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[pct-l] Bear Cans



I think you hit the nail on the head!

I disagree, though about "expensive people". As I stated in my last
e-mail, injection molding is VERY cheap. My dad started his business
because retirement was too boring. It's what all those cheap kids toys
that are made in China are made from! (and the Chinese work for
cheap-cheap!)

What you're right about is TIME. I'd rather spend mine on the trail or
in camp with good friends (and an oilcan!).

The material isn't so exotic (or even patented) that IT would be a
problem. Polycarb was invented in the 40's (I think), in any case, it's
used in just about everything now-a-days.

OR

Let's look at ABS (Garcia can). This is the stuff that waste plumbing is
made of!
Pull you toilet up and look at the pipe. Or take a peek under your
kitchen sink.
That black plastic is even less expensive than polycarb.
Oh wait- it must be those little screws that jump the price up to
$75...yeah, right.

I'm surprised the Nalgene folks don't produce a bear can. Lexan is
stronger and lighter than polycarb, and if there was ANYBODY who's
positioned to mass produce a new, cheap (and with lexan, an improvement
even over the BV200) bear can, it's these guys!

I'm gonna e-mail them right now....

M i c h a e l   S a e n z
McLarand Vasquez Emsiek & Partners, Inc.
A r c h i t e c t u r e    P l a n n i n g    I n t e r i o r s
w  w  w  .  m  v  e  -  a  r  c  h  i  t  e  c  t  s  .  c  o  m


-----Original Message-----
From: Ilja Friedel [mailto:pctl@ilja.ws] 
Sent: Friday, July 23, 2004 2:57 PM
To: Mike Saenz
Cc: Dave Encisco; pct-l@mailman.backcountry.net
Subject: Re: [pct-l] Bear Cans

Hi Mike,

On Fri, 23 Jul 2004, Mike Saenz wrote:
> On a previous reply to this thread, I indicated that I'd be more
> inclined to attack the costs of these cans. Why, oh WHY does an
> injection mold can cost $70???

A friend of mine is in chemistry (CIT). His advisor has a company that
manufactures some kind of plastic that is very light and highly impact
resistant. (They also hold the patents). We estimated, that it should
have
been possible to make a Garcia copy from the material weighting only 1.5
pounds. They people at the company briefly looked into it and found it
not
very profitable to go into the bear can business, even if the material
cost would have been about USD 3-5. You have to design the mold, employ
quite expensive people etc. And most of the money of the customer stays 
with the retailers...

Now, my friend and I even toyed around with making a small batch for
myself and friends (as long as it is not commercial there is no problem
with patents) - but we are busy people and the cost of our time would
have 
been prohibitive.

The technology is out there - just donate your lifetime.

Ilja.