We’re super excited that we were able to create an ultralight product for a real backpacking customer who is hiking the Pacific Crest Trail as you’re reading this. We’ve already sent a sample along with his next re-supply shipment so he can save that critical ounce (every ounce counts!) and take more great photography shots by next week. Feel free to visit @devinschiro on Instagram to follow his journey. Back to our original goals, remember we were aiming for an ultralight arca swiss style clamp that had a very low profile and weigh less than one ounce. Well… we did it!
You can see the innovation process in the photo above. We took the lightest arca swiss clamp on the market and made it smaller and lighter. We borrowed an existing idea for a 3D printed version, innovated it, and used the prototype to ask engineers and manufacturers to help us create a brand new product. In a stunning feat, we were able to absolutely shatter the 1-ounce goal and cut the weight by more than 50%!
By using the 3D printed version as a reference, the engineers were able to match the exact length with the parts they had available. We reduced the overall length by more than a third! This makes it much easier to pack and fits the footprint of our stool ultripod much better. But wait…there’s more!
Devin didn’t ask us for this but we decided to do it anyways. We redesigned the mini plate to be compatible with Peak Design’s Capture Clip! We just wanted our customers to have an ultralight option or for people with slim-profile cameras. It turns out that Peak Design actually discontinued their mini plate so you can’t even get it anymore. Also, since our application is out in the wildnerness, we felt that Peak Design’s allen wrench bolt is not a common tool to have when backpacking. This is problematic if for some reason the plate becomes loose on the camera while in the backcountry. We made sure the bolt offered a flat-head type where it’s compatible with a wider variety of tools including coins and my leatherman tool. After testing, we still feel that Peak Design’s plate is more stable for the capture clip because it’s perfectly fitted with 4-way mount directions on the arca-swiss clamp. There is a little bit of “play” with our mini plate while secured to the capture clip due the smaller 25mm footprint but it’s mostly a non-issue so long as you’re not jumping or doing jumping jacks the entire hike. Let gravity do all the work.
All in all, we were really happy with how this turned out and wanted to make it available to the public on our website and Amazon. We decided to start with just 500 units only. Subscribe to our blog post by submitting your email on our home page for a 30% off coupon when it releases and we’ll keep you posted on any updates. We have some exciting projects in the works including an aluminum version of our ultripod as well as an ultralight third leg if you’re not hiking with a friend and don’t feel like looking for a branch. Don’t forget to follow us on your favorite social media app using the links at the bottom of the page. Happy trails!