MY STORY
DESIGNED OUT OF PASSION
The idea of the Opie Perch Pack was born out of passion while practicing freeflight outdoors...
Every time I went out with the birds I ran into the same problem. During outings we often walk with our birds through a meadow or another piece of nature. To take the birds with you on a walk through nature (if they are not flying for a while) you have a few options;
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1. You carry the birds in a dog bench
> this is heavy and a long walk is not possible
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2. You hold the birds in your hands
> after a while the muscles in your arms become overloaded, long walks is not an option and you have no hands free to do other things
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3. The birds on your shoulder
> they keep falling off because of the instability, they are hanging on your clothes and the nails in your shoulders are not the most pleasant thing
This is a recurring problem for many freeflighters and people who walk with harnessed birds. We take a standard or other attributes with us to let them rest on, but we also always have to carry them with us or you are obliged to stay in one spot. All in all, it's a hassle; standard, benches, and food & drinks for the birds.
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(eerste prototype)
THE SOLUTION
Because I often go out with a backpack, the idea arose in my head.
What if you now have a perch on your backpack, which your birds can sit on while you walk. No nails in your neck, birds sit comfortably as they are used to. And you have your hands free for your water, drink, camera etc.
In this position, they can fly away from the stick on your backpack and land on it when they return. This automatically forms a safe haven for the birds.
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To relieve myself and many others of this problem, I started building this solution. I started making a prototype myself and immediately tried it out. And as I expected, the birds saw the perch as a nice resting place. They loved to sit on it during a walk or stop and enjoy nature. And for myself, it was a relief and super fun to take them with me.
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Landing from a flight, is also flawless. Especially my Buffon 'Opie' flies on the stick as soon as I have my bag in hand. She is the reason how we came up with the name of the Opie Perch Pack.
Then I made some adjustments on a second prototype and after it was approved by the birds and myself, I was asured; I have to bring this to the market, this will make a lot of people happy.
We started looking for a suitable producer with a passion for quality and customization. We found them in Radical Design from Gasselternijveen (NL). They have been creating two prototypes and eventually we decided to give our approval.
What started with an idea in my head... and now two years and four prototypes later, here is;
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The Opie Perch Pack