Camouflage lanyards sewn at ASPIRO in Green Bay

By Richard Ryman
rryman@greenbaypressgazette.com

BLACK CREEK — Paul Ruedinger knows hunting and knows he hates losing things in the woods or having to dig into his pockets when he's trying to keep movement to a minimum.

Ruedinger couldn't find what he needed to solve the problem, so he designed his own lanyards to hang things on while tromping through the woods.

He launched his product, sold under the EZ Access Gear brand, in January, and now is in seven Scheels sporting good stores in Appleton, North and South Dakota, Nebraska and Iowa, and on several Web sites, including www.allpredatorcalls.com and www.hharchery.com.

"It seemed like there was a void in the market," said Ruedinger, who offers his lanyards in three camouflage patterns and more than a dozen configurations. "They will hold anything with a clip or a connector."

His lanyards differ from others on the market because they have more uses, he said, particularly the ones he developed for holding electronic gear.

"As technology advances and things get smaller, it's harder to keep track of the smaller items," he said.

Many lanyards are made for a single use, such as holding animal calls, but his are designed to hold multiple items, including electronics.

"There aren't any lanyards in hunting you can hang electronics on. Those are huge for varmint hunting," he said.

Prices range from $4 to $17.

He has licensing agreements to use camouflage patterns from Mossy Oak and RealTree, and he's talking to other retailers.

Ruedinger buys some components from manufacturers in China, but he stays with American suppliers and workers whenever possible.

His printing is by a company in Seymour and sewing of the lanyards is done by ASPIRO in Green Bay, a private, nonprofit membership organization that annually serves more than 1,200 individuals with cognitive disabilities.

"They will do more things as it grows and eventually take the whole thing over," he said.

Paul Cantwell, director of production, said the work is well-suited to ASPIRO.

"It's a nice project in terms of where we can utilize our clients. We are hoping the program will grow gradually enough where there will be some good volume coming out of this facility," he said.

Ruedinger is doing research and marketing on a limited budget while working a full-time job.

He took some lanyards to deer camp last year and he and his hunting buddies tested different ideas.

"That was the easy part," he said. "I hope to stay fluid this year, keep customers I have happy and next year explode," he said.

The lanyards are designed for hunting, but he said he was contacted by a fishing tackle magazine that wanted to publish information on the product.

Long-term, Ruedinger would like to add camping gear to his product line.

"I want to keep running that logo past everybody until they feel comfortable with it," he said. "Nothing happens overnight. I'm trying to stay realistic as well as optimistic."