Memorial Day Stretch Goal (i.e. more FREE stuff for you!)
almost 9 years ago – Fri, May 26, 2017 at 12:07:34 PM

Is our beer 75% full, or 25% empty…?

We’re optimists, but it’s a moot point because Kickstarter is all or nothing! Having reached 75% in just under 2 weeks, we know that we’ll make our funding goal, but we’re overachievers, so we want to blow that goal out of the water! 

So here’s the deal: help us get to 100% by the end of Memorial Day and we’ll give all of our awesome backers a first edition Priceless Patch for free! Yep, everyone - regardless of when or what you pledged! We know it's not quite the same as winning the lottery, but we're pretty proud of them all the same. So tell your friends, tell your friends’ friends, and tell your friend’s friends’ friends (or maybe ask them to…)! We’d love to give away over 200 patches if that's what it took to get funded this quickly.

 Progress Update

We're hard at work, finalizing our production plans, conducting certified load testing, and finalizing the last pieces of our design. Today we picked up a pile of prototypes that will be sent to some of our early evaluators for additional field testing and reviews. You should see these bad boys popping up on social media and in training classes or on expeditions in the coming weeks and months. The Deadman plays well with others, so we're sure they'll get along with our new friends! 

This weekend we head out to New Mexico to play with the Jeeps of the Krazy Beaver crew, do trail runs and product reviews with Rogue Overland and Pelfreybilt, and meet with our manufacturer about their level or readiness for our first full production run. We're in full anticipation of funding and are already hard at work making sure we get these things manufactured to our high standards as quickly as possible.

Thank you for your continued support and words of encouragement. We're humbled by the outpouring of goodwill and enthusiasm over what we're doing and want to exceed your expectations. We see you, our Kickstarter backers, as partners in this effort, and we're very grateful for your support.

Have a great weekend (TELL YOUR FRIENDS!)

The Deadman Team

5-days in and we're already at 40% funding?!
almost 9 years ago – Wed, May 17, 2017 at 06:19:28 AM

We've received such an amazing response from the community of off-road and overlanding enthusiasts! It's humbling. So many of our heroes have approached us and commented on the fact that they're excited to see this innovative solution come to life. We had the pleasure to meet many former Camel Trophy winners while at Overland Expo recently, as they used the Deadman in their recovery training classes and demos. At one point, at the end of the Expo, a group of four made their way through the crowd just to shake our hands and say thanks. They wanted to shake OUR hands...! Humbling.

We created the Deadman to solve our own problem: we needed the ability to anchor anywhere, but didn't have space for multiple anchors or anything big and heavy. We didn't set out to "be innovative" - we just wanted to explore the world around us with confidence, knowing that we could responsibly venture out even if we were alone. Our initial designs were based on the sand anchor/parachute ideas that we've seen used for holding down tents and other things, but quickly found that design to be incapable of holding the load required for a vehicle. Over time we adjusted the design and eventually found that the way to make it work required the double-loop splice (patent pending) which changed the Deadman from a giant parachute that would often pull out, into an anchor that would be pulled through the ground. This development not only made the anchor work, but it also meant that the Deadman could work at shallower depths because it was less about the weight inside the Deadman, and more about the density of the soil around it. It also allowed us to keep the lines the same length, making it serve double-duty as a rock anchor and a massive tree saver. 

We've been overwhelmed by the positive feedback from experts in the field of off-roading and vehicle recovery, such as 7P International, Camel Trophy winners, Expedition Overland, I4WDTA members, and more. We know it works because we've been using it for well over a year. It feels good to be at the point now where we can let others use it and see for themselves.

We can't wait to get it to market and are hard at work finalizing all of the details required to certify, manufacture, and deliver a product like this. Thank you for believing in us and giving us a chance to prove to you that the Deadman Saves. 

The Deadman Team

THANK YOU SO MUCH!!
almost 9 years ago – Tue, May 16, 2017 at 06:17:12 AM

To all our backers: WOW! Thank you so much for making Day 1 incredible! What a great start! We're onsite here at Overland Expo West, showing the Deadman to a ton of folks and getting really awesome feedback, too. We've been meeting with the media, we've seen the Deadman being used in the Camel Trophy demo areas, and we even had the opportunity to make a video with the Expedition Overland crew. It's keeping us super busy but our energy is high! 

Please help us continue the momentum and make the Deadman a reality by sharing our Kickstarter page with your friends. 

We'll be in touch with more updates later - once we have better internet!

The Deadman Team