29 September 2024
Southland innovator’s bipod products gets ultimate SEAL of approval
A Southland engineer’s hunting rifle bipods have have been given the ultimate seal of approval after he received an order for his products from the US Navy – home of the Navy Seals.
Ethan Todd, entrepreneur and founder of Backlanz, a company that manufactures a range of innovative bipods and accessories, also won the NZAS Innovation in Export Award at the recent DHL Export Gala Dinner in Invercargill earlier this month.
Todd, a keen hunter and fisher, said he came up with the idea for lightweight rifle bipods in 2019 while out hunting one day and then put his design and engineering experience “to work”.
“When we first started there was a massive prototype phase and then I had something that was somewhat sellable.
“And then we went to a trade show here in New Zealand called the Sika Show and we actually sold out.
“So that’s we sort of cottoned on that we were onto a pretty good idea and then it all developed and evolved from that.”
Since then, Backlanz bipods have been attracting attention from all over the world, including “some really good interest out of the US”, he said.
“We got approached by an American company and they wanted to place an order for X amount and then I was like ‘just out of interest, where are these going to?’ and they said ‘ah, these are going to the US Navy for a trial’.
“We’re currently working with a US company to set up manufacturing on the ground in the United States and they’re going to sell them under licence.
“And we’ve also teamed up with a company in Spain who are distributing the product into Europe.”
Todd said his original bipod products were mainly aimed at the hunting sector, but his latest designs were targeted more towards “the law enforcement and military side of things”.
“Our key point of difference is they’re a fraction of the weight of any other bipods on the market because we’re using 3D printed titanium and carbon fibre and other lightweight materials.”
Todd, who works as a workshop manager for E-Type Engineering in Invercargill, said he ran Backlanz as a “part-time thing”, but was planning on taking the venture full-time in the near future.
“We’re going to our first US trade show in January in Atlanta, Georgia to the Dallas Safari Convention which is a massive trade show for the hunting sector over there, so that’s going to be pretty cool.
“And then we’ve potentially got another trade show in February as well, so we’ve got plenty going on next year.”
Nowadays, with a full-time job, a burgeoning “part-time” business and two young children, Todd said he doesn’t get the chance to go out hunt using his own bipods as much as he used to.
“(Hunting) used to be a weekly thing, but now it’s more like an every couple of months thing if I’m lucky,” he laughed.
Source: The Press – 29 September 2024