Race Ready Obstacles Company Profile & Giveaway

HOW TO MAKE A TWISTER: AN INSIDE LOOK AT THE RACE READY OBSTACLES PROCESS:

Now of course we can't give away all the details here...because some of the techniques that Race Ready has perfected are part of the "secret sauce" that makes their stuff so high quality! But they did agree to give a little bit of a behind-the-scenes peek into how the process works. They make every single part from scratch, and it's pretty cool! Here is the basic idea: 

...Pretty cool, right?? Here's a video of the Twister in the shop, as it is being put together: 

For those of you who might be considering getting your own Twister (which I highly recommend that you do!)...firstly: I would definitely recommend going through these guys vs. trying to DIY it. As backyard obstacles go, this one is definitely more advanced, and it took them several tries to get it "just right". If you want to build your own backyard obstacles, I recommend checking out some tutorials for less complicated builds like this one: "How To Build A Killer Obstacle Course Training Wall."

You may also have noticed that I left out the details for how to actually put your newly-acquired Twister together/install it (as it currently comes in 2 separate pieces, to save the customer a ton on shipping costs). The step-by-step instructions for how to do THAT is coming soon...so check back for the link!

Q&A With Race Ready Obstacles

And now, for a few fun pieces of Race Ready Obstacles trivia! I caught up with owners Aaron and Dana and asked them a couple additional questions to learn more about what makes them tick. Some of the responses are pretty funny, and they definitely show the personality behind the company! Take a look:

Katie: What would you say is your favorite obstacle to make? Why?

Race Ready Obstacles: The custom rigs that I build for people (either in their yards, basements or garages) are my favorite. I like learning what they want for their obstacle (like size and feature details) and then getting to come up with a design and layout to make it happen. I love seeing it all come together, and the excitement on people's faces when I have finished building something for them.

Katie: What is your least favorite obstacle to make? Why?

RRO: Pegboards. It just gets so repetitive drilling the holes over and over again.

Katie: any epic obstacle fails of something you tried to make that didn't work the first time? Why? What happened?

RRO: Something that wasn’t working was the 8 foot Twisters, because the shipping fee was outrageous! At a race, one section of the Twister is typically 8 feet...so it made sense to make mine 8ft as well. But to ship one that size would cost me $200 or more: because shipping companies price by dimensional weight. So an 8ft Twister was fine for people in my area who could do local pick ups or who lived close enough that I could drive and meet them halfway for a drop-off, but it wasn't reasonable to expect a shipping fee of $200+ to appeal to people. So I designed the Twister to be split into 2 sections: to save the customer as much money as possible.

Katie: How do you come up with the designs for the stuff you make? Have you always been a builder? Was it easy to "back into" the designs, or did you have to do some research?

RRO: For Twister, I had pretty much had it figured out by reverse engineering it from being out on the courses. And then before I started making them I reached out to Amber Klein and Robert Killian to ask them if they could confirm what I thought the measurements were, which I was right on. I did the same thing for Olympus.

For the smaller grips, I had seen firsthand what other companies were doing and knew that I could make the same thing as well as they could, or better. And not only could I make it better, but I thought I could probably sell it for cheaper (or the same price) and people would get a better product. But being the "cheapest" isn't necessarily my goal: my goal is to make the best quality product that’s going to last.

As far as build stuff, I’ve been building all my life. I grew up on a farm (still live on a farm) and have always worked with my hands. I’ve built fences, did complete remodeling projects on houses, built stuff for monster truck shows, rebuilt engines, and more. And yes: I’ve always been pretty handy. If it’s something I don’t know how to do, I can probably figure it out pretty quickly.

Katie: It seems like you've made a lot of different things! Have you made anything that's not currently on the site? Or are you open to making other obstacles?

RRO: If I get a request for something, and if it’s something I can make for a reasonable price, I will.

THE MOMENT YOU'VE ALL BEEN WAITING FOR: TWISTER GIVEAWAY INFO & RULES!

In case you didn't know before you showed up here....surprise!! This isn't just your typical blog article...it comes with a giveaway!! and you've already (almost) earned 12 points which is a huge advantage, so you might as well read the rules (below) then go check out the Instagram post to enter.

--Contest Runs 8/17/20-8/24/20, Winner announced on Instagram--

--Winner must be located in Continental USA--

OFFICIAL TWISTER GIVEAWAY RULES (READ CAREFULLY!)

⚙️ What You Win: A Twister built by Race Ready Obstacles, just for you!

⚙️ Dates Of Contest: 8/17/20-8/24/20...winner announced on Instagram

⚙️ How To Enter: Multiple options! 

🔩 MANDATORY: "Like" the original Instagram post about the giveaway

🔩 MANDATORY: Follow @pretty_fierce_spartan & @racereadyobstacles on Instagram

FOR ADDITIONAL ENTRIES:

So there you have it! In the midst of the pandemic yucky-ness there are still a lot of cool things going on out there in the world, and Race Ready Obstacles is one of them!

I'll finish this up with a quote from Aaron. I asked him if there was anything else he wanted to say to people, or any specific message about his company that he would like to communicate, and this is his response:

"I guess some main points to cover about me are: Race Ready Obstacles is a veteran-owned, small, family business. I say veteran-owned because I am a proud veteran of the United States Coast Guard. And when I say 'small business' I mean it - it's just me and my wife, and we make everything by hand.

And, I'm all about making quality items. Things that will hold up...things that will last and that are safe."

...I couldn't have said it better myself.