Barn Door for JK factory hardtops

[jscherb]

The other day OO asked me to send them a sample spare tire bag for them to copy and put into production. I'm sending them one of my earlier prototypes along with a document describing the changes I made in the most recent version I sewed so they can implement those improvements:

I'm keeping my most recent version, but when they send me a preproduction sample I'll switch to that to test their version.

 

[jscherb]

One of the Quadratec promo emails I got this week started with this image:

I had to go back and check, but it was two years and one week ago that I posted this concept image in this thread:

Quadratec was then in the process of build their "YJL" show Jeep and asked Overland Outfitters if they would design seat-back bags for the Corbeau seats they were planning to use in that build; the idea was to do a modern version of the seat-back bags that the original YJ Sahara models had. OO asked me if I would design a zipper attachment for the Corbeau seat so I did a cardboard cutout of a Corbeau seat back and hung some OO bags from it to show how they might look. Quadratec liked the look so I sewed a couple of custom zipper attachments for their Corbeau seats. The Corbeau seat attachment didn't go into production, but the bags have been featured in their YJL ever since; they've been seen at Easter Jeep Safari, SEMA and many other shows and it's fun for me to see them still in action. I wonder if I'll be seeing them again in the Quadratec booth at SEMA this year?

 

[jscherb]

OO asked me for a couple more of my designs, they say they want to sew preproduction samples to see what the manufacturing cost might be so they can decide if they want to turn them into products.

The first one I've posted about before, I'm calling it the Tactical Tool Bag. I've been using this for almost a year now and it's been very handy.

It's got 7 pockets around the outside, inside it's got "pages" to organize the tools. On the back it's got a Zip & Go zipper so it can hang on the seat back, and it's got a MOLLE grid on the flap so extra pouches can be carried as needed.


The second one I haven't posted about before - a few months ago I was thinking I'd like to have a bag for overnight travel that matched the styling of the OO products, so I designed and sewed what I'm calling the Overland Overnighter. Basically a one or two night bag with 5 pockets on the outside lots of storage inside. There's nothing about it that's specific to a Jeep other than that it matches the styling of the other OO products.

Not sure if OO would really put the Overnighter in production because it's not really a Jeep accessory, but they did say they want to cost it out.

I'm also working on a similarly-styled backpack that I'm calling the Bushcraft Rucksack. I haven't started sewing it yet, hopefully will have time over the next month or so. I call it a "bushcraft" rucksack because it'll have places to carry a hatchet and a large knife, in addition to a range of pockets and a roomy main compartment.

 

[pith helmet]

OO asked me for a couple more of my designs, they say they want to sew preproduction samples to see what the manufacturing cost might be so they can decide if they want to turn them into products.

The first one I've posted about before, I'm calling it the Tactical Tool Bag. I've been using this for almost a year now and it's been very handy.

It's got 7 pockets around the outside, inside it's got "pages" to organize the tools. On the back it's got a Zip & Go zipper so it can hang on the seat back, and it's got a MOLLE grid on the flap so extra pouches can be carried as needed.


The second one I haven't posted about before - a few months ago I was thinking I'd like to have a bag for overnight travel that matched the styling of the OO products, so I designed and sewed what I'm calling the Overland Overnighter. Basically a one or two night bag with 5 pockets on the outside lots of storage inside. There's nothing about it that's specific to a Jeep other than that it matches the styling of the other OO products.

Not sure if OO would really put the Overnighter in production because it's not really a Jeep accessory, but they did say they want to cost it out.

I'm also working on a similarly-styled backpack that I'm calling the Bushcraft Rucksack. I haven't started sewing it yet, hopefully will have time over the next month or so. I call it a "bushcraft" rucksack because it'll have places to carry a hatchet and a large knife, in addition to a range of pockets and a roomy main compartment.

The Bushcraft Rucksack is a great idea. Great name, too!

 

[jscherb]

The Bushcraft Rucksack is a great idea. Great name, too!

Thanks. I didn't completely think up the name myself, "bushcraft" packs are a category you can find from a bunch of places. I hope to begin sewing in a week or so, I'm just waiting for a big knife I ordered to arrive so I can finalize the design. I don't have a big knife and the pack will have provisions for a hatchet, a big knife, a bedroll (or picnic blanket) and a bunch of other gear Jeep people might want to carry into the wild for camping, survival or maybe picnicking.

Another "fabric idea" update...

I was contacted the other day by a well-known custom builder. He told me he's working on a custom Jeep for a major company in the Jeep world and its debut will be at the SEMA Show (first week in November). He told me a bit about the build and it sounds very cool - I think it will be a big hit at the show and beyond. He wants to include some custom storage in it with Overland Outfitters styling and told me a bit about what he'd like to do. We swapped some ideas and came up with a design and I told him I'd get it done in time for the show (and after that I told OO what I committed them to - better to ask forgiveness than permission on something like this ). I sent a quick design sketch to the OO folks and discussed it with them a bit; they'll let me know when they can get it done. I'm prepared to sew it if they're going to take too long but I think they'll get it done very quickly. As soon as I'm allowed, I'll post more about the build.

 

[jscherb]

After years of doing fiberglass and hardware designs, I now can't seem to get away from fabric designs and products, and now I've been asked to do some apparel design...

A person in the apparel business has asked me about Jeep-branded apparel. I would describe him as an apparel broker - he works with major retailers and represents garment factories in Bangladesh, India and other places in Asia. He visited the Smoky Mountain Jeep Invasion vendor expo and was amazed at the constant long line at the show-sponsored t-shirt booth and as a result was thinking of doing Jeep-branded t-shirts.

I suggested that he consider a little bit higher end line of apparel than t-shirts - there are lots of t-shirt companies at every Jeep show but I don't think I've seen a whole lot of nicer clothing at these events. There are a few things available online, like golf shirts and hoodies with a Jeep logo, but I think there might be a market for more than that.

I picked up a few shirts to prototype some ideas for him.

That shirt hasn't been washed yet so it's still a little stiff. Here's a closer view of some of the graphics ideas, some of which are inspired by the "Easter eggs" in recent model Jeeps and these shirts have been washed so they're softer and fit better.

A few other ideas... could do a Rubicon version or a Gladiator version, maybe put the Rubicon or Gladiator emblem above the pocket and small Easter Egg versions of a Gladiator of JLU/JKU Rubicon instead of the flatfender Easter egg as on the shirts above.

The graphics are iron-ons I made with my Cricut cutter; in production the graphics might be embroidered or screen printed. I'm not an expert on garment manufacturing so I don't know how they would be done in production.

What do you think? Should I tell him something like this is worth getting into production or not? Any other apparel items he should consider? Would you wear something like this?

 

[autarkus]

The solo "Jeep" over the pocket looks great. The shoulders also work pretty well.

From a design standpoint, the climbing jeep image feels like it would be better towards the outside of the body (i.e. on the same side as the Jeep print, in the same direction) or mirrored from the current position. Maybe because it reminds me of the location in the windshield.

Another graphic you could try is the classic Jeep "easter egg" on the stock rims.

In all cases, I think an embroidered treatment would be really sharp.

 

[jscherb]

The solo "Jeep" over the pocket looks great. The shoulders also work pretty well.

From a design standpoint, the climbing jeep image feels like it would be better towards the outside of the body (i.e. on the same side as the Jeep print, in the same direction) or mirrored from the current position. Maybe because it reminds me of the location in the windshield.

Another graphic you could try is the classic Jeep "easter egg" on the stock rims.

In all cases, I think an embroidered treatment would be really sharp.

Thanks for the input!

 

[jscherb]

I'm in Tampa as I write this; I made an emergency trip from upstate NY to my sister's in Cape Coral (ground zero for Hurricane Ian) to help her recover from the hurricane. I towed the trailer down full of emergency supplies - water, gasoline, huge tarps, drinking water, washing water etc.

We needed the tarps, we used five large (20x30 and 20x16) tarps to deal with missing shingles...

Also needed the gas; I brought 25 gallons in jerry cans and Rotopax because without power most gas stations can't pump; 10 gallons went into the JKU in Cape Coral because towing the trailer the Jeep doesn't have enough range to make it from Tampa to Cape Coral and back (we've been staying at my niece's house in Tampa); 5 gallons when into my sister's rental minivan; 5 gallons stored in her garage and 5 gallons went to her neighbor to run his generator. Water service was restored late yesterday so we didn't need the washing water but it's under a boil mandate and since we can't boil it on her electric stove (electricity restoration TBA), the drinking water was needed, and my sister was a tyrant in making us drink lots in the hot sun when we were working on the roof.

Also needed my portable compressor, the rental minivan had a low tire and we stopped at a station in the Tampa area but their compressor wasn't working so rather than search around for another station with a working compressor I pulled out my OO compressor bag and solved the problem.

Also used the fridge for meals while we were working; glad to have the solar panel on top so the fridge could run indefinitely in the hot sun. We did have one meal provided by World Central Kitchen, a charity organization that provides hot meals to people in disaster areas. The meal was excellent and very much appreciated after working on the roof in the hot sun!!

We were able to fix the roof and mitigate the flood damage inside the house (pulling out soaked carpets) so they don't need me anymore and I'll begin the drive back north tomorrow morning.

 

[ZONE ZERO]

Glad the trip was a success, how bad what the mileage towing with the Jeep

 

[jscherb]

Glad the trip was a success, how bad what the mileage towing with the Jeep

Towing the loaded trailer at 72 mph gas mileage is about 15, which means a full tank won't get me from Tampa to Cape Coral and back.

 

[pith helmet]

Good stuff. I relish the brother/hero role. ?

 

[Zeep]

Great work on the rescue effort.
The shirts you posted look great. Are there any copyright issues to contend with?

 

[jscherb]

Great work on the rescue effort.
The shirts you posted look great. Are there any copyright issues to contend with?

Thanks. It was really good that I made the trip - I brought them necessary supplies that would be unobtainable locally (big tarps for example) and since my brother in law has a bad knee and can't climb around on the roof, I was needed to do the temporary roof repairs.

Not copyright, trademark. The Jeep text and the 7-slot grille emblem are licensed trademarks so a license from FCA is required. Himanshu (the apparel person) has already begun the licensing process.

I've got a few more "blank" shirts to experiment with, I think I'll do a Gladiator shirt next.

 

[jscherb]

Got home from my Florida rescue trip today and found a package from Overland Outfitters waiting for me.

Inside was a final preproduction grab handle for me to test. Installed it right away. It's got a substantial leather handle that feels good to grab.

Works alone or with their Roll Bar Buddies.

Looks good to me I'll tell them I think this is ready to go into production. There's also a sligtly different version for the JL/Gladiator optimized for the plastic-covered roll bars on those models, I'll have to run down to the dealer to test it.

Also inside - they're getting ready to put the spare tire bag in production and sent me a sample of the fabric they'd like to use. The first thing I did was drape it over a large bowl and pour water in it. Took this photo several hours later:

No dampness on the underside, so it passes the weather test - the bag will be dry inside. It's a heavy fabric with what appears to be ripstop threads woven into it so it should be plenty strong as well. This isn't necessarily the color they'll use, it's just the sample the fabric supplier sent to them. For reference: these are my prototype spare tire bags, I'm assuming OO will probably start production with black fabric/brown leather like the bag on my LJ:

Now the question is: do I sew one more prototype bag out of the new fabric to test (they sent me enough to make one) or do I just tell them I think the fabric is fine and they should go ahead and make a sample out of it themselves? And the other question is: Should I tell them to do other colors (like my tan one) or just tell them to start with black?

And finally, this was in the box:

It's a MOLLE panel with MOLLE storage pockets and Zip & Go zippers that will be going in the custom Jeep being built for debut at the SEMA Show that I wrote about recently. The photos above show it with the pockets and also with one Zip & Go bag attached; 3 bags can be attached across the bottom.

I have to send all of this to the custom builder and I won't see it in the Jeep until the SEMA show. I'll take pictures at SEMA and post them here then (SEMA starts in 27 days).