Prototype four of the Gaucho BBQ Grill Apron arrived in July 2022. We’d built in enough test cycles across the previous three iterations to know that we were close. The outstanding issues from prototype three were specific and solvable. We didn’t expect to be surprised. What Prototype Four Got Right Prototype four was nearly identical […]
We ran eleven live-fire test sessions across four prototypes of the Gaucho BBQ Grill Apron. Each one was a minimum of three to four hours. Shorter sessions don’t reveal strap fatigue, don’t expose problems with pocket access under sustained use, and don’t produce the fat-splash scenarios that matter for protection testing. We knew this from […]
At some point during the development of the Gaucho BBQ Grill Apron we had an internal debate about the bottle opener. It wasn’t a long debate, but it was a useful one. The outcome shaped how we think about every feature decision we’ve made since. The Debate One view: a bottle opener on a BBQ […]
Prototype three of the Gaucho BBQ Grill Apron arrived in May 2022. We’d spent the weeks since STEAMhouse implementing specific changes from the programme and from our own test notes. The hardware was right. The strap routing was corrected. What remained was the pocket system — and the pocket system was not right. What Was […]
The STEAMhouse Create Programme week in Birmingham gave us three things we couldn’t have got anywhere else. Not insights in the abstract — specific, actionable findings that went directly into the next prototype of the Gaucho BBQ Grill Apron. Three Things We Left Birmingham With 1. Our D-ring hardware spec was underweight. We’d specified a […]
We heard about the STEAMhouse Create Programme through a design network contact in early 2022. At the time we were deep in prototype two of the Gaucho BBQ Grill Apron — we had a wearable design with most features working, but we were making decisions in isolation. We needed outside input from people who had […]
Prototype two of the Gaucho BBQ Grill Apron arrived in March 2022, six weeks after the first fire test. The brief for it was the fourteen-point change document from prototype one, and the manufacturing partner had responded to every item. Some changes were straightforward. One turned out to fix more than the specific problem it […]
The first proper live-fire test of Gaucho prototype one was a brisket cook: 3.5 hours at temperature, proper fire management, the full range of movements a long cook involves. Not a studio test or a controlled assessment. A real cook with real food in real conditions. What Held Up The denim protection was exceptional and […]
Bison Hill was registered as a company in February 2022. The first official week of the brand’s existence was not dramatic. It was a series of practical tasks, a lot of emails, and the specific strange feeling of doing familiar things under a name that had only just become real. What the First Week Looked […]
The first physical prototype of the Gaucho BBQ Grill Apron arrived in January 2022. We’d been working with sketches and requirements documents for months. Holding the actual object in your hands for the first time is a different kind of information. The Immediate Issues Some problems were visible before we lit a fire. The neck […]
