taras0000

In my experience in searching out custom gear makers, if you're going to have a one-off item made, it will cost you. I also found out that when it comes to custom made items, you will invariably find out that you would change one thing or another, or realize you forgot about something you wanted to incorporate. It's best to find a product that is quite similar to what you would design, use that, then figure out what changes you would make after you've used it for a while. The first go around tends to be sacrificial if you are looking to perfect something to your liking, so I wouldn't spend too much until you're ready to finalize your design.

I ended up doing exactly this with a tent I used this summer for a hike. I couldn't find something I liked, so I approached a manufacturer about making a test sample for me. I wanted a pyramid style tent, but wanted it to be 8 sided instead of the usual 4. This allowed me to move the inner mesh tent around the perimeter, to change how it was situated vs. the door. I purposely left it basic, omitting things like inner pockets for organizing small items out of the design because I couldn't figure out exactly how I wanted to incorporate those as well as other things. Now that I've used it on a solo trip, and had 7 days to think about these things, I know exactly what I want to do with my next design when it comes to making another pyramid tent, but I could only find those things out by using something that was close to what I thought I had wanted.