Want to make grilling even better? Check out the brand new GrillGun. The GrillGun is exactly what you think it would be - it is a powerful torch that starts a charcoal grill in less than a minute and looks like a gun.
"I think that any man who sees this is going to want it," says founder and creator Bob Healey. The GrillGun is a 400,000+ BTU torch that is designed to light fires very fast and easily. It is meant to be used with charcoal grills, but also is great for starting a campfire. Beyond its obvious convenience, it looks really awesome and is sure to be the talk of the campground when used.
"People always say that they can just go get a weed-torch to start their grill and I say, 'Go ahead and do that,'" Healey explains, "But there are issues with those torches and the GrillGun addresses them." Healey made a product that is heavy duty, reliable and made for grilling.
Healey addresses this question humorously in his FAQ on the website:
"Q – Why can’t I use a regular weed torch to light my grill instead of buying your fancy GrillGun?
A – You can, if you want to look like a dork as I did for more than a decade of outdoor grilling, before I had the bright idea of making something that really looks cool and is ergonomically balanced and easy to use."
The GrillGun in action starting a campfire within seconds [Photo/GrillBlazer]
He also explains that the GrillGun uses approximately 50-70% less fuel than a weed torch so fuel lasts a long time.
For Healey, the road to designing and making the GrillGun was a natural one, though the investment angle added some challenges. Healey is basically a renaissance man - he is a "hardworking, focused, driven, engineer, inventor, entrepreneur, product developer, business developer and newly christened grass-fed-beef farmer." After working for four decades in corporate America, he decided to start a new business called GrillBlazer, the company that makes the GrillGun. After having the idea, he went to some people for investments and received some surprising responses.
"Just about every one of them heard my idea and said, 'Wow, I want one! When can I get it?' and then when I asked about investing in the company, they'd say no. I didn't understand," Healey expresses. "After hearing that a few times, I had a Little Red Hen moment and decided I'd do it myself."
This caused him to get interested in crowdsourcing - IndieGogo and Kickstarter. After researching what makes a successful Kickstarter campaign, he started one in March of 2019. "Instead of getting one or two individuals to invest a lot of money, I got many people to invest a little," Healey explains.
It seems that people love his idea. With an original goal of $60,000, he raised a staggering $405,913 with the help of 3,925 backers on Kickstarter and over $100,000 more on IndieGogo.
Since achieving his goal, he has been manufacturing the GrillGuns at a rate of 300 per day. Healey has done some initial test runs with the guns and they help him work out the kinks in distribution. He keeps his backers updated on the whole process because, as he says, “Integrity is most important to me.”
People have noticed. One backer writes, “Bob has been kind, truthful and responsive towards all of his customers. Updates are posted often and any concerns are addressed. The product has already been beta tested by many to demonstrate the products capabilities and I’m honestly excited about it. He took something that needed to be addressed and found a solution for it. So I commend him for that.”
“As an engineer, I made the GrillGun to be robust and long-lasting as these are both necessary when grilling,” Healey explains, “I was able to send some GrillGuns out for arrival before Christmas and people love them.”
The GrillGun has 111 Google Reviews at 4.9 stars, many coming this week as the initial products are just being received. One user says, “GrillBlazer is the best thing since sliced bread. Check the videos. GrillBlazer is a man's tool. UNREAL. Finally, a lighter worthy of my grilling skills.”
Healey is expecting a shipment of 8,000 GrillGuns at the end of January. “Six thousand of them will go to the backers that helped us get this manufactured and I think the other 2,000 will sell really quick,” Healey tells The Buzz. “It is for anyone that loves to grill - RVers, tailgaters, and more.”