Chinese g7 pod ?

I feel like we could get that thing out of china for less than 100$.... did anyone already looked into it or found a similar type of durable mattress that could easily be modified to add a suspension system ?  Dont get me wrong i fully respect g7 and what they have done to put it on the market but.... 2000$ to sleep 2 person on inflatable mattresses....

J D wrote:

I feel like we could get that thing out of china for less than 100$.... did anyone already looked into it or found a similar type of durable mattress that could easily be modified to add a suspension system ?  Dont get me wrong i fully respect g7 and what they have done to put it on the market but.... 2000$ to sleep 2 person on inflatable mattresses....

 

Plus:

• Significantly less fatigue hauling the portaledge, especially worth it on high altitude climbs
• Potentially more insulation under your compressed sleeping bag - this is my assumption but I believe there will be some R value with the air gap. Again, worth it on high altitude climbs

The pod is not an equivalent to a standard frame so the price difference is irrelevant. Are the features worth it to you or not is the only criteria for judging the price.

And, regarding finding a Chinese durable mattress and modding it - after you've figured out how to do that for yourself and not have any more faliures while on a wall, how much would you charge to do it again for other people who expect to survive on a high wall?

G7 is located in one of the most expensive parts of Canada. Canada is in a cost of living death spiral. Talented young Canadians can't afford to stay in their beautiful home country (myself included). I bet that significant chunk of the cash you poney up for a pod goes directly into a landlord's pocket and a great deal of the remainder feeds the grocery monopoly.

In a different country they could probably afford to charge a little less and reinvest a slice into developing new products. In Canada this is was subsistence pricing looks like these days. 

Grade 7 is a far from a perfect company..

I ordered a Pod and Fly (at the old price) back in spring.. took 6wks to get the Pod and I still haven’t received the fly (eta is now spring ‘24) 

Sure- the price is high for “what it is” but it took a whole lot of research, development. risk and Balls to bring this product to market- a market that really only has Portaledges from Black Diamond and Metolius in it- both are 20+ pounds for a team of 2.. 

personally I like that G7 is out there trying to inovate and I’m happy help them by buying their products

(Yes- I’m aware that Durango and maybe Aideer are making 1-off to-order ledges- and apparently Edelrids Vapor-Ledge has been spotted in the wild)

Kev, usually astute, might be off here - I suspect the op-ed is well served.......framed portaledges can be made pretty light, a la run out customs style, and the feedback from POD owners has been dismal in Yosemite.....sure, you wanna walk back to Quarter Dome and start climbing and topout the next day, camp wherever you want, there could be nothing better than an inflatable ledge but for most folks they need some comfort in bigwall sleep and the POD doesn't seem to give that, just 'making it to the morning' and that's only fine on the most alpine of walls

Ive slept on a g7 pod and found it comfortable thats not the issue for me, i totally agree that its no substitute for a solid ledge, for me its for thoses trips where I expect to be sleeping on ledges, im bringing a sleeping pad anyways, might as well bring one that i can hang so its level and not sliding on a sloping ledge all night, plus if the ledge is busy you have options.  What kept me up all night was more why would a team of 2 spend 3000$ (2 pods + fly + taxes) for this... like what are the amazing features that people see in the POD to make it worth that much... is it the little pocket for your phone ?! Its really just a mattress with durable fabric and 3 loops of webbing... 

Im looking for an horizontal baffles type of mattress, will just glue some 1000d fabric on the side and loop some webbing exactly in the same spots as the POD,

Someone suggested trying to add some type of rigid flat plastic type of spreader bars that you could slide on the webbing under the mattress just to help it keep its shape a little bit, seems like an idea worth trying, anyways this is more the kind of responses i was looking for, the kind of constructive helpful ideas

Does it really looked that hard to make something similar as this ? Am i missing some obvious details you think ? 

https://www.grade7.com/cdn/shop/files/20201201_POD_and_STORM_SHELTER_product_page_images-03_1080x.png?v=1614341652

In case you haven't seen this.... with the right pad you are possibly approaching similar comfort levels at a tiny fraction of the price? mountainproject.com/forum/t…

New video from today, speak of the devil...https://youtu.be/qaDlatYjUqw?si=9vo3RbsUO71qm88G

The cost of bringing a product to market is far greater than the cost of the materials to produce the product.  Prototyping is insanely expensive with zero guarantee of recouping any associated costs.  
Small time producers who invest their time and money into innovative new gear in an industry ruled by global conglomerates are the foundation of the sport.
Independent producers should be applauded and supported whenever possible. It’s often the case that the big producers simply can’t innovate like the one man company can. Big companies are less likely to take the risks often associated with innovation. 
The guy in his garage making gear is the soul of climbing gear innovation. Admittedly,  I’m extremely biased in this regard…. *Wink*

It's wild that the price went up so much. Almost double if I'm not mistaken. I pre ordered their back pack over 2 years ago and it still hasn't shipped. They keep delaying it due to materials or something. The last photo they sent made it look not as good as the prototypes as well. I ended up getting my rainfly from another brand as they've been sold out of that for years too. 

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=d0nERTFo-Sk

... at the end of the video:

”the ideas of economists and political philosophers, both when they are right and when they are wrong, are more powerful than is commonly understood. Indeed the world is ruled by little else. Practical men, who believe themselves to be quite exempt from any intellectual influences, are usually the slaves of some defunct economist. “ -JMK

I strongly dislike Keynes, but the quote is relevant... he is the defunct economist after all, whose ideas are used by governments to justify printing and spending to an insane degree and then acting surprised when the very logical results of these actions occur.