Klymit Lightweight Camping Bed in Realtree Camo
- February 19, 2016
- By Brian Lovett
- Products
Competitive markets often spawn imitation. Fortunately for campers, Klymit avoids the easy road and creates products that speak for themselves — and keep folks warm and comfortable.
The Centerville, Utah, company manufactures high-performance sleeping pads, sleeping mats and other camping/backpacking gear, and it makes sure consumers can rely on its gear in the field.
“Our products go beyond just what the marketing says,” said Matthew Maxfield, director of operations and development for Klymit. “It actually performs in real-life conditions. It keeps you comfortable after a long day on the trail (and) lets you rest easy day after day on the hunt, knowing that you won’t worry about it going flat on you. As a company, we are all users of our product. Every one of our pads, before hitting the market, goes through rigorous user testing, cycle-inflate and drop testing, and many others all with the goal of providing the highest performing products.”
That process isn’t always easy, as product developers must often take a fresh look at problems and their methods to ensure they’re creating top-quality gear.
“On the research and development front, we never want to be a me-too company launching product,” Maxfield said. “When we research and develop new products, we start from the ground up and look at the problems of current systems, and we don’t constrain ourselves with the status quo. We like to think of it as part engineering, part outdoorsmen and a little bit of mad scientist to come up with the best performing gear. We are comfort innovators looking to enhance our users’ experiences in the outdoors. User feedback is critical to our constant refining of our product line. We aren’t scared of change. If there are things we’re hearing that can make us better, you’d better believe we take that seriously.”
Maxfield isn’t kidding. He said the company collects customer feedback via several methods to be certain they’re meeting consumer demand. The resulting dialogue also helps spread brand awareness.
“Klymit is very active in the social media marketing,” he said. “We get great content from our user base, which helps us to tell our story. We also will have a new website launching this spring to help showcase our products and tell our story. We certainly use the traditional arenas for spreading brand awareness, but we also look to a great grass-roots marketing base through word of mouth, scout troops using the products and getting in front of many consumers. We are quite active in setting up booths at events, shows and even at our retailers’ stores to help spread the word about Klymit. There is nothing better than being able to get someone who has never lay on one of our sleeping pads to try it and see for themselves how comfortable they are.
“Sleep is important, and we believe that you can sleep comfortably on the ground. We focus on being not only comfortable to sleep on but extremely rugged and lightweight so you can take it wherever your adventure goes.”
Currently, Klymit makes two sleeping pads — the Static V and Insulated Static V — and two sleeping bags — the KSB 20 and KSB 0 — in Realtree Xtra. Maxfield said camouflage dressing on camping gear is a natural fit the company has always wanted to pursue.
Honestly, a sleeping pad in camo doesn’t have a huge functional benefit, because you’re sleeping on it, so it’s a lifestyle statement with a definite cool factor,
It’s a great pattern and gives the pad a great look. Our opinion is, why not? We are hunters and love anything that comes in Realtree, so it was a natural thought to make a Realtree camo color option. It was a tough choice to finalize which pattern we would launch with, but we went with one that would satisfy the most hunters’ needs.
— Matthew Maxfield, Director of Operations and Development for Klymit
Of course, there was never any doubt as to which camouflage designer would best suit Klymit products.
It’s great to be a licensee of Realtree,
There is value in partnering with such a recognizable camo company. There is benefit in being able to tell consumers that we offer Realtree as an option. We have started showing off the pads at some of the trade shows we have been at, and the feedback has been great. Customers love the Xtra on the Static V sleeping pad and KSB sleeping bags. We see this as just the starting point. We have lots of great new products we want to launch, and having Realtree as a licensing partner is strategic for us, and we feel that we represent Realtree by creating high-quality products
— Matthew Maxfield, Director of Operations and Development for Klymit
For more information visit www.klymit.com, or email [email protected] | call 801-647-7189.
What are you doing to put your products and services in front of this huge group of 21 million hunting enthusiasts? If you’d like to explore new avenues, Realtree can help. Check out these case studies of companies who have expanded their distribution and sales through the power of licensing with Realtree. If you’d like to do the same get in touch with us and let’s talk.