Samples and Backpacks
almost 6 years ago – Tue, Jul 10, 2018 at 10:36:36 PM

Hi folks,

I have some progress. It is tentative progress however, so I'm a bit cautious.

Manufactured Bagthulhus

So, the original manufacturer came back with an ok-ish sample a few months ago. I sent feedback, and was told they'd have the revisions done in a week. I got notice those revisions were done about four or five days ago.

In those few months I found two other manufacturers, the sample from one arrived three days ago. It's very close, and so far they've been much faster about everything. But we've been at this stage before with manufacturers, so I'm hesitant to start celebrating just yet.

However, we do still have some progress. This is the sample here, along with some of my notes for them.

It's hard to tell in the photo, but the main colour isn't as rich as the fabric I use. It's weird though, depending on the light it looks different. In morning light it looks more green, in afternoon light it looks almost grey or blue, in regular artificial light it looks kinda brown. We're currently discussing pantone options. Since an exact match to the original green is unlikely, I'm inclined to go for a more green shade than a more grey/brown colour. How does that suit you folks?

Backpackthulhus

All Backpackthulhus except the those containing reflective fabric are completed. I'm going to send them out next week hopefully. If you ordered a manufactured Bagthulhu AND a Backpackthulhu, you may be getting the Backpackthulhu seperately, I have to investigate the shipping options for that.

All up, we seem to be moving forward, but I'm not going to celebrate until the invasion begins in earnest.

Backpackthulhu progress
almost 6 years ago – Fri, Jun 08, 2018 at 06:14:37 AM

Hello folks,

The past couple of weeks have had some road bumps. My helper got sick, I got sick, everybody got sick. Except the thulhus. They do not seem to be sick.

We made one backpackthulhu first to test everything out one last time. It looks slightly different to the rest, but it's a good indicator. The main difference is the zips. This one uses 7 coil, which is sturdy, but I managed to source heavy duty zips from an automotive interior shop after making it. I asked for 9 coil, I ended up getting 10. They're a pain to work with, but they're sturdy as all hell. The first one also has a fixed laptop sleeve whereas the ones that come after have removable ones.

The others are currently coming along. We ended up cutting everything by hand after the issues we had with the first batch of cutting. This fabric is tough. I went through several pairs of upholstery shears, the sewing machines officially hate me.

The reflective fabric has vanished from the cutters, who say they never received it which is... very odd. I'm now trying to source more for the one or two backpackthulhus that have reflective components. Unfortunately we needed to leave out the closed cell foam in the body of the bag, but I've included removable laptop sleeves that are padded with closed cell foam. They attach to the back inside lining of the bag with velcro. There's still closed cell foam in the main straps.

Soooo many lessons learned with these guys. The next generation (if there's enough demand for one) will be rather different, so these ones will always be unique.

*pssst* hey... hey... over here
almost 6 years ago – Fri, May 18, 2018 at 01:09:26 AM

This won't be a long or detailed update, but I wanted to let you know that I've received photos of a decent looking sample from a manufacturer ^_^. I still need to check it over properly, but it's a big step forward. I'll update with more info when I have it.

We've finished two of the backpacks, and finalised the design changes. The remaining backpacks are cut out, so there's solid progress there too. The finished ones kept glaring at me so I put them on a bottom shelf. I'll probably pay for that later.

The sickly update of sickliness
almost 6 years ago – Sun, May 06, 2018 at 12:50:14 AM

Hi folks

I've been struck down by a ridiculously persistent cold/flu/plague/curse. It's been dogging me for two months now, and every time I think I'm improving it comes back *mutter*. The dr put me on some nasty antibiotics for it. We'll see in a week if they're working. It's amazing how much you can throw up even with an empty stomach.

That being said, I have some progress to report.

Folks who backed for handmade microthulhus, minithulhus, bagthulhus, and doublethulhus (but NOT manufactured bagthulhus or backpackthulhus)

All your orders have been shipped barring one where there was a mix up which I'll be sorting this coming week. The majority of the US and Canadian orders should have arrived by now. Anyone who selected direct shipping should have their orders by now. The EU orders were held up in customs, but they've now gotten in contact with the fulfillment company and I've paid the VAT and other dues.

Manufactured Bagthulhus

There are now three manufacturers working on samples. I may have to go with a manufacturer who has a higher minimum order or a more expensive unit price to get a good enough quality result, but it's worth it if that's what needs to be done. I've discounted a few manufacturers due to suspiciously low quotes. A price that low suggests they haven't taken into account the detail work required, or they're possibly expecting to produce a low quality product, or worse, underpaying their staff.

Backpackthulhus

I've retooled the pattern for a tidier finish. Barring a few of the zips migrating it looks similar, just tidier. We finished another prototype this week and will be making final adjustments and starting on the main batch this coming week. How do Backpackthulhu cultist folks feel about not having the closed cell foam padding in the main body of the bag? We're finding it's causing issues with the machines. If people are super keen on the padding I can work on a workaround, if not, we can just skip it and the bag will still be sturdy because of the base fabric.

Stuff and things
about 6 years ago – Sun, Mar 25, 2018 at 11:05:39 PM

Hello lovely folks,

I've been quiet for a bit, up to my elbows in Thulhus, but I have a mixture of progress to report.

Anyone who backed for handmade Bagthulhus, Microthulhus, Minithulhus, and Doublethulhus, but NOT Backpackthulhus and manufactured Baghulhus

The US and Canada have shipped (including those who selected direct shipping). The main shipment should land in the US within a week depending on customs, and then it will be broken up by the fulfillment company and shipped domestically (the Canadian orders will be forwarded to the Canada fulfillment centre and shipped domestically from there). All taxes should be taken care of for folks who didn't go with direct shipping. Those who did select direct shipping will get their parcels directly, depending on customs.

Australia and New Zealand have shipped, a number of folks have received their monsters already.

EU orders are waiting on the go ahead from the fulfillment company over there and will hopefully be shipped this week, and again we'll be taking care of the taxes for those going through the fulfillment centre. Those who selected direct shipping in the EU should get their parcels directly.

Those in other parts of the world have also been shipped.

Backpackthulhus

We'll be starting on the backpackthulhus this coming week. They're a pretty indepth project but there's not too many of them so hopefully that will allow us to move reasonably quickly.

Manufactured Bagthulhus

Progress is still glacial but we're working at it. I had a new manufacturer lined up, but they were oddly insistent about getting my credit card info via email rather than paypal or using a wire transfer. It took more than a month to get the info for a wire transfer, so in that time I got other quotes and contacted a few folks with industry experiences. I'll hope to have more info in a week or so. The back up option at this stage is to manufacturer them myself, but that opens up a lot of extra work in terms of safety certification etc so I'd prefer not to go that route if at all possible. I'm grateful for how patient you've all been, and I'm not going to stop until each and every one of you has a little abomination of your own.

Family

My mother is slowly improving. There's still a lot of major risks, and we have to be super careful about a lot of stuff, but she's able to do things she couldn't do six months ago, which is awesome. She's home most of the time now, but still has to go back in every month or so for followups.

Me

I made another round of basil pesto. The basil in the garden kept trying to go to seed so I went on a rampage and made four jars worth, which is a LOT of basil leaves. The plants are sulking now.

Wayward Masquerade

I officially have an accountant now, which is weird. Previously I did the books myself because it was a small deal, but now it's starting to look like a grown up operation. It's the end of the financial year very shortly so I'm wading through a sea of receipts and invoices. It's also looking like I need to get a bigger place.

See, I had a lounge, with a work table in the corner. Cool. Then shelves had to go in for the fabric, so it was taking up two walls. Then my helper came along and we added a second work station - three walls.

Now I have a single chair in the corner of the room that's not meant for work. My helper sits in it to do work and the thulhus took up station for a while too.

So I need to find a big enough house that can give the business about twice as much room as it currently has, and give me a space to play rpgs. Housing is pretty tough to find here, so it'll be a slow process, and I'm not looking forward to moving furniture, but it'll be worth it to have a workspace that lets us work better and smarter.

My helper is growing in skill. What we do looks quite simple at a glance, until you realise that machine stitching small complex seams with any level of speed and accuracy is a hard won skill. She's gone from doing just the linings and turning out tentacles to head seams and beyond. There's still plenty to learn (for me too), but progress is excellent :). Soon she'll be learning about putting zips in and working with heavy duty fabrics.