Supporting the sport

I spotted something on the Nerf Mods and Reviews blog this afternoon regarding a new company called Random Hat is looking for some backing to produce their first run of aftermarket parts and accessories for dart blasters. Their first project is a mag holder that attaches to Nerf tactical rails. Unfortunately, projects like this take A LOT of money to get off the ground, so more often than not, without some kind of external investment many companies don't even make it off the ground. There is, however, a kickstarter site has been set up by Random Hat to allow people to get involved to help get the project off the ground.

In my opinion, companies manufacturing aftermarket dart blaster parts are important for developing this little sport in to something bigger and more awesome. Without them, the only real driving force behind developing anything is Nerf themselves, and being realistic, their primary goal is to make more money. Third party companies run by Nerfers FOR Nerfers have a slightly different view, their best interests are the interests of Nerfers so more powerful blasters, cool aftermarket gear and making this stuff accessible to everyone is the primary goal.

Dart tagging is at the same stage as an industry I am already heavily involved in was about 5 or 6 years ago, and that is BMX. As soon as rider owned companies started building the industry got some pretty awesome things that riders wanted for a long time. stronger bearings, lighter bikes, variety of sensible geometries in frames and a freecoaster hub that could actually be used for freestyle were all results of the most recent BMX boom. So, it's up to the Nerfing community to now stand behind what they do and take control of the future of the sport.

Not gonna lie, looks a bit odd, but would be extremely useful!

But anyway, back to what I started with, Random Hat need $20,000 to kick start their project and have a variety of packages for backers ranging from a tactical rail mag holder for people who pledge $25 or more, to a reseller deal which gets you 30 tactical rail mag holders and priority for shipments for pledges of $1000 or more. For more information see this link.