I am removing the SAKA from the market.

Breakfast is in...working on coffee cup #2. Catching up on the hot discussion

Some of you might remember Bob Wulkowicz. He was a very creative man. Along with adding some theories and thoughts about how trees grow...The Gossamer Engine... he came up with some simple but revolutionary products. He knew that these products had a market and a money stream connected with that market. The catch was that it would be too easy to copy and undercut.

Besides the tree-related products in our teeny niche he in enter Oberlies things in much more profitable industries

When he took out patents on his inventions he went to a patent law firm in Chicago that would bust patents. They would find a way to capitalize on a variation on an existing patent. Then they would take out anew patent. Kind of like hiring a burglar as your security agent

After he had his patent locked in he would release production to public domain. People could use the idea but not capitalize on it

That way it was available and not out of reach to people

As far as I know his public domain patents have never been challenged

I miss you Bob!
 
Tom, Saturday morning 2nd cup for me too (and chasing the squirrels from the bird feeder . . it is my quest). We had really good patent law help, but it was at $350.00 Can an hour - that was the show stopper for me. Hence throwing in the towel. Ours wouldn't co-opt in to the startup but wanted things net 30 - ouch. Impossible MTTCF (Mean Time To Cash Flow). Have a great weekend all.
 
ghostice said:
... absolutely no problem with patents for truly unique "discoveries" (a light bulb never before seen, etc.). ...
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It is this that bugs me the most and is exactly how I felt when first trying out the HAAS. It was a head-slapper, why had I not thought of using the space between the rope grab and the foot loop as a storage location for the bungee?
Just because someone has a great idea like this doesn't mean they will miraculously become knowledgeable in marketing and legal matters. Giving the inventor time to work out improvements and see some well-deserved financial reward, would have been much more appropriate than coming out with a similar product within months. Although an improvement itself, this development would likely never have happened without first having seen the original.
 
treebing said:
I would really like people to, while they are going at weaver, to go at PETZL for that damn button in the middle of the pulley on the Traxion. That stupid patent is really killing some innovation and y'all don't even know it! nobody knows what kind of innovation thats killing because noone would dare test Petzl. And you know Petzl isn't going to license it to anyone. No sir. How can you patent a damn button with a spring in it. Buttons have been around forever! so have springs and So have pulley sheaves! You know how annoying it is when the perfect solution for a design that your working on is just completely off the table? man if I could just give you all a taste. Maybe you would all get so angry you could petition Petzl to share.
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Is that the same style button that rock exotica is using on the omni block? or that buckingham mfg is using on their version?
 
treebing said:
has anyone here bought anything weaver in the last ten years?
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It's what I buy when I need it today, lol. It's cheap, so I can buy the right piece of kit online later and use the weaver piece as backup. To be fair, my throwbag has performed very well. Think that's all I've ever had to buy from Weaver...
 
Richard, I was really looking forward to the SAKA mini. The video went up and came down pretty fast so I can't really remember the design but it intrigued me. Any chance that will see the light of day...even in video form?
 
I'm lucky enough to have gotten a Saka last year shortly after I started tree climbing. Works well and doesn't get in the way.

I read the Haas patent and it appears to me the only claim that could possibly overlap is that 'a hollow core' with elastic inside is used. Many of the claims are trival rendering them invaild. Like Claim 7 "...further comprising a means for
attaching the free end of the elastic cord to a harness" Who wouldn't think of clipping the bungee cord in? Also sounds like a kernmantle rope that has its Kern as the load bearer with an elastic Mantle longer than the Kern, but both products use a tube/hose to sheath the elastic that is further covered.

Question:
Would using an elastic pull reel (similar to what a keychain or ID badge clip uses) preserve the benefits of the longer elastic? If so I claim it :)
Example:
https://www.amazon.com/gp/aw/d/B00TS3UT42/

It should be noted that making your own Haas or Saka the same as the production items would also violate their respective patents if used for commercial use.

Edit:
Food for thought, my various Weaver bags have all worn quickly (but their leather products haven't).
 
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Welcome Frankie, don't rush to get a patent lawyer, Richard already showed a retractable type bungee system awhile back. I played around with using a tape measure to do the same thing.
 
The idea of some sort of retractable spring could be pretty slick in a knee ascender. it would have to be pretty strong. and you would have to protect it from bottoming out. I do like that idea though.
 
It has to have a strong spring to rapidly take in bungee cord. I couldn't get it to work, the bungee would be contracted before the tape measure could pull it inside. I didn't go much farther with it as the Belly Bound idea came up.
 
Brocky's Belly Bound Bi Bungee Bringerupper was the "official" name. The two tubes and bungee are attached and stay on the bottom of the harness. A small double sheave pulley is on the end of the bungee cord to make the transition from horizontal to vertical pull. A simple footloop and ascender attach to the bungee. It works great on a Masters classic harness because the tubes stay completely out of the way when working. I also tried it on a Weavers harness, but the tubes didn't have as many places to connect the tubes to and was always getting snagged.
 
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