Barn Door for JK factory hardtops

[MattJ]

Very impressive design and stitching! I really like the styling. I may not be the typical customer for this product since I have a cargo rack, but I do love the capacity of the saddlebags I have. They hold a very surprising amount of gear: fluids, recovery straps, spare fan belts, etc on one side and everyday gear like duct tape, flashlights, lighters, gloves, trash bags, hammer, clamps and ratchet straps on the other side.

My only advice would be to ensure it's easy to tug the zipper open with one hand and then be able to push the top open for rummaging around inside the bag easily. I'm in and out of my saddlebags a LOT on every trip, so it's important that they are super easy to open and close.

But those are some beautiful product designs - good luck with the launch!

 

[jscherb]

Very impressive design and stitching! I really like the styling. I may not be the typical customer for this product since I have a cargo rack, but I do love the capacity of the saddlebags I have. They hold a very surprising amount of gear: fluids, recovery straps, spare fan belts, etc on one side and everyday gear like duct tape, flashlights, lighters, gloves, trash bags, hammer, clamps and ratchet straps on the other side.

My only advice would be to ensure it's easy to tug the zipper open with one hand and then be able to push the top open for rummaging around inside the bag easily. I'm in and out of my saddlebags a LOT on every trip, so it's important that they are super easy to open and close.

But those are some beautiful product designs - good luck with the launch!

Thank you. The company did a very nice job with the design and styling, and hopefully people are interested in something a little nicer than black vinyl bags. The bags will be in my Jeep at both the SEMA Show and Overland East, so I hope they'll get some good feedback on the design and styling, and ideas for additional storage options.

There are three prototype saddlebags so far, one in brown distressed leather, one in black leather and one in tan leather. The tan one has a zipper closure while the other two have buckles. Both closure styles will be tested in Jeeps, and we should be getting feedback at the shows about that too.

Another style the company is thinking about is a heavy canvas with leather accents, something like the bags below (these aren't the company's bags, they're just styling examples pulled off the internet).

Also I may be sending them home after the shows with my Overland Rack bag (below) for them to use as a pattern for a production version.

Should know in about two weeks (after the shows) how much interest there might be in a line of bags like these with higher quality/higher styling than what's on the market.

 

[MattJ]

Sounds great - another idea would be to offer higher-quality cargo bag designs for those trailer hitch cargo racks that I see everywhere. Here's the first image that popped up in a web search:

 

[JDaPP]

Love the saddle bag concept especially if removable. Not a fan of the leather though, drooling dog, messy 2 year old, etc makes me prefer vinyl or back pack like material. Would also appreciate them in close proximity pricing to dirt bagz. Those hurt my wallet at the time and would be willing to pay more for removable but my wallet has limits...

 

[jscherb]

Love the saddle bag concept especially if removable. Not a fan of the leather though, drooling dog, messy 2 year old, etc makes me prefer vinyl or back pack like material. Would also appreciate them in close proximity pricing to dirt bagz. Those hurt my wallet at the time and would be willing to pay more for removable but my wallet has limits...

As I mentioned in my response to Donny, the Saddlebags are secured with a flap held by the hardtop bolts (or bolts in those holes if there's no hardtop) and the bag zips to that flap, so to remove the bag, it just unzips from the flap, which stays in the Jeep.

 

[jscherb]

AEV had a special edition of the JK Brute called the "Filson Edition", it included custom upholstery and bags made by Filson, one of the premier outdoor outfitters. That edition included a bag to mount to the cab wall behind the seat (left photo). It also included matching luggage and matching seat upholstery.

The company I've been helping with bag design wants to do something for the tailgate, they could do something like the bags above to mount on the tailgate.

Here's a concept image I put together for them, what do you think of this idea?

Another idea could be like a leather tool belt for the tailgate (a tailbelt?). Another concept image:

Anyone have any thoughts about bags/storage for the tailgate?

 

[akpostal]

How about custom canvas/leather MOLLE pouches/bags/panel for the tailgate?

 

[jscherb]

How about custom canvas/leather MOLLE pouches/bags/panel for the tailgate?

I haven't thought about doing Molle stuff in leather; definitely the company wants to do some tailgate storage as I posted earlier today, and whatever they put on the tailgate will be quickly removable but do people really want Molle in leather or are they happy with the canvas/vinyl Molle stuff already on the market?

 

[jscherb]

I received this photo yesterday of another style saddlebag, this one has a heavy canvas body and a leather lid and accents.

This isn't necessarily the final styling, they're doing a number of styles for testing before final styling decisions are made.

 

[Healeyjet]

How close are the bags to fitting an LJ?
Ward

 

[jscherb]

How close are the bags to fitting an LJ?
Ward

Hi Ward,
I haven't tried them in the LJ so I don't know at the moment. I'll try them as soon as I get home, I'm in Las Vegas at the SEMA Show right now. I've got ammo can trays over the inner fenders on both sides of my LJ but a bag on one side instead would be useful too so I'll swap one for a saddlebag when I get home to see how they fit.

 

[jscherb]

I don't know how many 135,000-mile daily drivers are on display at the SEMA Show, but there's at least one...

The show starts tomorrow (Tuesday); I drove the Jeep into the show hall Sunday afternoon and today worked with Austin (MORryde) to get everything set up in the show booth. MORryde is showing, among other things, the Trail Kitchen, the Overland Rack, the HD door hinges, side mounts for Jerry and Rotopax, the Overhead/Swing-Down Molle Panel, the Storegate and more. Here are a few more photos.

I'll be taking photos of things I find at SEMA all this week, stay tuned.

 

[Healeyjet]

It looks great! MORryde must be thrilled to have you for an R and D department. You bring them well built and well designed ideas. Nice for you as well to have someone eager to market your products. What a great combination! Enjoy SEMA!
Ward

 

[jscherb]

It looks great! MORryde must be thrilled to have you for an R and D department. You bring them well built and well designed ideas. Nice for you as well to have someone eager to market your products. What a great combination! Enjoy SEMA!
Ward

Thank you very much. Mostly I think they're thrilled but I'm sure they think I'm a pest sometimes .

BTW if anyone wants to see who else is exhibiting at SEMA, you can browse the floor plan here: https://sema18.mapyourshow.com/7_0/floorplan/. Jeep and offroad stuff is in the South Hall upper level.

I'll be taking photos of things I find interesting throughout the week, more to come.

 

[jscherb]

Today at the SEMA Show the 2019 Global Media Awards were announced, these are awards chosen by a panel of international journalists selecting new products that they believed would be most likely to succeed in their respective countries. The Trail Kitchen picked up two of these awards, one from Canada and one from Australia. There was a reception this evening after the close of the show for the day where the awards were presented, in this photo are Jack Enfield, head of sales at MORryde, yours truly, Austin Conrad, MORryde Jeep Marketing and the SEMA Awards presenter...

The Trail Kitchen has received tremendous interest on the show floor, and it's great to be recognized with these two international awards as well.

I've got lots of SEMA Show photos to post (all more interesting than the one above) but I probably won't get to that for another few days, I'm pretty busy exploring the show and helping out MORryde in their booth (I'm there to help out with the difficult product design and Jeep questions ).