I’ve mentally struggled with this question for quite some time and many times debated posting a thread to see how others thought about this topic…I can’t recall ever reading a lot of civilized discussion about these questions here, so feel free to point me in their direction if there have been discussions on this topic.
We have a very interesting community in that the DIY aspect of the hobby is so large and on the other hand, we have numerous wonderful cottage vendors that make a living on selling finished products. Whatever the personal reason for doing so (love of diy’ing, customizing something in ways a vendor doesn’t offer, etc.), we DIY’ers often knock-off a vendor’s products and create something similar or in some cases as identical as possible. Lots of great diy’ers then share plans openly on the forums and others pick these up and build their own projects.
I guess this could be applied to many different hobbies or interests, such as software/program knock-offs and the list could go on and on. There are tons of knock-off products that I do believe damage the “originals” sale. In our widespread internet days you can find plans and/or directions on how to produce many commercial items, but as I said, I’m just curious to hear how others see this as it relates to our Hammock hobby.
At what point do we cross the line? Is there a line even to be crossed?
Let’s use a very popular and well known new product as an example. The Warbonnet Wooki UQ. A well-known and respected cottage vendor releases a product that is a little bit different than what we’ve ever done or seen before (or at least that I know of).
How long before the diy’ers among us produce something almost identical and post detailed plans for others to follow? Is it “wrong” for us to do so?
Don’t get me wrong, there will be those of us that wouldn’t purchase one but might diy a knock-off for the fun/challenge of it or to see how his idea actually works, so I don’t immediately see this as a bad thing. I couldn’t imagine that a detailed breakdown of how to build your own Wooki would hurt many potential sales given WB’s existing reputation, but do others see it differently?
I have a number of projects on my ever expanding to do list and many of these are knock-offs of current vendors offerings. I try to share a lot of my projects as time allows, but should I feel guilty if I’m posting exact specs on how I “ripped off” their product on my own for others to follow?
As Dutch is a bit of an abnormality (in a good way) in both promoting the diy scene with materials and also offering great finished products, sometimes even sharing how he and the crew builds them, how does this fit in? I don’t expect Dutch to chime in on this thread, but I’m curious how people look upon diy’ing his finished products.
I’ll be honest in that I’d eventually like to diy my own quilt liner/summer sheet much like he recently released a finished product of. I think it’s a great idea; I have my own touches that I’d like to do, but I also want to make my own simply because I enjoy diy’ing these projects.
Should I share simple pictures and the idea of the project online in the nature of sharing on these forums? To take it even further, would it be wrong of me to post my detailed specs so others can easily make their own or would this potentially hurt even one sale of his finished product? I’ve never been a big “process sharer” in general as a diy’er, but I enjoy sharing my finished work and just ask the question for healthy discussion and the satisfaction of my own curiosity.
Now here is one of my next struggles. Let’s say as a diy’er I want to modify some of my existing gear that I purchased from a vendor. Would it be wrong of me to contact a vendor and ask for a particular detail so I could replicate some of their work on my own? Let’s say asking about their particular use of a zipper or pull in their product. I think I’d personally feel guilty doing, so what then if I ask openly on the forums to see if others could explain or provide details? Is this better/worse? I really don’t know.
I think that the general entirety of hammock camping has been profoundly changed by diy’ers as people have tweaked existing ideas and/or created new items that have been very beneficial to the scene (I hate using this word, but it fits). Some of our vendors even produce finished items that have had their original idea born on these forums, so how does this fit into the discussion?
Any thoughts about the ethics of a diy’er out there?
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