Making A Physical Product Is Hard.

And rewarding!

For the past several months, we’ve been deep in the weeds, working with a supplier on the East Coast to bring our Duct Tape Wallet Kits to life. Happy to share Gen-1 was designed in Portland, and Made in the USA with domestic and imported materials. What a journey it's been.

Now, with a fresh batch of inventory in hand—hot damn, there were a lot of learnings that will shape Gen-2—but before moving forward, we wanted to reflect on Gen-1 and share a few simple takeaways for anyone manufacturing a physical product.

✈️ Get on a plane.
Your product is only as good as your relationship with the people making it. Whenever possible, visit your vendors/partners in person. A single day on the production floor beats months of emails and Zoom calls. Small tweaks early save thousands later, and trust is built face-to-face. When suppliers know you care about the details, they care more too.

📐 Measure twice, cut once.
Precision is everything. When designing a kit with pre-cut materials and tight tolerances, the margin for error is nearly zero. The tighter the tech packs, the better—every millimeter counts. A slight misalignment in die-cutting can throw off an entire batch. Order of operations isn’t just a process; it affects yield, efficiency, and cost. And first-article inspections? Non-negotiable. Don’t greenlight production until you’ve tested, tweaked, and verified.

🤝 Be kind—always.
Making something new is messy and full of surprises. There will be mistakes—it’s a process of iteration, not perfection. Major on the major, minor on the minor. Timelines stretch, kinks inevitable, so plan for things to take twice as long and build in buffers. Document everything—notes, photos, samples—because clear feedback prevents repeat mistakes.

Now, enjoy this quick video of a jumbo log of duct tape being unwound/rewound 😊

Happy Making!

💛 Garett