Back in late 2011, the original manufacturing option was to have the paddles made overseas.  The process was explored with the help of another sporting goods manufacturer who has some of his product made in China.  The process became labored, the communications was sub par, answers were not being provided and this was even before we signed any paperwork!!

Holy smokes, we have already had three months into the overseas Assault project and the ride was bumpy!  Being a retired military man, having a bullet proof action plan and readily executing the plan should be routine.  So the thought process went!  Of course with all plans, failure is sometimes an option due to circumstances out of your control.  This was on of those times!  Time to abort the mission, regroup, lick our wounds and re-plan.

Again, being a retired military man, I wanted our product to be made here in the states.  The overseas connection just made so much more sense initially because of the financial advantage of overseas production.  So the thought went!  After weighing all the wasted time, confusion and not to mention the extravagant overseas shipping charges…it became apparent to stay at home.  I could pick up the phone and get an answer, the language barrier was not present and now I can just drive up to Georgia and pick up my paddles!  Booyah!!

Peliton Plastics from Valdosta, Georgia agreed to make the Assault paddle molds and produce the plastic paddles at their manufacturing plant.  Booyah!!  Again, time has been wasted for our initial spring offering.  Peliton believes the paddles will be ready in about eight weeks…sometime in July 2012.  As antsy as I have been for the  Assault Hand Paddle to hit the market, I can only patiently wait knowing we done the right thing and had the paddles made here in the good ole USA!!

This one step, easy application provides an unique interface with today’s technology and marketing tools to keep pace with our customers demanding thirst for product information and availability. 

These QR codes are presently found in print advertising, vehicle wraps, signage or any other marketing platform that sits still long enough to be photographed.

Simply take a photograph of the QR Code with your smart phone (QR Code app installed) and instantly you will be redirected to the appropriate site as directed by the code!  Amazing technology at our fingertips!

As our new Assault Hand Paddle makes its way to the paddle sports market this spring, our strategy is to embrace all marketing techniques that will educate our customers about our company and our paddle products.  

Backwater Paddle Company, staying at the front of technology to provide our customers with as much product information as possible!

The Paddle Matters!!  Paddle on my friends!

What we really hope for, is that the change is for the better!  The Assault Hand Paddle reflects the latest changes Backwater Paddle Company is making to their legendary kayak fishing hand paddle collection. 

The latest designed BPC hand paddles will be made from plastic.  The Assault will replace the original, hand made, wooden Predator Kayak Fishing Hand Paddles.  The Predator lead the kayak fishing hand paddle evolution.   With the explosion of water sports, particularly kayak angling, the boats have grown larger to accommodate their environments.  Larger boats have made the shorter Predator paddle almost obsolete.

New BPC Paddle...Assault Hand Paddle

 Below is the physical differences between the Assault and Piranha Hand Paddles.  The plastic Assault Hand Paddle will be 2″ longer and 1/2″ wider than the wooden Piranha. 

 The Assault Hand Paddles will be available Spring 2012.

New Hand Paddle Design

 The Assault Hand Paddle will be made from plastic, increasing its durability and fear factor!!

The Assault Hand Paddle will be available Spring 2012, with a MSRP of $24.95

The Paddle Matters!!

Ed and Kurt at the OR Show

 Backwater Paddle Company has stepped off the front porch and is now running with the big dogs!  After a trip out west to Salt Lake City, Utah August 3rd thru the 7th, this wonderful destination provided to be a pivot point of evolution and continued growth for Backwater Paddles.   We can see how and why Brigham Young brought his Mormon disciples to this area.   It is truly a place for the avid outdoorsman!!

The 2011 Outdoor Retail Summer Show is the largest and most significant trade show for any outdoor sporting company to be involved with.   This show is designed for the sports market manufacturer/exhibitor to meet up with prospective buyers and make deals.   As this was Backwater Paddle Company’s first venture into this massive show, we did not know what quite to expect.

2011 OR Show Room Floor

The size of the event is overwhelming.  You feel like a kid in a candy store as you walk through all the displays.  It is sensory overload.  Everyone has designed their booth for the maximum impact, both visually and physically.     It blows your mind as to how much money is spent by these large sporting goods manufacturers to grab your attention.  You think of any soft or hard goods sporting manufacturer, and they are here.

Fortunately our national distributor, Outdoor Specialty Innovations, was there to provide moral support for the show.  Having been to a number of ICAST Shows, OSI’s Ron and Pete, along with Kurt, Backwater Paddle Company’s vice president, provided the manpower to entertain all the potential customers of our paddles as well as the EAsy2Hook fishing products.

Pete and Kurt manning the Backwater Paddle Company booth.

Despite all the obstacles to get to this event, it has been quite the learning experience.  We have met some seasoned exhibitors and obtained some extremely useful knowledge for our future events.   Mostly we have learned…having a unique product matters!!   As far as displaying your product, size and being outrageous also matters. 

Although no orders were directly written, we networked with some of the industries leading retail buyers in the paddle sports market.  We obtained a number of solid contacts and will be working with them in the next few weeks.

Now that this experience is behind and we can look forward to next years OR Show with less trepidation, more imagination, and hopefully a new paddle product.  Our imaginations are at work already!

Time to get to work for the 2012 Outdoor Retail Summer Show!!  Paddle on my friends!!

2011 ICAST OSI Booth

The ICAST 2011 Showin Las Vegas last week was Backwater Paddle Company’s (BPC) first venture into the fishing sports marketing arena.  Our national distributor, Outdoor Specialty Innovations (OSI),invited me to attend as their guest.  Ron Baskett, OSI’s main man, and his crew helped soften the sensory overload by providing a booth chair  for me  to observe how the game is played.   I had to mention “chair” for the simple fact I spent a lot of time holding it to the floor, as I just blown my knee out earlier in the week.   Being in Las Vegas and confined to a chair was not the experience I had in mind for this road trip! 

Mind you, my full intentions in coming to Las Vegas was for the ICAST Trade Show experience.  I had to see and feel the atmosphere of an event of this magnitude.  Next week Backwater Paddle Company will be sponsoring our own booth (Booth MZ-163) at the Outdoor Retailer Show (OR) in Salt Lake City, Utah.  What a wake up call the trip to Las Vegas has been!

So being semi-incapicitated, I was forced to slow down, watch, learn and observe the tactics being displayed to posture your product before the respective buyers.  The atmosphere is electric.  You cannot imagine the scope of this venue.   It takes a couple of hours to saunter by and visit each booth throughout the venue.  Quite frankly, I’m not sure that I even saw every booth displaying their wares?  It was that massive.

The dollars budgeted for the displays alone by some of these well entrenched and major sporting goods companies is mind blowing.   Hundreds of thousands of dollars are being spent to provide the most attractive, ginormous and eye catching display possible.  Think Eagle Claw, Daiwa, Shimano, Rapala, Zebco all laying it all out for their buyers.  In this business, you do not get a second chance to make a first impression!!

So coming back to Florida was a bit titillating.  Now I had to face reality and the scope of the upcoming OR Trade Show.   Suddenly it was not just new ideas on how to market our product, but realizing how small BPC really is!   Now it becomes…how do we maximize our exposure without going bankrupt…basically, getting more bang for our buck.  Again, realizing that simply stretching our 3 x 5 BPC logo banner between two stanchions is not going to cut it! 

As we prepare for the upcoming Outdoor Retail Show in Salt Lake City next week, it is Backwater Paddle Company’s time to step off the porch, get down into the yard and run with the big dogs.  With great anticipation and some trepidation, we are hoping to make our mark in the paddle sports industry. 

At the ICAST Show we met, and will be networking with, some of the more experienced sporting goods manufacturers in establishing industry contacts for Backwater Paddles future growth.  As we work on a time frame for the introduction of our new Piranha-X hand paddle, these new contacts will be instrumental in achieving our goals. 

Now I sit here blogging, patiently waiting for my $2000 pop-up display to arrive here in Florida.  After observing the “minimum standard” of displays at the ICAST Show, we had to bite the bullet and not be the odd man out for the upcoming OR Show.  This short time frame between the events is all we had to work with in providing a unique and eye catching display. 

Actually, the graphics are what we hope to be the attention grabber.  This pop-up display is 8 feet tall and 10 feet wide, and collapses down into a shipping container.  My main man, Terry Griffin at Colossal Signs in Cocoa Beach, tightened up the graphics for the display.

So again, we wait patiently for the display to be sent from Rhode Island for our inspection and trial set up prior to sending it on to Salt Lake City.  How tight is the schedule you ask…the display is supposed to arrive August 2nd and we are on the plane August 3rd.

Panicking…not yet.

Backwater Paddle Company Logo

Backwater Paddle Company, home of the patented Predator and Piranha Kayak Fishing Hand Paddles, is attending two of the major industry retail trade shows within the next couple of weeks.

Backwater Paddle Company will be represented at the ICAST Show 2011 in Las Vegas, Nevada July 13^th – 16^th by our distributor, Outdoor Specialty Innovations.   Easy2HookUSA at booth 1060, will feature the Backwater Paddle Company line as well as the other outdoor retail lines represented by Outdoor Specialty Innovations.

Backwater Paddle Company will be represented at the Outdoor Retail Summer Show 2011 in Salt Lake City, Utah this August 3^rd – 6^th at booth MZ-1630.   Our national distributor, Outdoor Specialty Innovations, will be available alongside for more outdoor product representation.

We encourage all paddle and outdoor sport sales reps and vendors to stop by our booths, introduce themselves, exchange stories and place orders.

See you in Las Vegas next week, and in Salt Lake City next month! 

Paddle on my friends!!

Waiting in the grass!

Looking AWESOME!!  Just recently had the Backwater Paddle Company Truck wrapped.  Terry Griffith from Colossal Signs of Cocoa Beach, Florida designed and attached the wrap over a couple of day period.

I have been so busy, that I finally just got some time to head down to the St Johns River and take some pics.  The early morning sun and the St Johns River watershed provided the lighting and backdrop.

 If you haven’t noticed…the two sides are wrapped differently.  The passenger side is the Piranha and the drivers side the Predator model.

 I can’t believe all the attention the Backwater Paddle Truck wrap draws.   As a matter of fact, I have to get used to everyone staring at me while driving down the road!  No I have to consciously drive the truck in “normal” (foot out of the throttle) mode because all the attention it draws!!

The Backwater Paddle Company Truck is making the rounds throughout the southeast tournament trails.  Hope to see you one day.  Paddle on my friends!!

Backwater Paddle Company Hand Paddles
Backwater Paddle company has produced two hand paddles that allow you to maneuver the kayak while still keeping a hand on your fishing rod. I have been using them for a few months now and they are great inexpensive addition to you kayak fishing arsenal. Back water makes two version of this paddle the Predator, which has a square design, is touted for use on Sit In Kayaks (SINKs). The Piranha which has a longer asymmetrical design is the preferred paddle for Sit On Top kayaks (SOTs). Both paddles are designed with a built in Hook for retrieving fishing lines, anchor lines, etc. The Piranha sports a scalloped blade edge for pushing off of rocks, pilings, etc. What a great present for the kayak angler who has it all. MSRP is $24.95. Their website is www.backwaterpaddles.com.

Visit Tidalfish.com at http://www.tidalfish.com/forums/content.php/756-KAYAK-FISHING-Gift-ideas-for-the-Kayak-Angler-Gifts-for-Guys-Presents-for-Men-Fisherman-Gift-Ideas to see the Backwater Paddles and other great gifts for kayak anglers!

We appreciate all your support at Tidalfish.com.   Paddle on my friends!!