rusted out one
that's that's at the site whenyou show up.
Yeah, so we're quite happy withthat.
SPEAKER_00 (28:13):
It's it's funny that you made the comment about the
nasty grill.
Like this is sort of almost agood segue into how a product is
developed.
So, me and my wife we go on abig canoe trip every single
year, usually about a week long,and it's fantastic because we're
we bring really good food.
We actually bring um like ice,we bring like a small cooler and
we'll put like fish in it andstuff that we'll get it all
(28:35):
prepared.
And we used to go to the siteand the the grills were really
gross, you know.
And I'm a little bit morerugged, like I can like, okay,
whatever, you know, I it's notthe best, but you know, fire
will probably sterilize it.
My wife was like, Can't youyeah, she's like, Can't you make
like a like a clean grill thatwe can bring?
And I was like, I'm not carryinga huge grill.
(28:56):
So, you know, and then we wereliterally just chatting about
this is years ago now, uh, well,not that long, but maybe three
or four years ago when westarted making the grills, and I
was like, I wonder if you couldmake one that you could like
take apart.
And so the the logic, because itat the trade shows, you know,
some people see the grill andit's assembled, and they're
like, How do you assemble it?
And I'll show them, they'relike, That takes too long, and I
(29:17):
totally get it.
Like, if if you get to acampsite and you need to eat
within three minutes, this isnot the grill for you.
You know, it it takes a coupleminutes to put together.
Um, but the value is in thatwhen it's not in use and you're
in you're moving, it doesn'tdirty up your bag, it's small,
it's super light, and then whenyou get to the campsite, you
(29:39):
have to spend a little bit oftime setting it up.
So we used it for probably ayear before I launched the
product.
Like I would just bring it onour trips.
And actually, we like I said, wejust got back from Colonial on
Sunday.
Today's Thursday, and we use itevery single night.
Yeah, it's a great little gross.
And then that's a good exampleof, I guess, you know, we're
just out there, we just Iidentify something that make
(30:01):
them the market needs sort ofthing and then we we make one.
SPEAKER_01 (30:05):
Yeah absolutely I've got a lot of stuff that has
stood over it uh from mestuffing a the dollar store one
back into my pack.
It's like oh man come on.
SPEAKER_00 (30:15):
So yeah when I we saw that I want to say it was
that the Toronto show theToronto Adventure show yes it
was and it was like oh that'sthat we need that we we
absolutely need that so yeahthere's a there's a it the the
saws and the grills do quitewell at the the Toronto show
because it's a it really is acanoeing show that's a big big
(30:37):
canoeing show.
We do some shows in the statesum like it for example like the
to the US I don't even know ifwe sell really many grills.
Like that's really a a Canadianthing I feel like um there's
some grills for sure yeah but umlike in Canada it's weird like
the like the potlifters justdon't sell up here to the US the
(30:59):
potlifters are it's you can'tkeep them in stock it's
completely crazy because it is areally big difference between
like the ultralight backpackersand like the paddlers.
I do both so you know it doesn'tbother me which way or another
but it's just a very differentmarket.
SPEAKER_01 (31:13):
Yeah well canoers I mean portages aside you can
carry a ton more gear like itdoesn't it it literally if
you're paddling it doesn'tmatter I I have a 23 year old
that I take with me so I don'tcare how much it weighs at all
because he can portage it it'sreally not a big deal totally
(31:35):
your own personal mule he callshimself a shirt um yeah oh yeah
that's yeah that's a that's abetter name he's a chauffeur and
a better choice chauffeur tooyeah I don't I don't I don't
have to drive his stuff that'sgreat have a little nap.
He's great actually we hung outat the at the co-op when uh uh
each night actually when uh withEvan he's a good kid he's funny
(31:57):
he's good fun i'm I'm very happyhe continues to come with me
because I well uh literallythree years ago maybe I bought
uh solo a 14 14 foot QAexpecting I was gonna be solo
tripping and I've used it liketwice he's used it more than I
have because he keeps coming soit's like that's awesome I will
(32:17):
trip with him as long as he'sinterested.
SPEAKER_00 (32:19):
Oh good no that's fantastic it's I mean a father
son and and mom like the familytrip out in the outback is
incredible.
SPEAKER_01 (32:28):
Can't get anything better.
I think I suspect they comebecause I'm less yelly if I go
to on backcountry trips, right?
Less stressed and stuff so let'skeep them calm.
Keep them calm.
Less yelly that's exactly whatit's a full-time job but I
appreciate that you do itsweetie.
SPEAKER_00 (32:48):
But um so product wise uh we've got the bigger saw
coming out and we're working ona um this is this might not
resonate uh very well orextremely well with the the
canoeing um community but rightnow there's a really big push on
using something called like ahave you heard of a flip fuel
where you refill gas canistersthat you buy at the yeah or the
(33:12):
store clean out older canisterslike partial partial canisters
and fill up another one insteadso you're taking one canister
not trying to take three of themwith little drips and drops.
Exactly so we're actuallyworking on a I wonder if I have
it here oh I might be able toshow you something maybe an old
prototype.
We're working on a carbon fiberum gas canister for stoves which
(33:36):
will definitely be our mostcomplex um product that we've
ever made yeah I have experiencewith uh TSSA regulation and
pressure vessels from my time inuh the nuclear industry because
we used to do pressure so whenyou're when you're uh designing
something that's gonna holdpressure under certain
circumstances so it has to be acertain volume and a certain
(33:57):
pressure you're not just allowedto build one like you can't just
make a gas canister because ifit blows up it's literally going
to blow up in someone's hands.
So there's all these regulationsand it's regulated by the TSSA
and I used to do this in thenuclear industry.
So we are we're in like veryvery early prototype phase it
might never come but it'ssomething that um I've been
(34:18):
working on for the last like sixto eight months in my spare time
it's not like a solid kind ofthing.
But what it will do is insteadso you'll you'll you'll you'll
buy a gas canister which isessentially disposable from like
Mountain Equipment Co-op or canetire or whatever you get.
And a lot of people arerefilling them but the the valve
it's called a Lindel valve onthose things and the valve on
(34:38):
those is rated for about likebetween 25 and 50 times like you
you wouldn't be able to use itfor you know 10 years it would
eventually leak because it'sjust made of aluminum so we're
doing a carbon fiber shell withit'll be what we want to do
titanium.
So that way that you buy one ofthese canisters and you kind of
can buy a very large one andjust refill it over and over
(34:59):
again.
And this is uh yeah and thenedit me back in now so it'll
look something where's thecamera so it'll look something
like that this is just uh soit's carbon fiber.
I haven't done the top yet umjust got the the actual uh did
the analysis of the actualcarbon fiber itself so we're
(35:19):
working on that which is gonnabe like a little bit of a game
changer that's probably morepopular for backpacking and
hiking so you'll save the weightof the canister itself and then
it'll be refillable from largercanisters which we hope you
would like kind of be a littlebit more efficient.
SPEAKER_01 (35:35):
Like a that's for sake of argument like a five
pound propane tank but one withisobutane or something so that
you can fill it 18 times wellthat'd be great.
That's also sorry don't mean tosidetrack you there just I'm
that's way less canisters beingchucked in the garbage basically
because that's what thosecanisters aren't re you know
(35:56):
refillable and stuff right soenvironmentally friendly.
SPEAKER_00 (36:00):
Yeah so the logic would for sure I mean it would
be great if you could go to likea gas station and fill them up
like you can with the propanecanister or whatever it is but
uh the logic is that you wouldjust buy a really huge one and
then you would fill this one upas needed and you would always
have a full one um and sothere'd be a whole bunch of
benefits to it.
So that's something that we'reworking on.
(36:20):
The new saw is uh is going to bereleased for this winter and I
think that's probably about it.
And then you have to rememberit's like I have probably 50
things that are 10% done justover the years you know and then
you get sidetracked and youspend some time on that but
that's where the the sort of bigpush is um right now and then
(36:42):
it's just um keeping up withdemand we're we're small we're
like three people you know likeit's really tiny you know it's
if you oh if if you go to atrade show that's my whole
family working the the tradeshow it's my wife usually my
sister my brother in law lovesto do it and then sometimes some
friends some friends come andstuff like that.
But it's generally because it'skind of fun it's generally like
(37:05):
my family that you're meeting atthat that trade show so yeah I'm
I have your wife and yourbrother in law now so just your
sister to go.
Yeah my sister is a little shedoesn't come as she's not as
easy to convince to work forfree.
That's called slave labor.
So my wife loves it no but mylike so my wife like loves it
(37:28):
because she has a background ineconomics and she's just always
I'm usually a little bit moreflustered so she wants to handle
all the sales and everythinglike that.
And then my brother in law justis um he's just a super friendly
super good guy and he just lovesthe trade shows can't get enough
of it.
So you know he'll he'll probablybe at the Hamilton outdoor
adventure show with me thisyear.
Oh and you know uh the HamiltonAdventure show is having a film
(37:51):
festival yeah on the Fridaynight yeah yeah and um here's a
little a little teaser the thethere's a video one of my videos
is going to be in it yeah Ithink at least I got I got
confirmation just the other dayI won't tell you which one or
whatever but uh it's not onethat's on uh on YouTube so it's
it's uh pretty interesting wellwe're looking so speaking of
(38:14):
trips trips that you do uh we'relooking forward to still early
stages of organizing things butwe're hoping uh we're hoping to
have you and Evan Lafave uh EvanLafave but Evan Lafive um come
and do a live stream with us youknow somewhere out towards uh
the back end of this year and uhyak about a very cool trip that
(38:36):
you both have done way too manybugs for me but outside of that
that looked awesome it's it'slike we no no I just I keep
there's a picture of you in inin the in the bug suit and the
the they're so thick it's likeoh you you could you'd breathe
out you'd be just like I can'teven I can't even imagine that
(39:01):
yeah so we we'd love to we'dlove to join you for sure we had
a great time on that trip it wasuh very challenging weather
conditions were tough uh evenjust like physically tough and
the bugs ranged from you knownon-existent to some of the
worst I've ever seen in my lifeyeah it was like I've just never
seen it like that in my entirelife very cool experience so I'm
(39:23):
glad that you had the options sowin win yeah cool well what does
the what does the future holdfor Tzulik 46?
Oh yeah um so this is a a reallyuh interesting thing I I used to
be uh like a little bit of aworkaholic like if you if you
talk to my so I've been marriedto my wife forever and I met her
(39:45):
when I was in my early 20s and Iworked you know 60 hours a week
for 15 years.
Like I was working you know Iused to come home eight o'clock
at night leave at six in themorning uh there wasn't a
Saturday that I didn't work thatI can for I felt like years.
I mean there was sure the oddthing um and then when I when I
(40:05):
was in my um like more corporaterole as a general manager of a
bit kind of like a big companyover an engineering company you
know if you called me at twoo'clock in the morning um like I
would answer my phone and youhad a problem with a piece of
machinery or the you knowOntario Power Generation calls
you and they've got an emergencylike I was so committed to it.
And so the reason why I kind ofbring this up is I I'm I'm 48
(40:26):
now and like my values have kindof completely changed over the
years.
It's not that I I don't believein like my I still have a work
ethic I still work a lot butit's a little bit more
enjoyable.
But I'll like my goal with thebusiness is not to ever work
like that again.
And so I have people often belike oh you should do this you
should do this and I'm like Itake three months off a year and
(40:48):
I sometimes I shut the businessdown for a month and you know
this would be mind blowing to afull entrepreneur and I usually
tell young people I'm like ifyou want the business you can
have it just keep me on payrolllike I'm just not I'm not gonna
turn it into like uh the type oflife where I can't spend time
with my family.
So the priority for you knowuntil I let's say officially
retire or whatever is just tokind of ride this out make some
(41:12):
money go on some trips spendtime with family and friends and
enjoy the rest of my life to behonest and then uh I don't know
I'm I'm sure somebody at somepoint will approach me and say
you're not doing a good job letme let me show you how to do it
and I will say here you go manshow me the way and uh that's
the plan right now so I have noidea what will actually happen.
That's excellent.
(41:33):
Hire me I I want to come workthe same yeah yeah I know well
that's the one of the downfallsof taking all the time off and
having a business like that isyou don't make a ton of money.
SPEAKER_01 (41:47):
I'm I'm a building manager.
I don't make a ton of money so II'm I'm down with that as well.
SPEAKER_00 (41:52):
Yeah I I joke with my friends all the time you know
like when when I started thebusiness I had a like I was a
little bit younger and I wasgonna grind it out and turn into
like this huge corporation witha hundred employees and I would
joke with all my friends like ohput you guys on a payroll but
you don't have to do anything.
And then the reality of a smallbusiness when you're just like a
handful of people is like it canbe a little bit of a grind for
sure especially if you'replanning on taking you know
(42:13):
significant time off and andwhatnot.
So nothing would be happier thanhiring everyone I know and
having them just go on trips butit's just like not in the cards.
Right now.
Right now give me a couple yearsall right that's it for us for
today.
SPEAKER_03 (42:27):
Thank you so much to Steve Evans from Suluk46 for
joining us and please do checkhim out he's on all the social
media Instagram Facebook and thewebsite is Suluk46.com S-U-L
UK46.com please do check us outwe are on all the social media
too and you can email us anytimewe're at high at
supergoodcamping.com that's hiat supergoodcamping.com and
(42:50):
we'll talk to you again soon byeoh and also check look for him
at the Hamilton Adventure ExpoToronto outdoor adventure show
and another one that I don'tknow anything about but but
Frostbite out in Alberta uhthat'll be another show he'll be
at that's it and maybe you'vegot a free temp free time peg
(43:11):
yeah look for the defective freetime pegs send them to me
Hello and good day.
Hey, welcome to the Super GoodCamping Podcast.
My name is Pamela.
SPEAKER_01 (00:04):
I'm Tim.
SPEAKER_03 (00:05):
And we are from Supergoodcamping.com.
We're here because we had amission to inspire other people
to get outside and enjoy campingadventures such as we have as a
family.
Today's guest loves to adventurein the backcountry, being that
he is also a mechanicalengineer.
He loves to design and buildultra-light, ultra high strength
gear for backcountry camping.
Please welcome super nice, supersmart.
Steve Evans of SueLuk 46.
unknown (00:27):
Yay!
SPEAKER_00 (00:28):
Welcome! Thank you very much.
Well, that's a wonderful intro.
And no stuttering, like you justnailed it right there.
SPEAKER_01 (00:36):
She does this once a week for about 40 some odd weeks
a year.
SPEAKER_00 (00:41):
So yeah, yeah, you got a down pat.
Well, thanks for having me.
I really appreciate it.
It's good to see you guys.
SPEAKER_01 (00:47):
It's always great to see you.
So so just to throw it out tothe audience, we've we run into
Steve on occasion.
We we live in the same city, andusually we know that we've run
into Steve because he yells outacross, oh, I don't know, the
lobby at Roy Thompson Hall, hey,super good camping.
(01:09):
I forgot about that.
SPEAKER_03 (01:12):
Being that we live in the same city and we have
similar taste.
SPEAKER_01 (01:15):
It's not surprising that he's there for it.
SPEAKER_03 (01:17):
It's just so this was at uh National Geographic
Live, which was was amazing.
We were like, hey.
SPEAKER_00 (01:25):
I forgot about that story.
I have seasons tickets forprobably the last like decade,
and I was go I usually meet mywife just outside in the lobby.
I can't was it it was after theshow, right?
Yeah, because you guys are goingdownstairs, probably pick the
subway or something.
Like, wait, it's super goodcamping.
And then I I was like, if I justscream out Tim, he's no one's
gonna know, he's not gonna turnhis head around.
(01:46):
So anyway, well I made a season.
SPEAKER_01 (01:48):
And same deal up at Paddler Co-op because apparently
you said you you said Tim, Tim,Tim, super good camping.
SPEAKER_00 (01:58):
Yeah, that's kind of it's kind of funny that we've
bumped into each other randomlynumerous times in the single
year.
SPEAKER_01 (02:04):
I totally expect to see you at the you know
adventure shows and stuff likethat, but not just in the middle
of like no one.
So crazy stuff.
Uh so being that you're amechanical engineer, how how
does that how does that parlayinto what you do for to look 46?
Like how did I understand thatyou need to be an engineer to
(02:26):
make I've seen all of yourstuff, it's awesome.
How did how what made it you go,oh well I can make all this cool
gear?
Was it because you were doingultralight stuff?
Stuff that would be happier tohave ultralight gear, and you
went, I can make a better one ofthose, I can do uh something, or
maybe I can, you know, whetherit's the tent pegs or the saws
(02:49):
or you know.
SPEAKER_00 (02:50):
Yeah, so there's a like a little story that I can
tell sort of uh how it allstarted.
Um so yeah, I'm a mechanicalengineer, I'm licensed
professional engineer inOntario.
Um, and I kind of grew up indoing robotics and automation uh
when after I graduated in around1999 and kind of started in a
mostly focused on nucleartooling and automation for
(03:12):
nuclear reactors.
That's sort of what I what I didfor you know decades almost.
And I grew up as like aflatwater paddler with my dad,
cut my teeth in the bush up inKalarney Provincial Park, like
used to go up there multipletimes a year.
And then he passed away when Iwas in uh when I was younger in
high school, actually.
And so then I I continued, butfor some reason, like the
internet wasn't super prevalentthen, and I didn't really know
(03:35):
about solo paddling.
I didn't even know that wasreally a thing.
I don't know how.
I just I just didn't.
And so I started backpackinglike in the early 2000s, except
I had all canoeing gear.
And uh at the time there was,you know, like a light tent
would be probably like fivepounds, and a light sleeping bag
would be like three pounds, andyou'd be backpacking with um
(03:56):
like 80 pounds of gear kind ofthing.
And in the mid-2000s, I tried todo the Lacloche Silhouette Trail
uh in Colorado Provincial Park.
It was like a dream of minesince I was younger, and I
failed immediately on like daytwo.
Actually, for those that knowthe trail, I went to go do it
counterclockwise.
I started at George Lake, and Ihad to bushwhack at Bell Lake
(04:18):
access point three days laterwith like broken knees, not
broken knees, but like you know,my knees are just killing me.
And this is when I was young,this is 15 years ago, I was 32
years old, I was like inphenomenal shape.
And uh, so then back then uhforums were really popular, not
so much like I don't if Facebookwasn't really big or whatever.
So I joined a forum calledBackpacking Light, and the guy
(04:39):
that owns it, uh it's now like afull website, his name's Ryan
Jordan, and there was like asection called Make Your Own
Gear, and it was all thesefanatical backpackers, like
people doing the AppalachianTrail, and they'd be on the
trail for you know three monthsor six months doing the CDT or
the PCT, those are the bigtrails kind of down there.
And I was like, you can sleepunder a tarp that you like sew
(05:02):
yourself, sort of thing.
And I I put together um like anultralight kit where like all of
your gear and stove andeverything in your backpack
would weigh like eight poundskind of thing.
Like it would be super, it'svery minimalistic, it's not not
super comfortable or anything,no chairs.
And um, yeah, I went and youknow, ripped the Laclache
Silhouette trail in like fourdays at the time.
(05:23):
That was like pretty good.
And then I I started backpackingall this all these trails, and
uh, I don't even know if youguys know this, but I I've
backpacked every singlemulti-day backpacking trail in a
provincial park in Ontario.
It took me seven years tocomplete the project.
Yeah, and I was I actuallystarted a book.
Kevin Callan knows this, and sodoes Jeff from Jeff's Maps,
because Jeff was gonna do the umthe maps for the book.
(05:44):
This is going back years ago,and then uh long story short,
then I started getting into likeuh a little bit more um like
some more advanced stuff.
I started traveling places likein the late 2000s, and I was
going to Nepal for I used toclimb a lot in uh I think I was
going in 2006 or 2007, and Iwanted a lightweight ice axe,
and there wasn't really anythingon the market.
(06:05):
And in this make your own gearforum, um, there was all these
really competent individualsthat like worked at all these
places because climbers andbackpackers and paddlers, you
know, they all have thispassion, but then you learn
there's like lawyers and realestate agents and rocket
scientists and like all thisstuff.
And so I built, I designed andbuilt a titanium and carbon
fiber ice axe for my ownpersonal use through the help
(06:28):
with like um all these people.
I remember one of the guys inthe forum, I'll never forget
this.
He was like, I'm an RD engineerfor Aldeela carbon fiber in the
States.
We make all the shafts for Nike,and you know, to get a custom
carbon fiber shaft wouldprobably be like$50,000.
He's like, Oh, we'll do it inour spare time for you.
Just give me a couple axes, andI was like, Okay, that's cool,
like just you know, for fun.
(06:48):
So I built the Isaacs and uhcame back from my trip, and then
everybody was asking for it.
So I put up uh a website in2008, and I just had a single
item on it, the ice axe.
And I sold like 20 of them thefirst year, and I remember
telling my wife, you know, Imade like 2500 bucks or
(07:08):
something like that.
And I remember telling my wife,if I can make two thousand
dollars a year on the side,because I had a full-time job at
the time, I can pay for like avacation for us every year, and
it won't go, it won't like uhtake away from our income.
So to me, the the 2500 bucks waskind of like a success, and then
it sort of stemmed from there.
So then over the years, I waskind of like looking at what's
(07:29):
available, and I'm like, well,I'm an engineer and I can do
stress analysis and calculationsand manufacturing and all that
type of stuff.
So um, probably in 2010, twoyears later, is when I rented
like a small, I actually renteda garage, like a storage unit
with power, and I purchased atthat time, you know, I had like
(07:50):
a lathe and a milling machineand sandblasters and stuff like
that.
So I started manufacturing smallbatches of just weird things,
and these are like more simplerproducts that we we do now
because now we've got a prettybig supply chain and stuff like
that.
And so then over the years, it'skind of every year kind of grew
a little bit and grew a littlebit, and then in 2015, I was
still working full-time, and atthis point, I was like a general
(08:11):
manager of like a kind of like abig company sort of thing.
So it'd been, you know, I was40-ish or so, yeah, maybe not
40, 38.
And the the interest keptgrowing, and then I started
getting people reaching out forlike like retailers, and I was
like, I've never done likeretail packaging, I have no idea
how to do this kind of thing.
And then I met an individual inthe States named Devin, and he
(08:32):
had had a little startup companybecause when you're like in the
outdoor industry, you're kind offriends with other companies, so
you know, like Ado Tech or theAgua guys, you know, we'll we'll
call them up when we're dealingwith like all the tariff stuff
that's happening right now.
There's kind of like a littlebit of us, we're we're like
competitors, but we're kind ofnot, you know.
I mean, like we're there's lotsof room in the industry for
small Canadian businesses, so wekind of work together.
(08:54):
And so retailers were chattingme.
And uh, I had a company down inthe States reach out to me that
kind of said, We love whatyou're doing, but we we can kind
of tell you don't know whatyou're doing.
And so they and I was like,Yeah, I have no idea what I'm
doing.
So then I uh they put togetherlike a little bit of a marketing
plan that's sort of when Ilaunched, like you know, I
didn't know even know aboutInstagram and all that type of
(09:14):
stuff, you know.
So they they uh launched allthat stuff, they did proper
product photos, we redid thewebsite, and then by about 20
like 18, 2019, you know, is whenI was like, okay, it's it's big
enough that I have to startmaking some some adjustments.
So then um I partnered with acompany for a few years where I
(09:34):
would where they were doingtheir own work and I was doing
my own work, and so we wouldshare a facility, and then
things didn't work out, youknow, it's just like two CEOs
trying to work together, we'rebumping heads and whatnot.
So then in 2021, got my own unitand then fully on my own now.
So that's the story, and so uhyeah, do you need to be an
(09:56):
engineer?
I mean, it certainly helps forsure, but there's lots of uh
companies that just got a greatidea, and you you pay an
engineer to do some of the moretechnical stuff, so we just you
know, so oh and I want to sorry,one more thing I want to tell
you really quickly becauseeveryone always asks.
So Suec 46, the 46, everybodyalways asks that so in I had to
(10:16):
come up with a name in 2008, andI had started it.
So the company was actually usedto be called Ev Tech because my
last name is Evans, and it wastechnology, so Evans
Technologies.
So I started EvTech, and thenover the years, it was like, I
don't know if this is such agood name for a company.
So I came up with the name in2008, but never incorporated it,
and then I actually changed myincorporated name.
(10:38):
I can't remember when, this islike a decade later or
something.
So Suluk is like a uh like anInu evaluate name, like a
Western Arctic dialect for theInuit.
Um, it means feather.
It can actually translate to acouple different things, but
when I was thinking of it, I'mlike, well, I want to I want
like I wanted to call it likeyou know something lightweight,
because we do lightweight stuff,but I wanted to kind of like
have an ode to like you know theoriginal ultralighters of
(11:01):
Canada, like the ones that cankind of survive off the land.
And you know, when I think ofthe Inuit lands and and the nort
northern peoples and whatnot, itwas always kind of like I valued
what they valued.
So I I chose a word, actuallywent through a big process of
contacting some of like thecommunities to make sure it was
like like like that it wasright, it was correct.
I didn't want to use like anincorrect term.
(11:22):
So Suluk and the number 46 isthe line of latitude that runs
across Silver Peak in KillarneyProvincial Park.
And when I was younger, this isgonna sound so crazy.
Um, so my my father passed awaywhen I was uh in high school, it
was pretty tragic of cancer.
And our dream, like when I wasyounger, I'd always be like,
Dad, one day I want to go and uhclimb uh Silver Peak.
(11:44):
And to me, Silver Peak was MountEverest.
You know, I mean you're in gradesix.
And uh I never got to do it, sothen I was like, Oh, I want to
like put this in my companyname.
And I remember I was driving byat like um or I saw like a gas
station in the States, and I sawthat 76 gas station with the
little logo in the corner, and Iwas like, I'm gonna call my
graphic arts buddy, and I got abuddy named Trevor Bowman does
graphic arts.
(12:04):
I told him my idea and Isketched it out, and he's like,
sick, let me put a logo togetherfor you.
And that's so that's where thethe it came from.
And the name is super hard topronounce, and everyone kind of
pronounces it differently, butit's Suluk 46, and I don't know
if it was a good idea, but it'sno, it's great because I I've
been I've known you for a littlewhile now, and we I've certainly
known of you for even longerthan that, and I've always kind
(12:25):
of wondered like where the helldid that come from?
SPEAKER_01 (12:27):
Where it what yeah, yeah, I think at some point I
probably did too.
SPEAKER_00 (12:33):
I don't know why.
There was there was a lot ofthought put into it.
I just don't know if it was likea good thought process or not,
but it you know it was it waswell thought out at the time.
SPEAKER_01 (12:43):
No, it's a good one, and it and it is, you're right.
It's uh it's unusual enough tostick in somebody's head.
Like it's you know, you can havethe easy peasy ones and then
you're you're trying to scratchyour head going, you know, I
what's what uh I can't rememberwhat the name is, but that yours
yours sticks.
I I like it.
What so you started with the iceaxe?
What did you sort of get intoafter that?
SPEAKER_00 (13:06):
So um, you know, I I this might not be verified info,
I'd have to go back and check,but I remember another um like
kind of like when a light wentoff.
So the the the ice axe was likeI'd never even thought about
starting a website and andselling it, but and then I was
like, oh, maybe I should like dothis.
Um so I did it, and then I wasthinking of kind of my next
(13:27):
product, and there were sometimes when I was actually like
by I used to sell this is soweird, like sleeping mats and
stuff.
I used to get like sleeping matsmade by uh there's actually a
company in Ontario that would doit, and so I I got them to make
it.
It was kind of like a little bitof a flop, like you can't
compete with Thermorest and andthose guys.
But I remember another big partof the business was me reading
(13:48):
through some forums in like Idon't know, must have been like
2010, 2011, I think around 2011,because I remember I launched a
titanium trowel, which was apretty simple product to make.
And the reason why I did it wasI had seen a uh company in the
States, I have no idea who itwould have been at this point,
and they said they that they hadan ad on the forum, and it was
(14:11):
like for uh celebrating our1000th trowel sale of the year,
uh, and they had some special.
And in my mind, I was like, thatguy sold a thousand trowels in a
year.
I'm like, it's the easiest,like, and I and in my mind, I
was like, it's not even thatgood.
Like, I can totally make abetter trowel.
So I went down, like you know,designed it all up and made it
(14:32):
all funky and whatnot.
It's it's evolved huge.
I still sell trowels, it's stilla huge product for us, but it's
very different.
But I remember that was a bigthing where I'm like, oh, maybe
I can sell more than like ahundred items a year, maybe I
can sell a thousand sort ofthing.
So I think it was it wasprobably the trowel.
I know I did a really uh I did awood stove, which we call the
(14:52):
Una stove, which doesn't have ahuge following in the community
uh canoeing community or likethe climbing or whatever, but
for um people who are on longtrips, fuel becomes like a big
issue when you're doing like athree-month trip or something
like that.
Actually, even for me, when I godo like a three-week trip or
something up north, uh it'sreally hard to to manage fuel
because you're just bringing somuch in.
(15:13):
So if you can have like a smalltwig stove, so I used to make
this little I don't even haveone around here, but a really
small twig stove.
And I remember the the leadingbrand at the time was called the
Bush Buddy, and it was a guynamed Fritz, I think he was out
in BC or something, and he washe seemed at the time, you know,
this is 15 years ago, as theguy, and he was making uh
(15:34):
stainless steel versions, and Icontacted him and said, I want
to make a taint stain uhtitanium version, and he would
he wasn't interested in workingwith me, so then I was like,
Okay, well, I'll make my own.
So then I uh I made my own uhtitanium version, and then uh an
interesting thing with that,there's a company called
Enlightened Equipment that'sactually quite big now down in
the States.
They make uh lightweight likesleeping bags and stuff.
(15:55):
And I remember um me and him hadworked together on a project uh
a couple years ago, and and hehad contacted me and was like, I
really like that stove, I wantto uh carry them in my store.
And I was like, you know, thisis around coming back to the
2015 where I was like, retailproducts?
Like, I don't even know how Igot to get like a UPC code.
Like, how do you do this?
So, and then from there, uh Iyou know I don't remember
(16:17):
because we have about 40 someodd products at this point.
You know, we do the the alldifferent variations of
potlifters, we have the saws, wehave a bunch of the stoves, and
we've retired products over theyears.
I used to do a lot of alcoholstoves, but they've with the um
popularity, like as technologychanges, you know, canister
stoves are really good now.
There used to not be really goodlightweight canister stoves, so
(16:37):
everybody was using like alcoholand ezbit and wood.
So we're slightly moving awayfrom that, focusing a little bit
more on the heavier technologystuff.
But that's sort of the the prosas went between potlifters,
saws.
I'm thinking what else I gothere, carbon fiber stuff, some
tent stakes are really good.
Uh, we won some awards on thetent stakes.
(16:58):
Those were those came outsometime in like seven or eight
years ago.
SPEAKER_01 (17:02):
Little side note, Thomas has determined that we're
going to go to every show thatyou're at for the next about
seven years so he can collectenough free tent stakes from you
so that we can that was at theHamilton Outdoor Adventure show.
SPEAKER_00 (17:19):
I I made I made like 400 D 400 defects.
Like they were they wereslightly defective, and I was
like, Oh, I can't sell these.
What do I do with them?
And my wife was like, just givethem away.
And I was like, Alright, cool.
So I just gave them away.
Yeah.
There'll be more coming outbecause I've got a every time
you make like a couple thousandof them, you've got like a bunch
that are all kind of like notpretty or you know, just have
(17:41):
like just can't be included.
SPEAKER_01 (17:46):
Right on.
So cool.
I I see that you've got twodifferent types of saws.
You've got you've got a buckstyle, and then you've got I I
don't even I don't know what youcall it.
I I always think of it as like aa hand saw because it's a
flip-out, right?
And it's much smaller, much it'sa single sort of deal.
SPEAKER_00 (18:06):
Yeah, um, there's a good story of that as well.
And this is probably prettytypical because I'm um I go on a
lot of trips each year.
Like I take several months offeach year to go on trips.
So most of the gear that I sellI use.
Like, you know, if there's evera time that I won't really use
the gear, I might stop sellingit, unless it's just like
selling like crazy.
(18:26):
But um, I think there's a lot ofpeople like me, and I was
looking for I never wanted asaw.
Well, I shouldn't say I neverwant a saw.
The saw that I had when I usedto canoe was was quite large, it
was a big saw.
And so I just wanted somethingsmall.
And so I made that the firstsaw, we call it the Uki Bok saw,
and uh, I don't have one hereeither.
But um I I made one and I usedit for probably like a year and
(18:46):
a half just on my own.
Like I just designed it and kindof made it, and then I'm making
YouTube videos and stuff, andpeople are asking for it.
So I'm like, okay, well, I wasnever gonna bring a saw to the
market because I didn't thinkyou know backpackers would
really use a saw.
So I designed it as light aspossible.
It's it's ridiculously light, itweighs like five ounces, like
it's the same weight as aSnickers bar, but it's small,
right?
It's it's it's small, and um anduh at the time, so I I brought
(19:11):
it to market and then I I gaveit out to a bunch of people to
try, and I think it was uhMartin Pine Pine Martin, you
know, the um is from Huntsville.
I sent him, I'm pretty sure itwas him, I sent him one, and um
he he gave me a bunch offeedback on it, and he's like,
Hey, have you ever seen likethese Silky style saws?
And I was like, Yeah, I have.
And um, I I had a couple becauseI think they're great, whatever,
(19:33):
but I didn't think there was Ithought people preferred a buck
saw.
Like I thought most people wouldhave preferred a buck saw, so I
was kind of focused on that, butI also didn't want to make a
huge buck saw.
And so then um I started workingon just uh the the little pole
saw one, and I actually the thethe relationship between us and
silky, because they so theyactually supplied the blades to
us.
I was talking with themyesterday actually.
Um, I contacted them originallyto manufacture for me like a
(19:56):
private label saw.
So I contacted them and said,Will you guys make me a because
Silky's I feel like it's thebest blade, but they're very
expensive.
I said, Can you guys make me aprivate label one?
They said no.
Well, not he, but I guess theywent to their superiors or
whatnot, and they said no.
And so then I made the Gone Boy240, which is like the I think
it's a nine-inch blade.
(20:16):
And the general goal with thatis to take a silky saw, use the
blade, but cut the weight inhalf.
So if you've got a one-poundsaw, I'll make you, I'll make it
half a pound kind of thing.
So I started with the 240, whichI feel like is a pretty good,
like if you're on a like likethe trip I just did with my
wife, which was like a six-daycanoe trip in Calarney, I
brought like I brought my hugesaw, uh, because we're like
(20:38):
having almost irresponsiblefires and you know, drinking
wine and making steaks andstuff.
But uh the Yeah, oh yeah, yeah.
And not and not reallyirresponsible, completely
responsible, but just quitelarge for a typical, like bigger
than in my solo stuff.
So the 240 would be like forsomebody who's you know doing
some pretty heavy portages andwhatnot.
And then because of my thefollowing of the business is
mostly backpackers, likeultra-light, you know, then kind
(21:00):
of bringing a big saw is noteven on their list.
Um, the next one I did was the130, which is the little
handheld one.
And then I just right now, uhI'm just making prototypes right
now of the the 500, which is thehuge one, which is so it's a
it's uh I don't know if it'sgonna fit.
Yeah.
So that's the that's actuallycarbon fiber if that comes up.
(21:23):
Yeah, so this is sort of likeeverybody was making um all the
people that the so the 240 wasgenerally and the 130 was
generally focused on sort ofpeople either doing like really
big trips or huge portages thatwere watching like the weight of
their gear, but it started tospill into a little bit more
traditional um like camping triptype things.
(21:43):
So I was getting a lot of notpressure, but interest in making
just a uh a very large likewinter bushcraft saw.
And so um I've made five or sixprototypes and the blades.
That's why I was talking toSilky I saying the blades will
be coming like in the next week,and those will go out, so I'll
give them out to all theYouTubers, you know, the
Xanders, the Maxims, the Joes,and whoever else will take one
(22:05):
and do a test, and then uhprobably at the Hamilton Outdoor
Adventure show or the outdoorbench.
So we'll we usually launch aproduct.
Yeah, production made up.
SPEAKER_01 (22:13):
Uh so and just to just to speak to the side, I
would judging if that's a 500, Iwould say it's probably the 240.
Well, although you might knowbetter.
Uh Jay from uh Beauty of theBackcountry, he was processing
we were on a trip with himrecently, and he was processing
he doesn't he doesn't sit downwell, just just saying he's he's
(22:34):
he's in motion.
Um but he was processing a bunchof wood, and he was just like
zuk, zuk, zuk, done, juke, zook,juk, done.
And so I was like, holy crap,man, that thing is is something,
it must just rock through thatstuff.
So pretty impressive.
SPEAKER_00 (22:49):
They're definitely yeah, the the the Silky Blades,
and actually we actually haveour own blades as well.
We haven't released them, but wewere Silky was having a supplier
issue with this where theycouldn't keep up with the amount
of blades um that we wereselling.
So then we actually went to umuh Switzerland and got uh or
sorry, Sweden, not Switzerland,Sweden, and got uh blades
(23:09):
manufactured for it.
So we also have a private labelblade that's a little bit more
economical, and that'll launchyou know in the next couple
months or something like that.
So when you go to the website,you'll have a choice.
You can either buy the silkyblade, because the one of the
biggest complaints we get is thesilky blade.
If you ever try and buy one,like even a replacement blade
for the 240 is$75 at MountEquipment Co-op because it's
very, very expensive, obscene,you know.
(23:33):
So there's people that justdon't require a$75 blade.
That would be a$20 blade, we'llbe fine.
It's maybe so cool.
SPEAKER_01 (23:44):
Uh anything, is there any one product in
particular that you enjoy makingthe most or enjoyed the
designing process or or youknow, like all the math and all
that sort of jazz?
What is that's your favorite?
What's your favorite?
SPEAKER_00 (24:00):
Yeah, I don't I don't know if it's a favorite,
but I definitely, you know, Ihave people ask me about
starting your own business andthings like that.
Um, and I I generally tell themlike a I'm a bad person to ask
because I'd started it byaccident.
It's not like I had like abusiness plan and did all this
stuff, but I really likeengineering, which is weird.
And um, I used to do a lot ofschool uh back in the day, like
(24:20):
when I was sort of like more inthe corporate world, I used to
do a lot of school presentationson engineering.
You know, I'd go to like highschools and stuff that and tell
people like what it being anengineer is like.
And I always told them, like, ifyou don't love engineering,
don't become an engineer becauseit's like when you get into work
generally, um, depending on whatyou were like.
I mean, now I'm a little bitmore diverse, I do a whole bunch
of stuff.
But when I was working as like amechanical engineer for Atomic
(24:42):
Energy of Canada, there was atime like you would get to work
at eight o'clock and you youengineer until five o'clock, and
then you go home and you wake upin the morning, you and
engineering is like you'redesigning stuff, you're doing
stress analysis, you're doingcalculations for bolts and loads
and and that type of stuff.
So I have a sickness where Ilove doing that, which is really
(25:03):
weird.
I know it wouldn't I tell peoplethat they're like really we we
will me and my wife will go onvacation.
We go on vacation every year,usually somewhere like just
after the trade shows, and Iwill literally be on the beach
drinking a beer and designingsomething.
I know, isn't that crazy?
I love it, it's so much fun.
And my wife is just like bobbingin the water with a cocktail,
(25:23):
and I will design products likejust in my spare time because I
like it so much.
So um, if you don't like if itwas it's probably a pain in the
butt for other people, I reallyenjoy it.
And then I also love like makingprototypes and testing them.
So I think there's might be abenefit in that I I spend so
much time outdoors that I canidentify market needs maybe a
(25:46):
little bit easier than somebodythat just has like an idea and
might not spend a lot of time inthe outdoors, and then my
preliminary testing is generallydone by me.
So I generally will make aproduct, design it, you know,
the more challenging the better.
So I I love doing the saw, Ilove doing the big 500, that was
that was a big challenge.
The the ice axe was a bigchallenge, and then you know,
going out in the field, youknow, working it until to death
(26:09):
until I have to make somechanges, and then I generally do
a small batch run, you know, 10to 15 and give it to a bunch of
people to test, and then I'll doyou know the launch after that.
So no specific product, but themore complex the better.
SPEAKER_03 (26:22):
Well, and the grill that we have is pretty cool.
SPEAKER_00 (26:24):
Yeah, it is.
It's you want to tell peoplethat sure.
SPEAKER_01 (26:28):
Uh so we we have a grill that weighs you can tell
me how much it weighs or howlittle it weighs.
Oh, off the top of my head, Idon't know.
It weighs nothing.
I don't know.
Here's how he's on looking forone.
So we'll put it on a scale.
SPEAKER_00 (26:44):
Oh, I have a scaler here.
I do too.
Yeah that's the one you have,that's the large.
It's a hundred and hundred andsixty-eight grams.
SPEAKER_01 (26:52):
It it fits in a tube.
It fits in a tube, it's aboutmaybe the diameter of three
pencils, all told.
It's it's itty bitty.
It's a loony, a loony, maybe.
Probably smaller than I wouldsay smaller than a loony, yeah.
Um yeah, yeah, it's three threefits in a three-quarter inch
(27:13):
tube.
Yeah, and it it's awesome.
It it's it's individual pieces,it's two long pieces for the
outside edges, and then it's awhole bunch of cross pieces, and
and they alternate between theyso they hook together.
I I don't think I can come upwith a better explanation that
they they have tabs that thatinterlock, but they interlock
(27:35):
one one cross piece willinterlock on the outside, the
other cross piece, the next onewill interlock on the inside,
and they rotate back and forthlike that.
Oh, sorry, alternate back andforth like that, and it's rock
solid.
Once you snap it all together,it's rock solid.
You can do stakes over yourfire, give it a quick swish, put
it back in the teeny tiny tubethat weighs nothing, stick it in
(27:56):
your pack, you're not draggingyou know, your dollar store
beater piece of crap and leavingit at a campsite, because that
seems to be a thing with people.
Using a nasty grill that's orusing a nasty rusted out one
that's that's at the site whenyou show up.
Yeah, so we're quite happy withthat.
SPEAKER_00 (28:13):
It's it's funny that you made the comment about the
nasty grill.
Like this is sort of almost agood segue into how a product is
developed.
So, me and my wife we go on abig canoe trip every single
year, usually about a week long,and it's fantastic because we're
we bring really good food.
We actually bring um like ice,we bring like a small cooler and
we'll put like fish in it andstuff that we'll get it all
(28:35):
prepared.
And we used to go to the siteand the the grills were really
gross, you know.
And I'm a little bit morerugged, like I can like, okay,
whatever, you know, I it's notthe best, but you know, fire
will probably sterilize it.
My wife was like, Can't youyeah, she's like, Can't you make
like a like a clean grill thatwe can bring?
And I was like, I'm not carryinga huge grill.
(28:56):
So, you know, and then we wereliterally just chatting about
this is years ago now, uh, well,not that long, but maybe three
or four years ago when westarted making the grills, and I
was like, I wonder if you couldmake one that you could like
take apart.
And so the the logic, because itat the trade shows, you know,
some people see the grill andit's assembled, and they're
like, How do you assemble it?
And I'll show them, they'relike, That takes too long, and I
(29:17):
totally get it.
Like, if if you get to acampsite and you need to eat
within three minutes, this isnot the grill for you.
You know, it it takes a coupleminutes to put together.
Um, but the value is in thatwhen it's not in use and you're
in you're moving, it doesn'tdirty up your bag, it's small,
it's super light, and then whenyou get to the campsite, you
(29:39):
have to spend a little bit oftime setting it up.
So we used it for probably ayear before I launched the
product.
Like I would just bring it onour trips.
And actually, we like I said, wejust got back from Colonial on
Sunday.
Today's Thursday, and we use itevery single night.
Yeah, it's a great little gross.
And then that's a good exampleof, I guess, you know, we're
just out there, we just Iidentify something that make
(30:01):
them the market needs sort ofthing and then we we make one.
SPEAKER_01 (30:05):
Yeah absolutely I've got a lot of stuff that has
stood over it uh from mestuffing a the dollar store one
back into my pack.
It's like oh man come on.
SPEAKER_00 (30:15):
So yeah when I we saw that I want to say it was
that the Toronto show theToronto Adventure show yes it
was and it was like oh that'sthat we need that we we
absolutely need that so yeahthere's a there's a it the the
saws and the grills do quitewell at the the Toronto show
because it's a it really is acanoeing show that's a big big
(30:37):
canoeing show.
We do some shows in the statesum like it for example like the
to the US I don't even know ifwe sell really many grills.
Like that's really a a Canadianthing I feel like um there's
some grills for sure yeah but umlike in Canada it's weird like
the like the potlifters justdon't sell up here to the US the
(30:59):
potlifters are it's you can'tkeep them in stock it's
completely crazy because it is areally big difference between
like the ultralight backpackersand like the paddlers.
I do both so you know it doesn'tbother me which way or another
but it's just a very differentmarket.
SPEAKER_01 (31:13):
Yeah well canoers I mean portages aside you can
carry a ton more gear like itdoesn't it it literally if
you're paddling it doesn'tmatter I I have a 23 year old
that I take with me so I don'tcare how much it weighs at all
because he can portage it it'sreally not a big deal totally
(31:35):
your own personal mule he callshimself a shirt um yeah oh yeah
that's yeah that's a that's abetter name he's a chauffeur and
a better choice chauffeur tooyeah I don't I don't I don't
have to drive his stuff that'sgreat have a little nap.
He's great actually we hung outat the at the co-op when uh uh
each night actually when uh withEvan he's a good kid he's funny
(31:57):
he's good fun i'm I'm very happyhe continues to come with me
because I well uh literallythree years ago maybe I bought
uh solo a 14 14 foot QAexpecting I was gonna be solo
tripping and I've used it liketwice he's used it more than I
have because he keeps coming soit's like that's awesome I will
(32:17):
trip with him as long as he'sinterested.
SPEAKER_00 (32:19):
Oh good no that's fantastic it's I mean a father
son and and mom like the familytrip out in the outback is
incredible.
SPEAKER_01 (32:28):
Can't get anything better.
I think I suspect they comebecause I'm less yelly if I go
to on backcountry trips, right?
Less stressed and stuff so let'skeep them calm.
Keep them calm.
Less yelly that's exactly whatit's a full-time job but I
appreciate that you do itsweetie.
SPEAKER_00 (32:48):
But um so product wise uh we've got the bigger saw
coming out and we're working ona um this is this might not
resonate uh very well orextremely well with the the
canoeing um community but rightnow there's a really big push on
using something called like ahave you heard of a flip fuel
where you refill gas canistersthat you buy at the yeah or the
(33:12):
store clean out older canisterslike partial partial canisters
and fill up another one insteadso you're taking one canister
not trying to take three of themwith little drips and drops.
Exactly so we're actuallyworking on a I wonder if I have
it here oh I might be able toshow you something maybe an old
prototype.
We're working on a carbon fiberum gas canister for stoves which
(33:36):
will definitely be our mostcomplex um product that we've
ever made yeah I have experiencewith uh TSSA regulation and
pressure vessels from my time inuh the nuclear industry because
we used to do pressure so whenyou're when you're uh designing
something that's gonna holdpressure under certain
circumstances so it has to be acertain volume and a certain
(33:57):
pressure you're not just allowedto build one like you can't just
make a gas canister because ifit blows up it's literally going
to blow up in someone's hands.
So there's all these regulationsand it's regulated by the TSSA
and I used to do this in thenuclear industry.
So we are we're in like veryvery early prototype phase it
might never come but it'ssomething that um I've been
(34:18):
working on for the last like sixto eight months in my spare time
it's not like a solid kind ofthing.
But what it will do is insteadso you'll you'll you'll you'll
buy a gas canister which isessentially disposable from like
Mountain Equipment Co-op or canetire or whatever you get.
And a lot of people arerefilling them but the the valve
it's called a Lindel valve onthose things and the valve on
(34:38):
those is rated for about likebetween 25 and 50 times like you
you wouldn't be able to use itfor you know 10 years it would
eventually leak because it'sjust made of aluminum so we're
doing a carbon fiber shell withit'll be what we want to do
titanium.
So that way that you buy one ofthese canisters and you kind of
can buy a very large one andjust refill it over and over
(34:59):
again.
And this is uh yeah and thenedit me back in now so it'll
look something where's thecamera so it'll look something
like that this is just uh soit's carbon fiber.
I haven't done the top yet umjust got the the actual uh did
the analysis of the actualcarbon fiber itself so we're
(35:19):
working on that which is gonnabe like a little bit of a game
changer that's probably morepopular for backpacking and
hiking so you'll save the weightof the canister itself and then
it'll be refillable from largercanisters which we hope you
would like kind of be a littlebit more efficient.
SPEAKER_01 (35:35):
Like a that's for sake of argument like a five
pound propane tank but one withisobutane or something so that
you can fill it 18 times wellthat'd be great.
That's also sorry don't mean tosidetrack you there just I'm
that's way less canisters beingchucked in the garbage basically
because that's what thosecanisters aren't re you know
(35:56):
refillable and stuff right soenvironmentally friendly.
SPEAKER_00 (36:00):
Yeah so the logic would for sure I mean it would
be great if you could go to likea gas station and fill them up
like you can with the propanecanister or whatever it is but
uh the logic is that you wouldjust buy a really huge one and
then you would fill this one upas needed and you would always
have a full one um and sothere'd be a whole bunch of
benefits to it.
So that's something that we'reworking on.
(36:20):
The new saw is uh is going to bereleased for this winter and I
think that's probably about it.
And then you have to rememberit's like I have probably 50
things that are 10% done justover the years you know and then
you get sidetracked and youspend some time on that but
that's where the the sort of bigpush is um right now and then
(36:42):
it's just um keeping up withdemand we're we're small we're
like three people you know likeit's really tiny you know it's
if you oh if if you go to atrade show that's my whole
family working the the tradeshow it's my wife usually my
sister my brother in law lovesto do it and then sometimes some
friends some friends come andstuff like that.
But it's generally because it'skind of fun it's generally like
(37:05):
my family that you're meeting atthat that trade show so yeah I'm
I have your wife and yourbrother in law now so just your
sister to go.
Yeah my sister is a little shedoesn't come as she's not as
easy to convince to work forfree.
That's called slave labor.
So my wife loves it no but mylike so my wife like loves it
(37:28):
because she has a background ineconomics and she's just always
I'm usually a little bit moreflustered so she wants to handle
all the sales and everythinglike that.
And then my brother in law justis um he's just a super friendly
super good guy and he just lovesthe trade shows can't get enough
of it.
So you know he'll he'll probablybe at the Hamilton outdoor
adventure show with me thisyear.
Oh and you know uh the HamiltonAdventure show is having a film
(37:51):
festival yeah on the Fridaynight yeah yeah and um here's a
little a little teaser the thethere's a video one of my videos
is going to be in it yeah Ithink at least I got I got
confirmation just the other dayI won't tell you which one or
whatever but uh it's not onethat's on uh on YouTube so it's
it's uh pretty interesting wellwe're looking so speaking of
(38:14):
trips trips that you do uh we'relooking forward to still early
stages of organizing things butwe're hoping uh we're hoping to
have you and Evan Lafave uh EvanLafave but Evan Lafive um come
and do a live stream with us youknow somewhere out towards uh
the back end of this year and uhyak about a very cool trip that
(38:36):
you both have done way too manybugs for me but outside of that
that looked awesome it's it'slike we no no I just I keep
there's a picture of you in inin the in the bug suit and the
the they're so thick it's likeoh you you could you'd breathe
out you'd be just like I can'teven I can't even imagine that
(39:01):
yeah so we we'd love to we'dlove to join you for sure we had
a great time on that trip it wasuh very challenging weather
conditions were tough uh evenjust like physically tough and
the bugs ranged from you knownon-existent to some of the
worst I've ever seen in my lifeyeah it was like I've just never
seen it like that in my entirelife very cool experience so I'm
(39:23):
glad that you had the options sowin win yeah cool well what does
the what does the future holdfor Tzulik 46?
Oh yeah um so this is a a reallyuh interesting thing I I used to
be uh like a little bit of aworkaholic like if you if you
talk to my so I've been marriedto my wife forever and I met her
(39:45):
when I was in my early 20s and Iworked you know 60 hours a week
for 15 years.
Like I was working you know Iused to come home eight o'clock
at night leave at six in themorning uh there wasn't a
Saturday that I didn't work thatI can for I felt like years.
I mean there was sure the oddthing um and then when I when I
(40:05):
was in my um like more corporaterole as a general manager of a
bit kind of like a big companyover an engineering company you
know if you called me at twoo'clock in the morning um like I
would answer my phone and youhad a problem with a piece of
machinery or the you knowOntario Power Generation calls
you and they've got an emergencylike I was so committed to it.
And so the reason why I kind ofbring this up is I I'm I'm 48
(40:26):
now and like my values have kindof completely changed over the
years.
It's not that I I don't believein like my I still have a work
ethic I still work a lot butit's a little bit more
enjoyable.
But I'll like my goal with thebusiness is not to ever work
like that again.
And so I have people often belike oh you should do this you
should do this and I'm like Itake three months off a year and
(40:48):
I sometimes I shut the businessdown for a month and you know
this would be mind blowing to afull entrepreneur and I usually
tell young people I'm like ifyou want the business you can
have it just keep me on payrolllike I'm just not I'm not gonna
turn it into like uh the type oflife where I can't spend time
with my family.
So the priority for you knowuntil I let's say officially
retire or whatever is just tokind of ride this out make some
(41:12):
money go on some trips spendtime with family and friends and
enjoy the rest of my life to behonest and then uh I don't know
I'm I'm sure somebody at somepoint will approach me and say
you're not doing a good job letme let me show you how to do it
and I will say here you go manshow me the way and uh that's
the plan right now so I have noidea what will actually happen.
That's excellent.
(41:33):
Hire me I I want to come workthe same yeah yeah I know well
that's the one of the downfallsof taking all the time off and
having a business like that isyou don't make a ton of money.
SPEAKER_01 (41:47):
I'm I'm a building manager.
I don't make a ton of money so II'm I'm down with that as well.
SPEAKER_00 (41:52):
Yeah I I joke with my friends all the time you know
like when when I started thebusiness I had a like I was a
little bit younger and I wasgonna grind it out and turn into
like this huge corporation witha hundred employees and I would
joke with all my friends like ohput you guys on a payroll but
you don't have to do anything.
And then the reality of a smallbusiness when you're just like a
handful of people is like it canbe a little bit of a grind for
sure especially if you'replanning on taking you know
(42:13):
significant time off and andwhatnot.
So nothing would be happier thanhiring everyone I know and
having them just go on trips butit's just like not in the cards.
Right now.
Right now give me a couple yearsall right that's it for us for
today.
SPEAKER_03 (42:27):
Thank you so much to Steve Evans from Suluk46 for
joining us and please do checkhim out he's on all the social
media Instagram Facebook and thewebsite is Suluk46.com S-U-L
UK46.com please do check us outwe are on all the social media
too and you can email us anytimewe're at high at
supergoodcamping.com that's hiat supergoodcamping.com and
(42:50):
we'll talk to you again soon byeoh and also check look for him
at the Hamilton Adventure ExpoToronto outdoor adventure show
and another one that I don'tknow anything about but but
Frostbite out in Alberta uhthat'll be another show he'll be
at that's it and maybe you'vegot a free temp free time peg
(43:11):
yeah look for the defective freetime pegs send them to me
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