Weber County man designs water-purifying hiking stick and brings it to market | News, Sports, Jobs

SOUTH OGDEN — The eureka moment for Kyle Stringham came when he helped lead a group of Boy Scouts on a long trek through the Idaho woods.

They were on a break and he was helping clean the river water with a portable purifier so the boys had something to drink. As fast as he and another scout leader could pump the water through the purification system, however, they would swallow it.

In that moment of exasperation, a jumble of backpacks piled up along the trail, inspiration struck. “I look at my (walking) stick and I have this idea,” he said from his office in South Ogden.

Fast forward six years, and the mortgage banker and daytime loan officer has found a solution to the situation he was facing – PurTrek, a hiking stick that doubles as a water filtration system. Now he is striving to promote it, to drive sales, to play a part in growing the burgeoning outdoor industry in the Ogden area.

He gained support from a Northern Utah business accelerator and mentorship program, RAMP, which is sponsored by the Utah Advanced Materials and Manufacturing Initiative, or UAMMI, and the Office of Economic Opportunity of governor. Last June, ISPO, an organization based in Munich, Germany, which promotes sports enterprises, announced that PurTrek had been nominated for an ISPO Award, intended to recognize innovative new sports equipment.

“Its innovative design creates efficiency, simplicity, weight savings and improved survival safety for occasional and experienced hikers and backpackers,” reads an ISPO text about the product. Users dip one end of the walking stick into a river, stream, or lake, activate a manual pumping mechanism at the top of the pole, and suck water through a filter at the top of the device, clean and ready to drink. .

The ISPO recognition “really validates your product,” said Stringham, who grew up in Ogden and goes outdoors with his family as much as he can. Its water purifier, he continued, will help hikers have a better time in nature. “It increases the quality of your adventure because you’re effectively hydrating,” he said.

The product is on sale online for $189.99 for a pair of poles – one with the water purification system, one without – and Stringham, who has found a manufacturer in China, is contacting wholesalers and retailers to market their product. It is also looking for partners willing to invest in PurTrek. “Now we are looking for our first major capital injection,” he said.

Noting the ISPO recognition, UAMMI, which helped Stringham solve a technical problem while fine-tuning his product, praised him for contacting the organization for assistance, underscoring the goal of the RAMP program. “This is a great testament to how the RAMP program benefits entrepreneurs and positions them to utilize Utah state support programs,” UAMMI said.

As a product developer going it alone, Stringham also stressed the importance of tapping into mentorship programs. “For entrepreneurs, don’t go it alone. The reality is that I needed to get as much help as possible and talk to as many people as possible. he said.

Still, the road has been bumpy at times and getting to this point has taken a lot of sweat, tears and money out of his own pocket, Stringham said. He retained his primary role in mortgage banking, although he would be happy to focus solely on PurTrek if the situation allowed. “There must be something to pay the bills,” he said.

‘M. REPAIR IT

After that first eureka moment with the Boy Scouts of Idaho, Stringham, a self-proclaimed “gear junkie,” set about designing his hiking pole/water purifier, initially using plastic tubing. copper to descend the model. He went through more than 30 versions and a model that appeared in 2018, which he hoped was the finished product, failed.

This sent it back to the drawing board. “If something is broken, there is always a way to fix it. I’ve always been Mr. Fix-It,” he said, also noting his father’s engineering background.

UAMMI helped him with a design change that strengthened the poles and his finished product officially launched last March, according to ISPO. He had long dreamed of starting his own business and creating products, Stringham said, and given his love of the outdoors, PurTrek allows him to combine some of the things that inspire him the most.

“I’ve always felt a sense of calm when I’m outside,” he said.

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