REDLINE PROJECT- Custom sling bag and breeder-branded patches-


WHO- Redline Shipping. And YOU. We already have commitments from 100+ breeders/vendors. Could end up being 200+ breeders/vendors/hobbyists. It will be the biggest joint promo in the history of the industry. With YOU. Everyone is welcome to participate. You don't have to ship with Redline to participate, we welcome your involvement with open arms. Redline can facilitate your order with our chosen factory, but we will share the factory contact/order info and you can place your own order, or find your own source. There is no "Redline approval process" to participate in the promotion.

WHAT- We are making a sling bag. A fanny pack. A cool cross-body bag. The front of the bag is a velcro panel that small patches attach to. BRANDED patches from breeders/hobbyists/companies across our industry. You would make your own branded patch, or series of patches. Your supporters will represent you, and a ton of folks will be looking to "collect them all"! Patches can used with our Redline sling bag, or with other bags, or on hoodies, hats, or just collected. There is no "Gotta use the patches with the Redline sling bag" requirement.

WHERE- Patches can be sold on your site, included with your shipped orders, and/or sold/given away at trade shows. "The first 10/15/25 people that find us at XYZ show will get the limited-edition SuperAxeyFreezy gecko patch FREE!"

WHEN- We will have Redline sling bags and a full Redline patch line ready for NARBC Spring Tinley. I expect we will have it all in hand by early February in fact. Spring Tinley will be a patch-collecting event and vibe. Buy/Sell/Collect/Trade!

WHY- Economical, simple marketing is key to success! Your supporters want to feel connected to you, they want to be a part of what you are doing. They want to have FUN.

COST- MINIMAL! For the impact this promo will have, the value is PHENOMENAL. You will be creating a PVC patch (colorful soft silicone rubber style patch) with your brand/message/graphic on it. A 2" patch is about 65 cents in 100 qty. This size and style of patch typically retails at $5-$11. Your buy-in can be as little as $65 for 100 patches (plus a one-time mold fee of $60 per design). SUPER VALUE. 300 patches for less than $200. If you sold those patches for $3 each, that's $900.

Graphic artists referrals for getting art done-

Johnothan The Bearded Herper on IG

Melissa Schumann from SandS Pythons

Aram from Urban Tarantulas

Artists on Fiverr.com (search for different art styles, choose an artist, browse their portfolio, engage as desired)


Sling packs are super popular right now, and many breeders/vendors wear them at shows.

PART ONE OF PRODUCTION- Redline is making a sling bag/fanny pack, by popular demand. (We will make and sell the bag, YOU will make and sell/giveaway your own inexpensive branded PVC patches)

The Redline bag is modeled after the incredibly popular and well-reviewed Data Crew sling. You can see the design of the bag, features, and patch details at this Data Crew review video- Data Crew sling bag review video

Our bag is the same size and design, but in white, with a higher-tech fabric.

The Redline bag will be white with red accents. The material is VX42 ripstop fabric, with exceptional abrasion resistance, low stretch, and durable waterproofness. The first version of the Redline sling bag will be LIMITED TO 200 UNITS. (initially 100 units, but the initial response has been so strong we are going with 200 units. Really just 195 units, since Bob Vu has already asked to reserve 5 bags.)

The unique thing about the Data Crew bag, and the coming Redline bag, is the front velcro face/panel. It has the softer side of the velcro, so that you can easily attach PVC patches that have the hook side of the velcro attached. You could also easily attach pins to the Redline sling bag. You can also create an embroidered patch, your preference. "PVC patches" are silicone rubber styles that are flexible and colorful.

For the EDC crowd that uses packs like the Data Crew sling, they have their own series of PVC patches and "flair". I think this is an excellent opportunity to do patches for our reptile community.

You can create a company/brand/logo patches. You can create animal specific patches (are you well known for ball pythons, chameleons, hognose, geckos?). Consider creating a fun/whimsical/ridiculous patch as well.

Portuguese Pythons has a terrific logo. Great design, great color choices. A Portuguese Pythons logo patch will be fine. But after some brainstorming with Danny at PP, who is well-known for his Tombstone mustache (and its variations) we also created a silly and terrific mustache graphic, and Portuguese Pythons mustache patches have now been ordered (get yours at the early PP mustache patch unveiling at January Pomona Super Show). When I posted the mustache patch graphic on social media, the response was awesome. People love it! Be creative. Be interesting. Be intriguing. Be ridiculous. Be productive for your brand.

I have sourced CUSTOM PVC patches on Alibaba for around 65 cents each for 100 pieces. That is just $65 to participate.

$65 (plus shipping, and plus a $60 mold fee) would likely be the minimum. But I think people will adopt a "collect them all!" mentality, and you will give away (or sell) many more than that.

Maybe you create 200 company logo patches, but an additional 50 "special" patches for your Patreon members. Or a separate run of 100 limited edition patches. You can be super creative on this, the buy-in is very affordable, and the patches are MULTI-USE- they can be used on the Redline bag, but also sewn onto other bags, hats, hoodies, or just straight-up collected.

I have plans for 15+ different Redline patches. Some logo designs, some fun designs, some ridiculous designs. Some we will sell, some we will use as promo, many we will give away.

I will make some USARK patches at my cost, and let Phil/Vanessa/Jeremy/Team USARK distribute them at shows.

I'm a huge believer in giving away free promo items (backscratchers, scrapers, decals, etc) as a super low-cost branding tool. But if you can't bear to give them away- IF YOU SELL PATCHES FOR $1 EACH YOU WILL BE COVERING YOUR COSTS.

A GENIUS DISTRIBUTION IDEA- Tyler from Spider Shoppe had a great idea. Tyler is ordering 350 patches, AND SENDING THEM ALL TO REDLINE. He wants me to include a Spider Shoppe patch in each bag that I send out. For 65 cents a bag, he will reach every person who buys the Redline bag. Smart. YOU CAN DO THE SAME. Send Redline a bulk of patches- 50, 100, 350, whatever you like. We will include your patch in each outgoing bag.

IMAGINE A CUSTOMER GETTING A BAG STUFFED WITH DOZENS OF PATCHES FROM BREEDERS AROUND THE INDUSTRY! How stoked are they going to be?!?!?

PART TWO OF PRODUCTION- The front of the bag can hold 5-8 patches, what will people do with 100 patches? Where will they see and display them all? We are making a 10"x14" velcro display panel for tons of patches. This panel will clip onto the bottom of the bag. It can also be put on a wall, or in a reptile room, to display their patch collection. Collect them all, display them all!

PART THREE OF PRODUCTION- Our limited-edition white bag may not be for everyone. It is limited to the 200 units. We will also have a plain black sling bag available (that looks exactly like the Data Crew bag) for a lower price. We can re-order those black bags as often as we like. We are starting with 150 units, but we could get 1000 units if needed.

WHOLESALE OF REDLINE SLING BAGS- The point of participating in the Redline Project promo is NOT to sell bags for Redline. The point is getting your brand out in the world through the patches. I know that some vendors will want to sell bags as well. We should be able to make a small number of white bags available at a quantity discount, and more easily, make the black bags available at a quantity discount. Email me to discuss that in more detail.

PARTICIPATION LIST- We will keep a list of Redline Project participants on the Redline Shipping site. It can serve as a reference so folks can see who has made patches, and where they can get them.

I've included some rough art mock-ups of how the patches might look on a bag, and some stills from the Youtube review video linked above. I will have production pics of the white Redline sling bag soon. I've included some of the Redline patch art as well.

If you are in for the first round, I can coordinate with our chosen factory to order patches with your provided logo/artwork. The factory needs PDF or PNG artwork. I'm not a graphic artist. I can provide some art production references for you to get graphics produced.

If we do some cooperative patch ordering in good numbers, I think we can save on shipping fees, and even discounted mold fees.  

I think this is going to be a monster hit. The initial response has been overwhelming and positive. I'd love to see you participate!

Let me know if you are interested in this promo project, and we can push forward from there!