Crux Moves: Overcoming Initial Challenges in Production

The Breakthrough—and the Breakdown

Kim from The Crag in Nashville called with an exciting opportunity. They wanted a special deal on Porta-Hangs for their gym during lockdown. At this point, we had raised our price to $50 per set, and this was a chance we couldn’t pass up. We sent out an email, and within hours, we sold 50 sets—nearly double the total we had made up until that point.

The Buzz

Instagram was on fire. Our tags were hitting the mark, and a well-known outdoor journalist with 60,000 followers called Porta-Hang “the perfect invention for COVID.” His endorsement sent a wave of traffic to the website, and sales exploded. In fact, demand was so high I had to temporarily limit sales just to keep up.

Everything seemed to be falling into place. But then disaster struck.

The Flaw

It started with those first 50 sets. Customers began reporting issues when using certain holds—usually taller holds further from the base.  The Porta-Hang snapped in half. 

I was devastated. These were supposed to be tested and ready, so what had gone wrong? For a moment, it felt like the whole venture was over before it truly began. I vividly remember lying on the couch, crushed, wondering if this was the end.

That’s when my wife stepped in and asked, “Do you want to fix this?” 

“Yes,” I said, even though I was drowning in defeat.

“Then get back in the garage and figure it out,” she replied. Her belief in me was the push I needed to snap out of it and get to work.

Fixing the Problem

I dove headfirst into solving the problem. The issue, as it turned out, was with the metal bolt embedded in the resin mold. While this design made it easier to attach holds, flexing caused the bolt to stress and ultimately crack the surrounding plastic.

The solution? After dozens of trial-and-error experiments, I realized the fix was simple: drill the hole after curing and then insert the bolt. This small change eliminated the weak point and created a much stronger product.

I didn’t stop there. I tracked down every customer who had received one of the flawed sets and sent them replacements. It was a humbling experience, but it also taught me an invaluable lesson: never cut corners on testing again.

This was one of the most challenging moments of the Porta-Hang journey. But through perseverance and support, I turned a disaster into an opportunity to improve—and to build trust with my customers.