What i'd really like ot see is some of these folks who have developed awesome mods/kit start filing hard patents and getting the Chinese to do the manufacturing. The price of a Line, or SS, or pretty much any of the pricy custom built mods could be driven down to completely accessible pricing, making it not only available to more people, but giving the creators the recognition they deserve, and the cash flow to evolve their products or create new ones with emergent technology.
Small operations are fantastic, don't get me wrong... but as it stands, some of the most desired and desirable kit is akin to purchasing fine art... which is neither what the industry needs from an expansion standpoint nor is it condusive to evolving the hardware we have now.
I'm ALL about purchasing local and handcrafted mods (love me some wood mods) but I consider THAT to be art. The internals are largely Chinese made, and not overly expensive.. So if you buy a REO, a Grip, a Bogger or a Gepetto you're paying for the aestheic value of the piece, which is, in my opinion, how it should be. Can you imagine paying $200 extra for a mod because someone decided to build a regulator from scratch that only had marginal performance enhancement?
If the Chinese are able to mass-produce a product that is inexpensive, of passable (or better) quality and highly available... I hope they do. I also sincerly hope that the innovators, inventors and craftsmen from whose minds these devices spring protect themselves with patents and are able to find a company that can manufacture their product for them... The supply/demand ratio, as well as the pricing paradigms for new and quality products borders on the bizarre right now.
There will always, ALWAYS be a market for high-end, handtooled product. But as it stands, you have the paupers in line with the princes (and princesses) for what is quickly becoming essential gear, and it does neither group any favours. It pains me when I see a beautifully crafted system in the classies with a line like "thought I would like it but it's too much work/can't figure it out/etc.", because for every one of the folks that got it and want to sell it or don't appreciate it, there are 10 people who would love to have one, but can't find them available.
I've owned a few businesses myself, and have always tried to keep my suppliers, manufacturers and staff local... And without fail, I have been out competed by someone who was willing to sacrifice that ethic for offshore manufacturing simply because the pricepoint was so drastically reduced that it made the product more appealing to the general populace. The solution, again, without fail, was to increase the quality and design... create a niche market for those that could afford and appreciate the product, and of course protect my ... with hard patents.
This is a young industry, and some folks are going to make a LOT of money from it... I'd like to see the innovators whose products WE know are evolutionary and of high quality be among them. Commerce is a game, and you can only win if you know the rules.
That having been said... the new kit looks great. Very excited to see it reviewed!
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