Sparking an idea.

I’ve been crazy about nature and the thrill of the hunt for as long as I can remember. I came to Quebec, Canada in 1999 to advance my industrial design career and instantly started enjoying the wilderness of the province. It didn’t take long to realize I needed to buy some proper gear. Being new to Canada I wanted to support a Canadian company and find apparel that would last. That’s when I discovered Tough Duck.

A few years ago, I was on a hunting trip in the northern part of Quebec with my favorite Tough Duck overalls and a design friend that owns a hunting cabin that’s been in his family for generations. We were trying to cook up some of the game we hunted but ran out of propane. I remember seeing a YouTube video on how you can use a Swedish log technique called the “Swedish Torch” to get a fire going and decided to give it a try. Unfortunately, the logs kept falling apart and I couldn’t get it lit. Dinner that night wasn’t the best but it sparked an idea that would help people start cooking fires in the wilderness without all the typical pieces.

It took a few weeks for me and my design team to create and test several prototypes before we completed the design of our MITI-001. A cooking tool on a split log. I never thought I’d end up starting a company in 2014 that would not only combine the two things I love; being outside and creating but that my promotional videos would end up being seen well over 150 million times and counting. One even went viral when George Takei shared it on his social media channels.

I’ve now designed eight products with the last one just being released. It will be fun to watch how many views the new video will get. Especially, since I’ve had the opportunity to wear some of my favorite Tough Duck clothing in it.