It’s in the bag
Albuquerque couple makes taking your kids camping easier, safer
Tavis Malcolm just wanted to take his infant son camping. But finding a high-quality sleeping bag to keep the youngster warm was easier said than done. “We started looking around, and the product we wanted just didn’t exist,” he said. “We kept thinking, surely someone makes something.”
He said it made no sense to him that adults had the benefit of cozy down sleeping bags while the baby was wrapped in layers of clothes and blankets.
So he dipped into his skill set (he took sewing in a home economics class in high school) and watched online videos. Then he sewed a prototype.
“The first one was so small, it wouldn’t even go over his (Morrison’s) diapers.
Fast-forward 18 months, and the Malcolm’s business, Morrison Outdoors, have taken a line of Little Mo Baby Sleeping Bags to more than 60 REI locations across the country. Malcolm’s wife, Amber Malcolm, is from Albuquerque, and the couple recently moved to the Duke City from Denver.
Available in 20-degree and 40-degree temperature ratings, the Little Mo Baby Sleeping Bags are designed to comfortably fit infants from 6 months to 24 months old. Having no hood or drawstrings, these sleeping bags meet all American Academy of Pediatrics guidelines for safe infant sleep, and both models weigh less than 1 pound each for use in backpacking.
The bag has arms that connect with a snap so young babies can be swaddled, the zipper goes from the bottom up to make diaper changing easy, and the collar is fleece and snug so young babies can’t slip inside and suffocate, he said.
Amber Malcolm is a registered nurse with pediatric experience and has been Malcolm’s business partner in the venture. The couple designed the bags with safety as a top priority.
“You can imagine the considerations in making a product that children sleep in,” Malcolm said.
After a few of the bags had been produced, the couple tried selling some of the prototypes on Etsy. “That was a non-starter,” he said. So after some contemplation, the couple decided to launch Kickstarter campaign to raise enough money to take the product to a professional manufacturer. In a month, the campaign raised $16,000 and the project graduated from “garage” status.
The REI gig was nearly as serendipitous.
“I just started making some cold calls. I just got to the right person,” he said.
For details and in-store locations, check out the Little Mo 20° and Little Mo 40°, both at rei.com. Malcolm said that Albuquerque and Santa Fe were not included in the initial location release but that he’s working to fix that.
Malcolm is working on a version that will accommodate preschoolers.
“And all the adults I talk to want one as well,” he said.
But for now, Malcolm says, the company will stay true to its mission: making camping with kids easier for parents.
For more information, go to Morrison Outdoor’s website: morrisonoutdoors. com