Building the 'expedition' box - looking for ideas and input

[FNQGU]

You made our Monthly Newsletter with your Pizza Delivery bike too mate!

[MB]

Happy Days Ben Mate!
Just read other super most exciting Expedition 134 news brother on ‘THE ROCK’ he is a true mover & shaker much like your good self


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[FNQGU]

Physically similar...not sure he is as much of a mover and shaker though. LOL!

[MB]

Just gets said shit done by my nuffy definition of the terms both Legends!


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[Hodge]

Great to see Tim Bates jumping onboard with these boxes.


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[FNQGU]

G'day guys, and thanks Toddy for the ping on messenger this arvo, it has been a few tough months for us and I appreciated the inquiry. Hopefully, things will work themselves out in the near future. Yes, we are out of stock and probably won't have anything for a bit yet. I did send out a bit of an update to our email subscribers a few days back that I know some of you are on, but in a nutshell, we had some very poor manufacturing results from a large 3rd party manufacturer we had been using, and it has had a dramatic effect on us as a small business. We ended up having to pull everything that was substandard and have contacted anyone we thought might have copped a dud. This included a container load of boxes that were sent to the United States which will cost us a bomb to replace, but hey, do it right, right? We discussed it with our ex-manufacturer and eventually got a refund on part of our production run for the dud boxes, but not so much as an apology. Some motherf.ckrs just don't give a rats arse about the little blokes having a go and there are some copy cat 4wd related products that I will never buy or use now. Anyway, this resulted in us removing our moulds from this particular manufacturer at a significant cost to us. Gotta love it, but we now have a much smaller and more approachable Aussie manufacturer that we are working with on the Sunny Coast to get things going again.

While we have been out of stock and struggling to pull the pieces back together, we had actually been doing a shite-load of work in the realm of recycled materials, recently even chipping up some old school chairs, basically melting them down and turning them into boxes, and it was a lot of fun to see it happen and think we could possibly do a little bit for our environment. The results weren't perfect but we learned a lot. We had also managed to secure a source of Aussie recycled rubbish plastic to use that should be really good if we get to use it. Would you believe that about 99% of recycled plastic is imported?? There is SFA available when it comes to recycled Aussie plastic but lots of research happening in this realm, so with a bit of luck, it should change. The R&D with the recycled rubbish was fun stuff though, particularly considering the amount of shit we see on our 'pristine' Cape York beaches, which in reality are probably the filthiest in Australia.

So, where are we at now and will we recover? To be honest, it is all up in the air at the moment. There are a few unknowns and a lot of soul searching going on. We have some huge plans, better seals, better QC practices and some great opportunities to explore, but a heap of hurdles as well. Many who have started up a business before me would know this feeling I am sure and I know several on here who have had a go and maybe had to pivot or recover from a kick in the guts from someone or some other business who simply doesn't care. Hats off to you lot, you no doubt know the feeling!

Anyway, I hope that didn't sound like a rant, it wasn't meant to. I was genuinely touched Toddy when you offered help from the forum. Meant a lot bloke. Swings and round-a-bouts right?!

[MB]

Crikey Ben Mate!
Very sorry to hear here first from your good self of problems Brother.
Fortunately can say our 40+ purchased work & play Awesome Expedition Boxes have and still are truly exceptional, we friggin love them
FWIW: I have too been hoodwinked by manufacturers over the years (home & abroad) slightly changing specifications without notice.
Has cost us too a small fortune making shit right again but that’s our Aussie Dinkum Legacy Brother
Stay Safe, Stay Strong
Touch base anytime if needed


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[MudRunnerTD]

Ghee that is fare average Ben, the dud units, are they of any value at all? can they be used for internal storage boxes of something? rebranded and sold off cheaper for archive type storage?

You were well and truly kicking goals mate, i did see another supplier selling a box, nothing likely yours, but was spruiking about the Seal and air tight etc.

Good luck mate. Love the Expedition 134 Box. Best Kit Ever. Never thought i'd be excited about a Box mate. You did Great.

[Cuppa]

Oh sh*t Ben, I had no idea when you mentioned the faulty boxes in your shed. It’s wrong, just bl**dy wrong. I love that you now have an Aussie manufacturer, by geez those others are ar*eholes!

[FNQGU]

the dud units, are they of any value at all? can they be used for internal storage boxes of something? rebranded and sold off cheaper for archive type storage?

finding a few uses as we go mate. The other thing we can now do is chip them up with other stuff and turn them back into recycled boxes so they won't go to waste or landfill. Something we are working on at the moment anyway.