Over 1 million years ago, early humans hunted and gathered on the plains of Africa. At some point, they wandered into a cave in South Africa, started the first controlled fire ever, and used fire to cook food. Since then, humans have used fire for food, life and giving light to darkness. As time progressed, society became so sophisticated that, in some cases, humans don't use fire for heat or cooking anymore at all. But, the quest to go back to simpler times - to sit around the campfire, cook and feel the warmth of the flames - seems innate in every human being, even though that quest has become increasingly difficult to achieve
Wolf and Grizzly is a Canadian company that started with a simple problem. "Everything you own can be grouped into two categories - functional but clunky, meant for the outdoors; or good looking but weak, meant for the city," says Wolf and Grizzly Director of Growth, Patrick Valoppi. As a result of this problem, the founder of Wolf and Grizzly, George Rizkalla, left his career as a computer engineer and started to create products that are easy to use yet built for adventure.
The company has two products, both of which were initially funded with Kickstarter campaigns. There is the Grill M1, a stainless steel 2-piece grill that can be brought anywhere and weighs only 2.2 lbs. Second, the Fire Safe, is "an envelope-sized, portable fire pit and cooking companion that packs down to be slimmer than 1 inch," according to the Wolf and Grizzly website. Both these products work to achieve the founder’s goal of making products that are compact, functional, and ready for the outdoors. Both can be used for both grilling and making a simple fire.
The Wolf & Grizzly grill is so convenient you can pack it up and walk off. [Photo/Wolf & Grizzly]
George Rizkalla also had personal motivation for making outdoor products. "Before starting Wolf and Grizzly, George used to be the Product Manager for Keyboard at BlackBerry. It was a rewarding role, but immensely exhausting. His phone would be ringing constantly, and he found that by the time the clock struck noon, he needed a way of disconnecting from the chaos for a few moments," admits Valoppi. Rizkalla would find a farm to park by, turn off all electronics, eat his lunch and reflect on nature. "This small, "everyday adventure" got George thinking about the fact that "traditional adventures" were hard to attain - they often required planning, packing, and preparation, and forced you to pull out your collection of bulky wilderness tools that live in the basement or the closet under the stairs."
Both products made by Wolf and Grizzly are remarkably simple. Valoppi explains that Rizkalla wanted to make products that were not made of many separate pieces so the assembly time was short. He noticed that products on the market, "take forever to set up and they have a shorter functional life - parts break or the connections between the parts degrade over time," says Valoppi.
In the beginning stages of developing the grill, George insisted that the maximum number of loose pieces would be limited to two. “A seemingly impossible task," recalls Valoppi. The only other portable grills on the market consisted of at least 25 pieces and had to be assembled and disassembled every time they were used. The reason why there wasn't a simpler product was because it is very difficult to make something so simple. "It took us 18 months to figure it out and to design a product that would enable consistent, simple, and functional user experiences," he says.
People are impressed by the look and the function of the grill. One person writes, "This piece of art is simply amazing. Great little thing and yet super durable with amazing quality. We'll be your permanent customer from now on. BRAVO."
Fire Safe is their newest product, set for shipping in November. The portable firepit packs down to slimmer than 1" and comes with a handy carrying case with pockets for kindling. It is two pieces, one that acts as the frame around the fire and a top insert that is designed to help direct airflow and be used as an easy cleanup mechanism.
For both products, they utilized experienced and amateur outdoor folks to prototype. “Our experienced users enabled us to test the durability and functionality of our products, while the amateurs enabled us to improve the user-friendliness of our designs. We wanted to ensure everything we build fits the needs of both these groups,” explains Valoppi. As a result, they have developed a sizable and diverse following throughout the world.
“We have snowmobilers using our products in the Canadian winter at the same time as van campers in the Australian summer,” says Valoppi, “Being able to cross the barriers of geography and culture to bring a global community together around a love of the outdoors is why we do what we do.” With Wolf and Grizzly, getting to that ancient desire of cooking and being around fire just got a whole lot easier.