Proudly Made in California
Before starting Thunderbolt Adventure Supply, Matthew spent a couple decades designing and manufacturing furniture. He specialized in furniture for commercial spaces like hotels and restaurants where buyers demanded extremely durable products at the best possible prices. That often meant manufacturing overseas, and he spent years traveling all over the world to work directly with factories. But sometimes, he found advantages with domestic manufacturers.
When we launched into the Camp Kitchen business, we didn’t even know if it would become a business. At first, we reached out to some small CNC shops to get a prototype made. When we started to look for someone who could handle production volumes, we found Neal’s CNC in the East Bay. They had experience making bits to outfit camper vans and immediately understood our product.
When we decided to expand our offerings to a metal version of the kitchen, Matthew started hunting for fabricators again. Some resourceful internet searching resulted in finding a shop in the Central Valley. They had a laser cutter to make their own products, but were looking for clients who could help them fill out the downtime when they weren’t cutting their own parts. They connected us to a local powder-coater and in the end, we’re still sourcing the parts for the Gear Sled, Kitchen and Storage Module from under 100 miles from our San Francisco Workshop.
Our custom designed waxed canvas bags for the Camp Kitchens as well as the Center Console Bag are also made domestically. This time, our search took us to Washington State and a company that specializes in heavy duty bags for job sites. Their focus on quality and durability made them the perfect choice for us.
We could save money by outsourcing our manufacturing overseas, but we’re focused on values besides the bottom line. Like the company that makes the vehicle we all love, we’re in it for the future, for exploring, for adventure, forever.
