Update #8 | MODL is on its way!
over 4 years ago – Wed, Dec 18, 2019 at 08:09:49 AM

What's up team!

We hope the weekend charged you up for a killer week ahead! 

It's official... MODL IS ON ITS WAY! 99% of orders have been shipped :) And now, we're processing all of the tracking information. Be on the lookout for an email from Backerkit over the next few days. Our shipping carrier warned us that shipping will take a bit longer than the originally expected due to the high volume of holiday shipments. Take a look at your tracking information so you can follow its journey to you! Everything should arrive by early January at the latest. 

The final 1% should be finished in the next couple of days. We've reached out to most of these backers to address any fulfillment issues. 

If there are any issues with your order when it arrives, let us know through this form and we'll take care of it!

And we know... you've been on the edge of your seat waiting for the second installation of Getting Started with MODL. Well, sit back and relax because it's here!

This time, Barak dives into how all the MODs work! Check it out ;) 

We are beyond pumped to share MODL with you all! Feel free to reach out at [email protected] letting us know your thoughts at any time - we'd love to hear from you :) 

We'll follow up with another update in a couple of weeks to check-in!

Until next time,

Barak, Zack & Justin

Update #7 | WE'RE SHIPPING!
over 4 years ago – Thu, Dec 05, 2019 at 07:05:43 PM

What’s uppppp everyone?! 

Hope you’re having an awesome week! Gift yourself the time to do something you love today, it’ll be worth it 🎁 

Now, onto bottles and stuff… 

Packaging went smoothly and all of the gear arrived at our fulfillment partners last week. We're spending this week packing all of your orders and shipping at least half of them ON MONDAY!!! 🤯 100% of orders will be shipped out by the end of next week! BAHHHH!! 😱

Wow, wow, wow… gotta dial it back. We’re just so frickin’ pumped for you all to have the first utility bottles. Take a look at what's going down right now!  

Those are your bottles peeps! Once en route, shipping will take 10-12 business days so expect delivery between December 20-31! 

If MODL is part of your holiday gifts, fill out this form and we'll do our best to get it to you in time. We are so sorry for the delay here - your patience in this final phase is much appreciated 🙏

We’ll reach out next week with tracking numbers for your shipments. For now, we wanted to share some MODL tips and tricks so you can hit the ground running upon delivery 🤓

In next week’s update, we’ll dive into the MODs! In the meantime, enjoy the rest of your week!

Much love,

Barak, Zack, & Justin

Update #6 | PRODUCTION IS DONE!!!
over 4 years ago – Sat, Nov 23, 2019 at 01:32:48 AM

Happy Friday squad! 

We're popping in real quick with some BIG NEWS - PRODUCTION IS COMPLETE!  Our quality control team inspected the gear and… it looks great! All of your MODLs and MODs are being packaged as we speak 😎

Looking ahead:

• Packaging continues until Tuesday, November 27 📦
   
• Then, the gear will take a short trip to our fulfillment partners.
   
• They’ll start shipping the week of December 2nd. Depending on where you live, your MODLs will arrive between December 10th and 15th!! 🤯
   

DAH! We are sooooo excited. On all the adventures to come, get weird with MODL, dream big, and let’s build this new tool together. We’ll reach out when your gear starts shipping!

To all who celebrate - have an awesome Thanksgiving packed with friends, family, and mildly awkward (but hilarious) conversations. To our backers - we are so grateful for you and this community that came together over a shared love for nature and new ideas.

Thank you so much for taking part in this adventure, we are beyond pumped to keep it rolling - this is just the beginning!

Much love,

Zack, Barak, and Justin

Update #5 | Production wraps up & MODL's camping trip
over 4 years ago – Sat, Nov 09, 2019 at 12:34:13 AM

Happy Friday squad!

Can you feel it?! Not that… that’s all the Halloween candy you ate. We’re talking about the anticipation of a utility bottle coming your way 🤯Next week, MODL’s production run will be COMPLETE! It’s hard to convey how stoked we are to get MODL in your hands, but we’re gonna try…

Zack is swimming to America from Asia just to release his pent-up energy, Barak just short-circuited knowing thousands of MODLs exist in the world, and Justin… he’s not drinking water until you’re drinking from MODL (just kidding please drink water).

Anyways...

While we finish production, we pulled some samples from the line for a few lab tests 🔬The results are in:

• FDA compliance testing for food and water contact - Confirmed! ✅
   
• Pure MOD (water filter) efficacy for removing bacteria and protozoa - Confirmed! ✅
   
• Premium 316 stainless steel for extra rust resistance - Confirmed! ✅
   

Once production wraps up next week, our quality control partners will inspect all of the bottles and MODs to make sure they meet our standards. Then, we’ll move onto packaging which will take 1-2 weeks. After that, the goods will take a short trip to our fulfillment partners and out to you incredible people! We’re on track to ship to you between the end of November and early December.

We know it’s later than we expected and that’s our bad - a few of the steps, like production of the packaging, took longer than anticipated and bottlenecked our supply chain. That said, we promise it’ll be worth the wait 🙏

We’ll share another update in the next few weeks letting you know exactly when MODL will ship. If you have any thoughts or questions, you can always catch us at hello@modloutdoors.

In the meantime, Barak just got back from a backpacking trip with the first production samples of MODL and MODs and you may be interested to hear how it went... take it away Barak!

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Hey crew!

Over the past year and a half, we’ve gone through more renditions of MODL than we can even count. As with any development process, there’s a common theme of X works on this prototype, but Y doesn’t work. Y works on the next prototype but Z doesn’t.

But this time around, it was different. Last weekend, we were able to take a complete production-quality MODL on a backpacking trip - a true test for the product we’ve been working so hard on. Our takeaway in a nutshell… MODL is ready to share.

The scene was set in Panthertown, North Carolina. We had a clear weekend ahead of us though it would get pretty cold at night - down to 20°F/-6°C (turns out this would bring out an awesome feature of MODL… more on that later).

The journey began on the drive up. Naturally, we had the Go MOD on for easy grab-n-sip action.

Once we arrived at the trailhead, we got geared up and strapped MODL with the Flow MOD to my pack. To save weight, we began the journey with only 2 liters of water - 1 full MODL and 1 normal wide-mouth bottle. We decided that the Pure MOD would be our only source of drinking water for the 3 day trip.

Halfway into the hike to the campground, we stopped at a waterfall to refill our bottles and spare 1 gallon jug - we would not have access to freshwater until the next day. We whipped out the Pure MOD and quickly set up gravity filtration.

After arriving at camp, setting up, and making dinner, we went into the tent for the evening. Here, we found some interesting features of MODL. First, to get some better lighting, we took our headlamps and strapped them to MODL. With the Vapor MODL, the light was diffused through the tent-making for much more comfortable lighting.  

Finally, as it got later, the temperature dropped from chilly to freezing. In an attempt to stay warm, I jetboiled some water, filled up MODL, and tossed it in my sleeping bag. This made all the difference. I’ve slept with hot water in my bottles before, but because MODL is flexible, it was actually comfortable to sleep with. Behind the neck, under the arm, down by my feet… All stayed toasty through the night :)

We heated up water again hanging around camp in the morning. Except this time, we left the bottle on the ground for a while and all the sudden we turn around, and our buddy Frankie found the spot of the century 😂  

Over the next two days, we continued to use MODL in even more ways than these. What really stood out was how seamlessly MODL morphed from one form to another and the sheer number of ways that MODL provided functionality and comfort on our adventure.

This trip was a culmination of years’ worth of work and we are so excited for you all to experience MODL yourselves… it’s a brand new concept and we think you’ll absolutely love it.

In the next few weeks, we’ll be reaching back out to keep you posted on progress and let you know exactly when MODL will ship.

For now - cheers, team!

Barak, Justin & Zack

Update #4 | We're back from the China 🌏 Let's dive in
over 4 years ago – Fri, Sep 27, 2019 at 08:48:47 PM

Wassuppppp squad,

MODL Crew checkin’ in and wishing you well! Hope you’re celebrating the fall season with an adventure in the next few weeks 🍂

We recently returned home from China... or at least some of us did (Zack's in Bali waiting to go back to China for later stages of production & meanwhile remaining on their timezone). There's tons to share with you about what went down during our time the Far East so without further ado...

Connecting with our manufacturer

After a year of back and forth emails, contracts, Skype calls, and emojis we finally got to meet the people who are bringing MODL to the physical world! Seeing the factory in action and learning about every step of the process was a wild and enlightening experience. We covered a lot, but in the end, our manufacturer and their team only left us impressed.

Over many cups of tea, we found the workers, engineers, and our sales contacts at the factory extremely welcoming. They expressed how excited they are to create this new type of product and are pulling from their 16 years of experience producing silicone products to bring it to life.

As for the factory itself, it was clean and overall very organized. We were able to take a look at our molds and inspect their machinery so we can calculate (and offset!) our carbon emissions. In general, we found the factory to be much “homier” than we expected. Many of the employees seemed to know each other and lived close by. It felt like a community.

Our main takeaways here:

1) It was a huge step forward in the relationship with our supplier through discovering the place, processes, and people that will create MODL.

2) We added to the strong base of trust from which we can build out our supply chain.

Establishing the ‘golden’ samples

Perhaps the most critical step we took to continue the march forward is the reviewing and confirming of our samples. We walked into the showroom at our manufacturer and there they were… a shimmering assortment of MODLs on the table waiting to be scrutinized, measured, tested, and stretched to the max, only the best to be selected as the standard of all MODLs to come.

We went through each of the samples to select from a variety the design, color, durometer (material hardness), and acceptable physical quality. To ensure the integrity of the materials selected, food-grade quality, and corrosion resistance, we randomly selected a few samples to be sent to third-party labs for chemical materials analysis.

After all this, we are happy to announce every last part of MODL has been finalized for production!

Laying out standards & processes

Finally, to ensure the plan runs as smooth as possible from this point forward, we had to develop processes and standards for how MODL will be built and quality controlled as it is produced in high volumes.

As you may know, we are no experts in quality control. So... we partnered with some 🤓. We connected with an excellent supply chain management company located in Shenzhen full of quality control experts, engineers, translators, and trade gurus. They’ll not only help us set and maintain standards, but also act as general counsel and year-round boots on the ground for MODL in China.

They accompanied us for every visit to the factory and helped us to overcome any language barrier and ensured everything we saw and heard was consistent with what we should expect. Going into the future, they will be available to visit the factory and carry out inspections of the product whenever necessary.

The deeper into manufacturing we go, the more we understand that finding and fixing problems early reduces the time, money, and complications that come with production. While we were there in person, we worked hard to search for and iron out any problems so we can be confident in the final products and make sure our supplier sticks to the agreements we laid out.

Into the future 🔭

With our trip to Shenzhen complete, we now have the course to delivery lined up - it is now about execution to finish production, packaging, and fulfillment so you can head out into the world with your MODL. We are still on track for MODL to be in your hands in November! As always, thank you for your continued support 🙏

We will keep you updated on our progress - feel free to reach out to us any time with questions, concerns, or ideas. Cheers!

Happy trails,

The MODL Team