ANGLERS CADDY - The Ultimate Fishing Companion
A case study on how Kowide Outdoors helped customer Launching Pad develop and bring to market their new innovative backpack.
Introduction
Anglers Caddy is launching their namesake (Anglers Caddy) fishing gear designed to carry an angler’s fishing rods and reel with optimal weight distribution and tangle-free access. Most avid fishing enthusiasts understand the hassle of transporting a range of rods and their individual reels. On a fishing trip, an angler can easily encounter a variety of fish, often requiring a different rod and reel setup.
“After many years of fishing, I found myself needing a rod and reel carrier that could transport my multiple rods with reels attached without requiring me to remove the reels from each rod.” - Breo (Anglers Caddy)
Having sampled the fishing rod carriers currently on the market, Breo Pierce decided to design his own. A deep passion for fishing drove Breo to solve an issue that had been plaguing him for a while.
“I needed a carrier to securely hold rods from 4 feet to an 8-foot two-piece rod with reels attached.” - Breo (Anglers Caddy)
Thus, Anglers Caddy was born, first sketched on a notepad. Breo was sure that other enthusiasts like him were facing the same frustrations as himself. Thus, with the support and organizational expertise of his wife, Laura, he decided to launch Anglers Caddy, bringing his ingenious solution to other passionate anglers.
“This product came from necessity. I designed it as a solution to my need for a fishing rod carrier that accommodates multiple rods with reels attached.” - Breo (Anglers Caddy)
Main Product Objectives
There were some key criteria that Breo (Anglers Caddy) had for his fishing rod carrier:
“My goal was to create a carrier that would securely hold multiple fishing rods with reels attached, ensuring they were protected during transport.” - Breo (Anglers Caddy)
Secure Storage: capable of securely holding multiple rods with reels attached, including multiple two-piece rods with reels.
Effortless Portability: compact and well-balanced weight distribution.
Convenience: Tangle-free transportation of the rods and reels featuring no zippers or buttons.
Quality Construction: Durable, water-resistant, high-quality materials that can withstand the elements and guarantee the protection of the equipment.
“I designed it as a solution to my need[s]… The design includes sleeves and pockets for distributing weight evenly, which helps with the balance and stability of the carrier.” - Breo (Anglers Caddy)
Prototyping
The Anglers Caddy is designed to stand out for its practicality, streamlined design, protection, and functionality. To safeguard and conveniently transport multiple rods with reels attached while also offering durability, water resistance, and space efficiency.
With a solution at hand, a desire to succeed, and the passion to enhance his and other anglers’ fishing experiences, Breo set out to create his first prototype. Not an easy task during the Covid-19 pandemic.
“This was during the height of the COVID-19 pandemic, and many companies were either understaffed or unable to commit to small projects.” - Breo (Anglers Caddy)
With persistence, Breo was able to get the first prototype of the Anglers Caddy made by a local US-based company. Now, Breo needed to find a manufacturer that could mass-produce his product.
“…the initial prototype was manufactured in the United States. However, high production costs made it impractical.” - Breo (Anglers Caddy)
Search for a Manufacturing Partner
Anglers Caddy needed a manufacturer known for its high industry standards, solid reputation, and capabilities and reliability to support the project. After a lengthy search and careful vetting of potential candidate manufacturers, Anglers Caddy decided to move ahead with Kowide Outdoors.
“Kowide Outdoors offered a more economical solution without compromising on quality.” - Breo (Anglers Caddy)
Anglers Caddy conducted a thorough research of potential manufacturers in Vietnam and ended up choosing Kowide Outdoors after thoroughly vetting their website and speaking with the account manager.
“After speaking with Jennifer Cheng [Kowide Outdoor Regional Director], I was sold. She was knowledgeable, experienced, attentive, and committed to meeting our expectations, even offering guidance on overseas manufacturing.” - Breo (Anglers Caddy)
Having received the initial prototype Kowide Outdoors went to work on sourcing all the necessary materials to manufacture the Anglers Caddy. It was during this process that Kowide Outdoors’ sample department and sales representative were able to make some material and design improvement suggestions to further enhance the quality of the product.
“[Kowide was able to] improved upon it with a pre-production sample of exceptional quality…assist[ing] with material sourcing, ensuring we had the best materials for the product. ” - Breo (Anglers Caddy)
Production
At Kowide Outdoors, we brought our over 50 years of experience in making very technical backpacks to the table. Between our globally connected sourcing department, vastly experienced production floor, and talented prototype department, we were able to help attain all the product design criteria.
“I was very impressed with the quality of Kowide [Outdoors’] work. [Their] knowledge, experience, attentive[ness], and commit[ment] to meeting our expectations, [and] even offered guidance on overseas manufacturing.” - Breo (Anglers Caddy)
Our sourcing department was able to suggest some material options for other fabrics, ones that helped Anglers Caddy achieve an even higher product quality and still meet their price point.
Anglers Caddy is crafted from high-quality, water-resistant Cordura 1000 Denier Nylon, built for durability and reliability. It features sturdy 2-inch nylon webbing handles, and a padded strap secured with military-grade quick-release buckles. With the included padding, this carrier can securely hold up to 20 two-piece rod and reel setups, each up to 8 feet long, so that any angler’s needs are covered for any adventure.
“This carrier stands out for its practicality, streamlined design, protection, and functionality. It allows for the safe and convenient transportation of multiple rods with reels attached while also offering durability, water resistance, and space efficiency.” - Breo (Anglers Caddy)
The Anglers Caddy is a massive product that utilizes some very durable and thick fabric. The large size of the individual sewn components would be a challenge for many manufacturers. Our specialization in very technical products made us at Kowide Outdoors ideally suited to tackling this manufacturing challenge. Our flexible and dynamic production lines were easily capable of adjusting their layout to deal with the unusual dimensions of the Anglers Caddy while easily coping with the fabric thickness and sewn in padding.
“I sought a manufacturer known for high industry standards and a solid reputation, [capable of making my vision a reality]. Based on my experience, I would highly recommend Kowide Outdoors.” - Breo (Anglers Caddy)
Kowide Advantage
Bringing your first product to life is always a challenge with a steep learning curve. Designs often start as a vague idea, sketch on a napkin, or Google Word doc. Our experienced customer service team, sample-making department, and patternmaker will help you turn your ideas into reality.
Knowing which fabric, hardware, and trims best suit all your criteria is not easy for people starting with their first product and sometimes even for experienced designers. Kowide has a vast network of suppliers and can help you find the right materials for your design.
“Kowide Outdoors became my manufacturer choice after thoroughly reviewing their website and capabilities. [Their] knowledge, experience, attention, and commitment to meeting our expectations [] was impressive.” - Breo (Anglers Caddy)
At Kowide Outdoors, we take great pride in our ability to provide superior customer service to all our clients. In this extremely competitive business, we fervently believe that exceptional quality and customer experience are the ultimate competitive differentiators.
For this purpose, we have built up a highly proficient multilingual team to ensure that nothing gets lost in translation. This allows Kowide to accurately and in a timely manner translate all client communications, tech packs, feedback, and specifications into Mandarin and Vietnamese and vice versa.
“I was very impressed with the quality of Kowide’s work and Jennifer’s [Kowide Outdoors Regional Manager and Anglers Caddy contact person] attentiveness and engagement throughout the project.” - Breo (Anglers Caddy)
At Kowide, we believe that through technical expertise, rigorous quality control, the highest level of transparency, and clear communication, we can exceed our clients’ expectations and deliver unmatched customer service and products.
Conclusion
Stemming from a need to improve his own experience pursuing his passion for fishing, Breo Pierce created Anglers Caddy. Breo took the plunge to bring his solution to other anglers and partnered with Kowide Outdoors; with our unwavering dedication to the highest quality manufacturing and customer service, we turned Breo’s Anglers Caddy into reality. The Anglers Caddy is now available for preorder on AnglersCaddy.com, with shipping starting in January 2025.
“I’m grateful for the opportunity to bring my idea to life with Kowide. Their dedication, precision, and customer support have made the process smooth and rewarding.” - Breo (Anglers Caddy)
Kowide Outdoors is built on trust. Through open communication and accountability, we provide the highest level of transparency from start to finish to deliver unmatched customer service and product build and manufacturing quality. In combination with our talented and experienced factory staff, we were able to gain Anglers Caddy’s trust and deliver them the highest quality product.
“Their [Kowide Outdoors] commitment to quality, expertise, and support exceeded my expectations, making them an excellent choice for anyone needing a reliable manufacturer.” - Breo (Anglers Caddy)
ANGLERS CADDY
Founded out of the frustration of wanting to transport multiple fishing rods and their reels but without the hassle of tangled lines or the weight associated with traditional carriers.
The Anglers Caddy embodies a commitment to improving your fishing experience. effortlessly and without compromise, which helps anglers bring along all their gear. It is designed to make fishing trips more enjoyable and efficient, letting anglers focus on enjoying their time on the water.
KOWIDE OUTDOORS
Bespoke Backpack and Outdoor Apparel Manufacturer from Taiwan
A leading OEM manufacturer with over 50 years of experience supplying products to world-renowned brands across Europe, Asia, Australia, and North America. Our world-class production facility in Vietnam, situated within easy reach of Ho Chi Minh City, is ideally suited to cover all manufacturing needs, from R&D, sourcing, and prototyping to bulk production.
Through technical expertise, ethical management, and rigorous quality control, Kowide Outdoors continuously strives to exceed client expectations and takes pride in helping clients achieve success by delivering the highest level of quality and unparalleled customer service.