Take Shelter with Ryan Hipwood at Peahi

The crew at Take Shelter Productions were going off with Pro Standard pro Ryan Hipwood last week in Hawaii at Peahi on Maui. Thanks to Albee Layer and Dan Norkunas. If you aren't following Take Shelter, get on it you'll be glad you did.
Get Stoked!

Beachbreak Barrel with Peter Katkov and His Grill Mount in Baja

Peter dropped this video from his trip to Baja. Put Pro Standard Grill Mount in the title of your video so we can find yours.
Stoked on this wave, thanks for the post.

Ken

National Geographic Adventure Buyers Guide Features The Grill Mount

Years ago one of my photos of the then 14 year old Terje Haakonsen cranking a textbook invert at The Camp of Champions was slated for a cover of Nat Geo Kids. Unfortunately the photo was lost in the mail somewhere between Burton Snowboards, Calgary, Whistler and where ever it was supposed to be so it never happened.

Terje Haakonsen 1992
at The Camp of Champions

Being a bit of a National Geographic geek, my collection starts in the early fifties, collected from parents, friends and all and sundry. It was always a great resource to see where we could go on a snowboard trip or adventure when we were looking for somewhere we hadn't thought of or didn't know we were looking for. Or maybe it was just the brown wrapper in came wrapped in....

Needless to say, you can then understand how I was really stoked to find our Grill Mount in the National Geographic Adventure Buyers Guide.

Having designed the Grill Mount to be so much more than a GoPro mouth mount, it made us really stoked to be included.

When we were first conceiving what we wanted the Grill Mount to become, have the ability to do and be, the first thing we came up with was that we really wanted it to be was for it to become "That One GoPro Accessory", that accessory that if you were only allowed to bring one, the Grill Mount would be "The One" that you took on your trip because it was small, light, multi purpose and useful in so many ways.

Having said that, it makes us so proud to be included in National Geographic Buyers Guide.

Thanks Steve, Thanks Nat Geo.


Ken

Kite Surfing With The Grill Mount

Lance Kenny from Perth, Australia, has been a big supporter and user of the Pro Standard Grill Mount since we launched. He seems to have as much fun as humanly possible at almost all times. That gets us stoked. Here's Lance taking his Grill Mount out for a kite surf.

Not Just a Repurposed Snorkel Mouth Piece

When I first started thinking about the design of a surfing mouth mount for my GoPro, I was in Bali with my wife and kids on a 5 month sabbatical from real life. The days were spent having fun in the water with my wife and kids, enjoying Bali, making new friends and of course surfing as much as possible and getting photos and videos so that down the road we would remember it.

@beefsofficial - Catch Surf

Once I got back and got together with Greg, one of the first designs we tried was repurposing a snorkel mouth piece as the "Bite". We quickly decided we didn't like the feel, the breathing or the ability to talk when we had it in our mouth. The quest to "make something better, that has never been made before" was on. 

@coastalbrandon

We put so much time in on the design. We wanted a timeless part that was a mount that the more you used it the more you would appreciate the design and function. When we were doing the preliminary design and research we had surfers, dentists, orthodontists, mouth guard manufacturers, 3D printing gurus, CAD designers and more weighing in on the design and how best to make the fit, feel and utility what we wanted.

@RyanHipwood

We wanted it to be so much more than that first snorkel mouth piece that we had tried and knew everyone else was going to use because "it worked" We wanted something that was a lot better than something the was chosen just because it was easy and "it worked". After nine generations of 3D printed prototypes that went around the world, we had the design that checked out on all our design parameters. Fit, feel, customization, breathability, duck dive performance, switching from mouth to hand mid wave performance, the ability to talk with it in, the ability to paddle hard with it in with being able to keep the mount in your mouth with only having to apply minimal pressure, the ability to use it out of the water as a handle and as a tripod or hook and the ability to fold it and put it in your pocket when not in use.

Michi Prado

It ended up taking us 6 months longer than we thought to get the Grill Mount in stores because we were such picky bastards on design and quality control.  We wanted the seam on the side as small as possible because the the super slight bump, had us worried for when you've been in the water for three or four hours and your hands are really soft and that "nothing" bump suddenly feeling like a razor on your now soft hands. That one change that the factory said was going to be four days turned into three weeks. 

Chris Hauswirth

Anyway... judging from the feedback from surfers, bodyboarders, travelers, SUP'ers, brands, team managers, contest pros, photographers, athletes, stores, distributors and everyone else, the time we spent to make a timeless mount was worth it. 

@CoastalBrandon 

Thanks for taking our Grill Mount with you on your adventures around the world.

Ken and Greg.

Chris Hauswirth

Volcom Pro, Gavin Beschen, Using The Grill Mount In Hawaii

Long time Volcom surfer Gavin Beschen has been a legend forever and it makes us really stoked that he uses the Pro Standard Grill Mount. Here's a view from one of his barrels yesterday. Everyone should have a North Shore shack where they can hang out in. Thanks to Volcom, Pete Hodgson and GoPro. #truetothis +Sector9Media +Volcom tpattersonsurfboards

Ryan Hipwood and Shock Mansion "Can't Hold A Good Man Down"

Tom Butler Surfing, Sebastian Steudtner, Darrick Doerner, Keoni Watson... big wave surfers are all over the Grill Mount. Here's a cool clip on Ryan Hipwood, a member of the Pro Standard crew from Shock Mansion - "You Can't Hold A Good Man Down"

Johnny Redmond and VonZipper

Johnny Redmond surfs for our brothers at Catch Surf and Von Zipper.
This just posted up on VonZipper's site today.  Stoked.
Thanks for the love.
Ken

Multi Angle GoPro Mouth Mount

Never Get Old
No matter how awesome an angle is that you can get with a mount, if it's the only angle you can get with the mount, the angle is going to get old. It's why when we conceived the Grill Mount, we wanted a multi angle mount so we wouldn't get bored of the same-o same-o. The first proto we made was a snorkel mouth piece mounted to a GoPro. It worked, we messed with going into production on it but we realized we could do so much better and came up with the Grill Mount. Nine generations of 3D printed prototypes later... The Grill Mount was finished. Since June it has been on store shelves and pro surfers mouths. Get your mount, mold it up to your teeth, go surfing /fishing/hiking and change your angles... You footage will never get old.

Ryan Hipwood was a big part of the testing of the Grill Mount at amazing surf spots around the world. What he liked about it was... everything. Ryan surfs for Milwaukee Tools, Isuzu, DHD Surfboards, Monster Energyhttp://www.monsterenergy.com/ca/en/sports/surfing/ and FCS.

Here's Ryan Hipwood at Teahupo'o, Tahiti... not getting old.

What Happen When You Fall On Your Face - Does It Rip Your Teeth Out?

When we started prototyping the Grill Mount we went with an international test crew consisting of Tom Butler, Keoni Watson, Keoni Jones, Raph Bruhwiler and Ryan Hipwood as well as numerous other big wave surfers and freesurfers to be our prototype enjoyers and destroyers. We tested in Hawaii, Indo, Bali, Australia, Portugal, France and Tahiti because we figured they could put the Grill Mount through it's paces in those places and test it as hard as they could possible test it. They said when they crashed on their face on the face, they didn't even notice it was there because it didn't move due to the solid connection between their molars and the mount as well as the stiff poly carb construction. Due to the molded mouth guard style fit that is custom fit to your teeth, on a stiff spine that holds your camera, the way it locks into your teeth and doesn't flex, it keeps it away from your chin, keeps it from ripping your teeth out and keeps the mount from coming out. The lack of flex also keeps your footage smoother. Check a Grill Mount out, you'll be stoked on the difference hell men, engineering, science, orthodontists, 7 generations of 3D printed prototypes and almost year of prototype testing make to the final product. 
Ken

Chris Monroe... testing.

Learning Surf Photography Unboxes their Grill Mount The GoPro Mouth Mount

Ben at Learning Surf Photography.com just dropped this clip on unboxing the Grill Mount GoPro Mouth Mount. He makes a very good point. Because of the rigid design, there is none of the bouncy flexy footage that you get from a rubber snorkel style mount. Grill Mount... mo betta.
Check it.

Climbing With The Grill Mount

Yeah... The Grill Mount is just for surfing... Not. Brandon Wright took his climbing. Hung it from his harness and put it in and out when ever he wanted to shoot.

GrindTV Lists The Grill Mount GoPro Mouth Mount as 1 of 5 Cool GoPro Accessories

Super stoked to see that GrindTV has The Pro Standard Grill Mount GoPro Mouth Mount listed as one of the "Five Cool GoPro Accessories" on their Gear page.  Thanks for the shout out GrindTV.

Best of all we are shipping Grill Mounts as of Wednesday.
Get stoked.
Ken

Explanation For The Delay In Shipping Your Grill Mount

Originally the Grill Mount was supposed to be shipping the first week of July but we underestimated how picky we were when it came to quality control. Have been the recipients of less than awesome products in the past, we didn't want to be the guys sending out something that we weren't totally stoked on.  We hoped that our customers would understand that our desire for a part as perfect as we could make it would overcome the disappointment at receiving the Grill Mount so much later than originally promised.

It's been an adventure that's for sure. As it's our first product we wanted to make sure that we had it as perfect as possible. The mold that had to be made was rather complex as other than where you bite, there isn't really a straight line on the Grill Mount. It wasn't a big deal when we were 3D printing each part and then taking them to Hawaii to test. We did find out though that "No straight lines" makes for a harder mold build and as we found out, a bit of room for different issues.

The first batch had an issue with the polycarbonate arms bending up when the EVA was overmolded onto the polycarbonate. The heat from the molten EVA was changing the way the polycarb flexed.

Once we fixed that, the next issue was that the EVA over molding has to match the finished size of the polycarbonate. As the finished size can vary due to the shrinkage that happens as  the polycarb sets, the mold for the EVA had to be adjusted to make it mate up perfectly.

The third batch had a slight issue with shrinkage in so far as it wasn't shrinking as much around the nut as was forecast so we had to adjust the mold there. While the mold maker was adjusting the mold for that we had them fix the seams and injection mark to make them as small as possible so there would be as little "edge seam sharpness" to bother your hand when it has gone soft from being in the water for hours and hours.

We are pretty sure that this batch that is due to arrive the end of August has everything nailed and we can finally ship you our pride and joy.

We're picky bastards and we apologize. It's been driving us as nuts as I'm sure our delays have been driving you nuts. I know from talking to more than a few you that a lot of you are waiting for for your Grills for an epic Mentawai session. Hopefully the Grill Mount can make it onto your trips so you get the magic moments you are looking for to back up a lifetime of stories down at the pub and around the campfire.

The photos in this post are from the first three batches. The final ones are even better.

Anyway... to make a long story short, we don't want to send any thing out that isn't as perfect as we can make it because we want you to experience awesomeness. You have our deepest apologies at the length of time it's taken to get the Grill Mount to you.


Ken and Greg

Share What You Are Up To This Weekend and Win a Grill Mount

@keonibalonii duckdiving with the Grill Mount. Seal off the Free Flow Breathing Channel with your lips for a perfect seal and a normal feel. Want to win a Grill Mount? Post up a photo on to your Instagram profile showing what you are up to this weekend, hashtag it #getstoked and #theprostandard and we will randomly pick a winner on July 1st. 

Keoni Jones Interview in GhettoJuiceMag.com

Vissla Clothing and Vertra Sunscreen sponsored pro Keoni Jones has been a big part of the launch of the Pro Standard Grill Mount and we're stoked to see the publicity he's been getting lately.
Here's a link to an interview in Ghetto Juice Mag
Get Stoked.

Explanation of the delay in shipping the Grill Mount.

I thought I would post up on what the delay is on shipping the parts.

We shot the first test Grill Mounts from the molds on Monday and found that the heat generated in the production was curving the arms of the mount. We went back into the mold and added a little pin on the end of each bite pad so that when the EVA is shot onto the polycarbonate body, the arms don't curve up. The pin holds the end of the arm in place do it can't deflect when the heat is on. It will also get rid of the smiley face at the end of the EVA.



You can see the Extra Beef GoPro Mount that is a stock feature on all the parts we make. Yes... there is more cool stuff coming. It's at least three times as strong as a stock GoPro mount because the nut side takes the thickness of the nut pocket all the way into the tine. Perfect for Dungeons and Cortes Bank as well as epic sessions at Teahupoo.

The slight change has set us back a week and a bit, but we figure it's worth it. After this long in development we want it perfect. The colors you see are the food grade EVA and the food grade polycarb in the raw color. They add dyes to get it the color we want. All the material in the Grill Mount is "Food Grade" so you know there is no nasty chemicals in the part that could leach into your system during a long surf session.

The mold maker says he should have the changes done by Monday AM and we should be able to shoot the next test that day. If everything goes perfect we will drop in the right colors into the mix and press start on the injection molding machine and start pumping them out.

GoPro is celebrating their success with an IPO and we're celebrating our success with an IPA... or a Powder Mountain Lager.  You have to drink the beer that's named after your favorite catskiing resort... Powder Mountain Catskiing and Heliskiing

We should have parts by Friday and shipping the Monday after.

Sorry for the delay, quality takes time.
Ken, Greg, Matt

Win a Grill Mount @GoProOfTheDay on Instagram

If you want a chance to win a Grill Mount, jump on your Instagram and go to @goprooftheday and follow the instructions on how to enter. Free stuff doesn't get much easier.

Use Your Grill Mount As A Hook Mount

You can't shoot photos and video all the time, so we designed the Grill Mount to be easy to carry. Fold the Grill Mount closed and hang it from the edge of your pocket like Heidi DeGroot has done here. Juggling kids and chaos sometimes doesn't leave you a free hand to hold your GoPro, so hook it on a pocket.

The Hook ability of the Grill Mount is incredibly handy. You can hang your GoPro from pretty much anything and get a super stable shot for video or time lapse shots.

Order your Grill Mount at www.prostandard.com

Our First Print Ad - Freesurf Magazine

Our first print ad is going to drop in the next issue of Freesurf. We're stoked to be in Freesurf for our first ad as they have helped us so much with the launch of the Grill Mount. Also thanks to Vissla and Vertra athletes Keoni Watson and Keoni Jones as well as Freesurf photographer Sean Reilly, we couldn't have done it without you.

If you are waiting for your already ordered Grill Mount... they are scheduled to land at the beginning of the week and as soon as they hit our warehouse, they will hit the road on FedEx to your house.

If you haven't ordered yours yet, don't miss out of free shipping. If you pre-order a Grill Mount before we get them in, you get FREE SHIPPING in North America.

Order yours at ProStandard.com

How 3D Printing Let Us Create a Perfect Mouth Held GoPro Surf Mount

Keoni Watson is a big wave legend and our rep in Hawaii. He's also the Vissla and Catchsurf Rep. He's a rabid snowboarder so he fits right in with our crew. We couldn't have created the Grill Mount without him. He named it as well. Here he is testing a 3D printed prototype with Freesurf photographer Sean Reilly.

3D Printing let us sculpt the Grill Mount so that by the time we got to the final version, the 7th generation, the Grill Mount fits perfectly in your mouth and hand. Other than where your GoPro mounts to the Extra Beef Camera Mount, and where the heat moldable EVA is attached to the Grill Mount, I don't think there is a straight line on the mount. 

That's what we mean by sculpted. We'd imagine it in Illustrator, draw it in Solidworks, and then print it and go surfing and test it. 

The ability to take millimeters off the design here, add a millimeter there until it was exactly what we wanted, was what made the Grill Mount fit so well in your mouth and hand. It's by sculpting we got the fit and feel perfect where the mount rests between your fingers when you paddle and duckdive while filming your friends.  

The other good thing about 3D printing was we "had" to go to Hawaii to test each round of prototypes and our crew of pro surfers had to test each round in Bali, Pohnpei, Tofino and Australia to make sure the design changes did what we wanted, felt like we wanted and that the Grill Mount worked like we hoped, but in the real world.

It's amazing how 3D printing allows you to fine tune your creation so that when you build it you are stoked that it's as perfect as you can make it. We didn't just print it on any 3D printer, we partnered up with Camosun Technology Access in Victoria, BC to make our ideas real. From Illustrator to Solidworks to printing. Their lab has incredible $250,000 Stratasys Fortus 400 MC 3D printers that let us get the feel and function and material as close to the final product as humanly possible. I think in the end before we pressed "Go" we printed well over 100 prototypes. It took us longer than we thought to get the GoPro Surf Mount we now called the Grill Mount dialed but we know that once you try it, you'll feel where the time was spent.

3D printing is also great for letting you try ideas that never again see the light of day because they didn't work like we'd hoped, but at least we tested it so that when you get your Grill Mount you know that we've taken the design as far as possible then brought it back to what works and now you're getting the ultimate GoPro Surf Mount.

Super tech, super tested, super light, super rugged, multi functional and super dope. Order yours from ProStandard.com. All that tech is only 29.95.