FAQ Questions
over 6 years ago – Fri, Jan 12, 2018 at 11:39:07 PM

WHERE HAVE YOU BEEN?

We are a small business but we sell a hefty load of custom products outside of Kickstarter (don't believe us, see HERE).  As a small company, we have a small team that has been working long hours all year long crafting gear, fulfilling orders, and pushing every day to get the Cache Belt project finished up. We took some time off over the holidays to spend with our families and recharge the physiological batteries so we're ready for the challenges that 2018 will hold.

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YOU TOOK VACATION/LAUNCHED NEW PRODUCTS INSTEAD OF SHIPPING BELTS?

Nope! The Cache Belt is and always will be our #1 priority until it's completely fulfilled. Although we have canceled travel plans in the past to ensure the Cache Belt project moves along as quickly as possible, this was not one of those cases. The changes we required from our manufacturer required a 3-week sampling process to verify the fix. We lucked out, for once, and this waiting period fell directly over the holidays. (yes, we can hear you yelling from here "Shenanigans! You're lying to us." but can't we just accept a small win for what it is?). 

We have had products, like our new Viking Whetstones and new Blacktical Cache Cap (Launching today), that have been in the works for years, but are just now ready for the public. We haven't slacked an ounce from the Cache Belt project, despite if it looks like we are doing other things. We just have to keep the fire burning on the back-burners for our business while we all eagerly await the buckles to come in.

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WHY DIDN'T YOU UPDATE US BEFORE YOU LEFT?

These days we are very cautious to pass on information from our manufacturers until we have something certain. Too many times we've regurgitated what we are told only to be left with egg on our face when they fail. There was honestly no change from the prior update. We gave the manufacturer our required fixes and we were waiting for them to implement the changes and prove success with a batch of samples.

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SO YOU FINALLY HAVE SOMETHING NEW TO SHARE?

We sure do! And it's finally good news. The latest samples came in and they are finally looking great! The new process involves polishing every buckle to a near mirror finish to remove all the nicks and dings, blasting with a 120 grit abrasive to give us that nice matte finish, and finally coating with our black and gray PVD. We thought the solution to the nicks and dings that we received in the first batch would be easy to avoid. Instead, we had to push the manufacturer to test and retest every conceivable sequence to come up with a process that would eliminate the cosmetic damage but result with the aesthetic we set out to achieve from the beginning. There was a lot of back-and-forth and us saying, "well, it's better, but what if you try..." Sorry, we didn't anticipate that the problem-solving sequence would take several weeks and we naively thought that they would be ready to quickly implement the new process.

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SO WHEN WILL I GET MY BELT?

Likely within 1-4 Weeks after we get the buckles! It all depends on when you backed the project, and how long the shipping itself takes (obviously international takes longer to be delivered). There are 6000ish buckles that have been stamped, polished, and are currently being assembled. From there they will be sent off to plating, quality checked, packed, and shipped. The current estimates show we should have this 2nd batch of buckles in hand before Valentine's Day!  

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WHAT HAVE YOU LEARNED FROM THIS EXPERIENCE?

Looking back, it's now clear why most Kickstarters don't deliver on time or get forced delivering a sub-par quality product. If we didn't have our existing company and product line to keep us afloat over the last year, these repeated manufacturing delays and expenses would have likely forced us into delivering an item that would ruin the reputation of the company or even led straight to bankruptcy with no fulfillment at all. We're thankful that our employees have stuck it out, worked endless hours, and had the capacity to juggle a project of this magnitude on top of daily operations. 

We wouldn't be here if not for our diehard team, the Wazoo customers, and your unbelievable patience and support. The light is finally at the end of the tunnel!

IF I ORDER ______ FROM YOUR WEBSITE, CAN YOU JUST SEND IT WITH MY BELT?

Some of you have been graciously supporting our website with sales of our other products while you wait for your belt. If you order from our website, we can ship immediately, but we cannot combine it with your Cache Belt pre-order. We have to process them on 2 different systems, unfortunately. 

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WHAT ARE PEOPLE SAYING ABOUT THE BELT?

"Well, my cache belt has become the only belt I wear. No complaints whatsoever." ~ Todd E.

"Hi I backed you in kick starter and I have my belt def worth the wait!!" ~ Mark S.

"Thank you. I received my belt today. I must admit the quality is outstanding. I’m still trying to fit all the survival gear in but this is the fun part of owning such a cool belt. The next part is the reassurance knowing I have gear with me everywhere I go." ~Phill K.

"Got my belt....love it, lots of storage room. I opted for the reject buckle and i could not tell where it was damaged............works great." ~ Camp Cook

"Got my belt today. It fits great and I appreciate the design that went into the buckle (solid and positive lockup). Well worth the wait." ~ Andrew

"Got my belt, long time but seems like a good belt! Thank you guys, was worth the wait." ~ Amir

"Got mine! And I must say, definitely worth the wait in my opinion! I put my daily medication and emergency cash in there along with the kit that came with it! It fits nicely and doesn't feel bulky, and you really do forget how much you're carrying! Awesome job, team!" ~ CJ E.(Superbacker)

"Well I have waited a long time got my belt a few weeks ago and I can say it’s been worth the wait! Thanks" ~ Mark

"I am writing to inform that I have received my cache belt. I know I've been a pretty difficult customer toward the end of all this, but I have to admit - everything is in there, looks nice...My experience with Wazoo since receiving the belt have been quite wonderful." ~Alex N.

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WHAT'S ELSE IS GOING ON?

Puffy Kachula - A Cozy & Functional Blanket Ready for It All

Our friends over at Coalatree are at it again! This time with the amazing Puffy Kachula Blanket. Made from recycled materials the puffy is virtually waterproof and stain proof. Get yours now!

 

https://www.indiegogo.com/projects/puffy-kachula-a-cozy-functional-outdoor-blanket-camping-travel/x/14870224

Update and Giving Thanks
over 6 years ago – Tue, Nov 21, 2017 at 12:03:09 AM

Hey Everybody!

Many of you signed up for this journey because you love the process of Kickstarter and the collaborative creation of something new. You appreciate the transparency and attempts to chronicle the wild, unforeseen, and unbelievable challenges a project like ours has had, and you've encouraged us to stick to the plan of creating an innovative quality product that we will all be proud of no matter the cost or wait.

On the other hand, there are some of you who are justifiably dizzy and nauseous from this wild ride and just want off this roller coaster as soon as possible. And we know you just want to get down to business: e.g. "Where's my &#%@ belt?!" 

...and, of course, there's everyone in between.

We totally get it. Who knows which camp we'd be in if we weren't directly involved with this thing.

We're VERY THANKFUL for each one of you all the same and wouldn't have this opportunity without you. Contrary to the old adage "you can't please everyone", this update is an attempt to do so to the best of our current ability. For the former folks, we'll offer the behind-the-scenes details at the end and for the latter, let's get straight to the facts first and then we have an offer you might be interested in (see Swap Option below).

THE QUICK FACTS

• We've shipped Cache Belts to over 1000 Backers so far.
• This recent buckle shipment arrived damaged from shipping and a VERY high unexpected QC rejection rate.
• The anticipated 3,750 buckles were reduced to approximately 800 "good buckles."
• The next batch of 6,250 buckles have already been stamped but are on hold. We are waiting for updated samples to give the go-ahead to continue assembly and plating. 

MORE FACTS

• Shipping damage resulted in 415 damaged buckles and 619 missing.
• The shipping damage occurred under the custody of FedEx and the appropriate actions have been taken for a remedy (sadly, this does not fix the damaged buckles, nor does it make the missing reappear).
• The main factor for the high QC rejection rate was small nicks and scratches on the material surface (details below).
• The manufacturer has been testing various changes to the production processes, including but not limited to: having all the raw metal sheets protected with a plastic layer, lower batch tumbling, smaller media during tumbling, post-polishing, post-sand blasting, and post-brushing the steel.
• We believe we have narrowed in on a cocktail of new protocols and processes that should curb most if not all of the defect issues.
• We are waiting for verification from the factory that all of our changes are scalable so that we can continue to scale batches while maintaining quality.
• We already have the next batch of 6,250 buckles stamped and on hold waiting for approval of the new processes. Of these, 1000 are already assembled.
• At this time, we do not have a new timeline that we can we can confidently pass along for this next batch but you can bet we are pushing extremely hard on all parties involved to hustle and work through validating these new systems.
• The first run was focused on only gray buckles for sake of expediting the production, but this next batch will be a combination of black and gray.
• It is possible that our rejected buckles might still serve some people's purposes and for this, we want to offer a compromise that we hope will make as many people as happy as possible. See below for details.

SWAP OPTION (Get It Sooner)

As you know Kickstarter is a crowdfunding project that was established to help a company turn an idea into a product. For our company, we want to strive for perfection. Our goal has always been to deliver a product we can be proud to put our name on, and especially now worth the extremely long wait.

However, given the circumstances and the open-nature of crowdfunding projects, we thought it would be proper to offer some of you a choice in the matter. A compromise between our definition of acceptable quality and your immediate needs for a buckle.

Our in-house QC failed an unexpectedly high number of the recently received buckles. Most of them could be considered cosmetic.

Below is a few examples of the reason the buckles were rejected. Due to the matte finish, the actual flaws may vary from what they look like in real life and from different angles. These images are meant only as a reference and cannot represent the full extent and severity of these blemishes. Assume they are more visible and look worst in person.

 

 

SO, HERE'S THE DEAL...

If for whatever reason you'd rather receive the buckle quickly in spite of its cosmetic characteristics, we will offer to ship your belt with one of these rejected buckles we currently have in stock. Please see stipulations below.

STIPULATIONS:

Officially speaking, we would not recommend that you opt for this option as we would rather the opportunity to deliver you the buckle at the quality we set out for from the beginning and one that you deserve. If no one chooses to take us up on this offer, that's perfectly OK. We are simply trying to make everyone happy and for some backers that might mean a preference to sacrifice aesthetic quality for immediate use.

Although we will assure that it is in 100% working order and will be properly plated, we cannot guarantee which flaw(s) and to what extent will appear on your rejected buckle. Be prepared for worst case scenario.

Sorry, but we will not be able to provide these as extras, freebies, or discounted items. It is not certain yet, but these rejects will likely be recycled or bought back by the factory to recoup costs.

Choosing this option means that you are opting to swap the future perfected buckle for a currently flawed buckle and this will count as the fulfillment of your pledge. Unfortunately, as items rejected for quality purposes, these buckles will not be backed with our Worry Less Lifetime Warranty. Our buckles are interchangeable so if you choose to purchase a buckle in the future, it will still work with your belt. Once all pledges have been fulfilled, we will be selling extra good buckles on our website.

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How To Swap To A Rejected Buckle

NOTE: ONLY fill this form out if you want to swap to a rejected buckle. 

NOTE: This is ONLY for the GRAY buckles. If your pledge still contains any black buckles we do not have any at this time and therefore cannot apply this option to your pledge.

1) Fill out this simple form with the same email address you used on your pledge: 

REJECT BUCKLE SURVEY

2) There is no 2... we are trying to make this easy!

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AND THE STORY CONTINUES...

If you have any friends that practice voodoo or know anyone that can remove curses, please have them work some magic for us. Stamping, bending, and plating metal parts is not a complex process in general, nor is it the most complex part of this Cache Belt. Luckily, we have Nick, a former rocket scientist, so we can insert with authority the "this ain't rocket science" joke here.  At this point, we're thankful this has been documented in the form of Kickstarter Updates, but boy do we wish a camera crew could have been making a reality show about this drama-filled fiasco.

Here's a recap of the most recent months:

6 Manufacturing companies, 4 sets of tooling, and 8 months of delay finally got us to an approved sample. Thumbs up were given to produce parts same as the sample. Manufacturing of 5000 Gray buckles began. 1250 of them were rejected by the manufacturers on our behalf (assumed to be good quality control on their end... whoops).  The remaining 3750 were late being produced but we stayed hopeful that we'd get them within a week and they'd be good to go! 

On the day it was scheduled for delivery, it never arrived. Tennessee warehouse said they shipped it to Texas. Tracking says it is in Texas warehouse. Texas warehouse said they didn't receive it. FedEx doesn't know where our 400 lb pallet of buckles is.

A day later, they arrive.

As the delivery guy begins unloading our pallet of buckles out of the truck. It's obvious, something is not right 

 

Imagine this: We're giddy, wearing silly hats, phones out ready to video this momentous moment, special homebrew in the fridge, and ready to celebrate the receipt of these long-awaited buckles. Only to find the boxes are exploded, plastic wrapped back together, buckles are in trash bags, and otherwise a hodge-podge into what vaguely resembles a shipment. Yet another gut punch! The beer is still unopened in the fridge.

"That's OK" we said... We designed these to be strong and durable. We opted for the more expensive PVD coating so it can withstand almost anything. We can still salvage this.... Right? It takes over a week and a half to inspect each and every one only to find out that in the end, we are actually missing 619 buckles.

On top of the damage and missing buckles, inspection reveals that these do not match the samples we approved. The buckles we were supposed to be sandblasted to remove material imperfections before plating. Apparently, this was changing dimensional tolerances and they claim it was actually warping buckles (yeah, I still don't understand what sort of rocket-powered sand blaster they were using that could warp parts, but I think I want one!) so they opted to remove that step without telling us.

After some long, heated discussions, they are finally working towards remedying the problem. We have been working with the factory to get this QC issue dramatically reduced. The major issue that we had to address (and apparently the factory did not recognize this as an issue) is that the tumbling process used to deburr the buckles was actually causing them to clash against each other, creating more dings and nicks on the surface. Most coatings cover the surface and act as fillers for small imperfections. Using a process like PVD that directly embeds into the metal surface means that it doesn't hide any flaws. The only solution is to remedy their flaws.  

This 2nd batch of 6250 buckles was made from a material that has a plastic protective layer to help prevent small surface imperfections and tool marks. They have also reduced the size of the media in the tumbling process and reduced the quantity of buckles per batch in the tumbler. The samples have shown great promise already in greatly improved the surface appearance and even cut down more on the edge burrs. 

As it stands right now we are waiting for all parties involved to complete their portion of the process on the samples to verify that the finished results match what we already approved months back. This should have happened last week, but it has been rolled into this next week. Once approved, the 5,000+ already stamped pieces will go through the processes of small batch tumbling, PVD coating, and then shipped to us. We pressed them for a timeline, and have not been able to get anything we can hold them to. Standby for updates with batch 2 as soon as we get them.

THANK YOU!

We know we've said this a lot, but truly we're not sure we could have persevered all these continual holdups and letdowns without your support. We really appreciate the personal notes we receive every now and again. Here's some we got along the way with some of the first reviews of the Cache Belt:

"As a retired engineer from PENNZOIL and living very nearby your office from time to time, I cannot tell you how many late deliveries I have had to deal with over the years. It makes us wanna cry sometimes.

However, I am retired and do truly understand your delivery issues. I just want to provide a comment of support and best wishes with this project.

(Note) If you did take off with the cash to a Caribbean destination, I probably would not blame you for that. Houston has just gotten sorta wet and nasty lately and getting away is exactly what I used to do!"

~Steve K. (Everett, WA)

"I know you have received some good positive support, with the negative and I just wanted to add myself to former. Thank you for you for being so translucent with everyone, sticking to the regular updates, even when all you may have had to update everyone with was ‘we are still working hard,’ and for not compromising the design to get the product rushed to us. I’d be lying if I said I am not eagerly awaiting your product, and that I have not been disappointed with the delays, but thanks for the effort."

~Adam P. (Chicago, IL)

"I received my cache belt a couple days ago and love it so much that I bought another for my sister. Thank you for making such a useful product."

~ Teresa C. 

"After a long wait (due to a vendor issue) I received my Cache Belt and I have to say the quality is spot on. Very nice materials, very robust looking but still very minimal. I think this will make an excellent addition to my EDC gear!"

~K Durahm

"I finally got my hands on this belt and it has been worth the wait. The buckle is solid, the quality of the belt is first rate, and I am thrilled with this product. Wazoo has always offered great customer service and great products, and this is yet another example of their quality and workmanship."

~ John

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You might be interested in what our friends at Grim Workshop are doing. They have 8 days left on their Kickstarter for their zipper pulls. These, as well many of their other products actually fit inside our Cache Belt nicely.

Grim Everyday Carry Zipper Micro Tool System

 

Ship Happens!
over 6 years ago – Fri, Oct 27, 2017 at 06:33:02 PM

Sayonara suckers!

WAIT WAIT! Just kidding!

Not with that kind of ship...

A few people have accused us of absconding to a tropical paradise with all y'alls hard-earned cash. (Covertly hidden in our coveted Cache Belts, we presume.) 

Nope! We're here, and we're getting ship-faced!

The first 3,700 Gray buckles just arrived at Wazoo HQ this week. Our in-house quality check is rejecting WAY more than we anticipated and as such is taking longer than anticipated, however, we know the more important question you have is...

Are you shipping me?

Well, not sure if we are shipping YOURS right now, but we have begun shipping and we will get to you as soon as we can! Promise.

The second batch of Black and Gray are already being stamped out and should be off to the plating shop around the end of the month. Once plated they should be arriving here around the middle of November.

Be Alert

Things are going to move quickly! Please pay attention to your email over the next 4 weeks. You will be receiving a 48-hour notification email before we ship your order. NOTE: receiving this email does not mean your order will ship within 48 hours, it means you have 48 hours to verify all your information is correct before we lock it down. Please don't make us ship your belt to the wrong place!

If you're excited and want to get a head start on this, that's fine. You'll still receive the email but won't have to take any action. Use the link below to access your survey and verify your shipping address.

Access your survey here: https://cache-belt.backerkit.com/

While you're in the system, please take the actual measurement around your waist to verify you have the correct size belt on order. The sooner we get these finalized, the smoother our shipping process will be.

***NOTE*** There will be a replacement fee for any size exchanges due to mis-measuring or assuming pant size instead of actually measuring - very sorry, but we have to. You have been warned.

Here is a size chart for your convenience.  These are the actual measurements of each belt type, not "pant size." Find your measured waist size and it will approximate how much tail you will have past the buckle. 

STANDARD CAM BUCKLES:

COBRA BUCKLES:

If you need to make any adjustments in your sizing contact us directly and we will update it form our end.

For all of you that have stuck by us for this long voyage... 

Thank you and Aloha!

~ The Wazoo Crew

You want the good news first?
over 6 years ago – Sat, Oct 07, 2017 at 12:49:20 AM

Good News :)

The first 5,000 buckles were stamped out and are at the platers in line to be plated with the PVD process. We're really excited about this PVD coating since it actually seems to embed Titanium alloy particles into the substrate of the material. Super cool futuristic space technology stuff! 

Bad News :( 

The QC team rejected 1,250 of the first batch of 5,000 buckles before they even made it to plating (yeah, we didn't anticipate that kind of failure rate either!). These 1,250 rejects have already been added to the next batch of stamping that is in progress, and are scheduled to be finished by the end of this month and then sent to the platers too.

Good News :)

This should mean that they are doing a great job maintaining our quality standards to give you all the best possible product. 

Bad News :(

This still means that our first batch of 5,000 buckles will be reduced to 3,750 and that's assuming that none of them are rejected after the PVD process.

Good News :)

There are still 3,000+ Cache Belts that are planned to be in backers' hands by the end of the month! *Don't roll your eyes, this is going to happen. You will get your belt, we promise!

Bad News :(

I almost wish we weren't so transparent with the timelines given to us from the manufacturers because it is so predictable that they'll fail. We originally anticipated having the buckles in-hand this week, but in the typical fashion of this cursed buckle, we lost 2 more weeks from a longer than expected QC process and a delayed shipment from the stampers to the platers. 

Good News :)

At least this is more along the lines of a run-of-the-mill mistake too often made by manufacturers instead of the gross negligence and fraud we have dealt with from our previous manufacturer. Yes, at this point, our scale of judging mistakes has become morbidly skewed. 

Bad News :(

We know that most of you appreciate the honesty and transparency we pass on through these updates, but we also know there's an angry mob with pitchforks and torches that will flood our inbox in response to this update. Why don't we just lie or fudge the info? I guess we're gluttons for punishment!

Good News :) 

This is the end of the update so you don't have to keep reading in this ridiculous format!

Thanks for keeping the patience! You'll be happy to know that your Belts and their Companions have been patiently waiting too.

Quick Update & Feature In A Survival Game!
over 6 years ago – Tue, Sep 19, 2017 at 06:22:52 AM

Hey Backers!

Just want to keep you in the loop...

Cobras

Most of the Cache Belts with Cobra Buckles have been shipped. This does not include Cache Belts with Cobra Buckles that were pre-ordered alongside standard Cache Belts or backers that have made recent changes to their pledges.   

If you're located internationally (outside the U.S.) you might notice that your tracking is routed through Germany. It's weird, but DHL routes all parcels initially to its Frankfurt, Germany sorting facility.

Production

The first 5,000 buckles have already been stamped out and are being followed by a second batch and are in the process of being plated using the PVD process mentioned in the previous update. 

By the way, wear-and-tear testing, saltwater submersion testing, etc have all validated that the PVD coatings have proven to be a great choice. It is tough!

We have already prepped most of the Cache Belts so that when the buckles finally arrive, we will simply attach them to the belt, put them in the box along with any other items, and ship them out to you, our patient backers.

The Cache Belt included in a board game?!

Yep!

Our friends at Conflicted: The Survival Card Game have recently launched their new game on Kickstarter!

You know what's really cool?! They're going to include the Cache Belt as a chance card or equipment card! 

They've already reached their initial $35,000 goal!

CLICK BELOW to see their epic promo video and details:

https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/1212939996/conflicted-survive-the-apocalypse?ref=1pc218

Thanks

...for your constant support, patience, and positivity! We never imagined that this project timeline could get this derailed from just 1 fraudulent supplier. We're back on track and set to be done soon. We appreciate you staying on this train with us!

If, for any reason, you need to get in touch. Please don't hesitate:

[email protected]

(281) 846-4633

~ Dustin and the Wazoo Crew