{"id":74001,"date":"2019-08-18T11:03:10","date_gmt":"2019-08-18T11:03:10","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/cold-case-gear-aims-to-beat-the-heat-or-the-cold\/"},"modified":"2026-03-31T16:01:47","modified_gmt":"2026-03-31T16:01:47","slug":"cold-case-gear-aims-to-beat-the-heat-or-the-cold","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/cold-case-gear-aims-to-beat-the-heat-or-the-cold\/","title":{"rendered":"Cold Case Gear aims to beat the heat (or the cold)"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

\"Cold
Cold Case Gear\u2019s first product, the Pouch, like all future planned products, insulates items from the heat and cold using AeroGel, a high R-value substance first used by NASA.<\/span>Courtesy of Jon Rosenberg<\/span><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/p>

Avid outdoor adventurers Jon and Deirdre Rosenberg were frustrated during winter expeditions when the temperature would affect Deirdre\u2019s photography.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe\u2019re from Minnesota, and we do a lot of winter camping. Deirdre\u2019s a photographer, and all her camera batteries would drain in the cold. We thought there has to be a solution to this,\u201d Jon said.<\/p>\n

Using their experiences, Jon created small, lightweight, backpack-portable insulating containers that use AeroGel, a high R-value insulating material, used originally by NASA in spacesuits.<\/p>\n

The Pouch<\/div>\n

The first product of the Rosenbergs\u2019 new company, Cold Case Gear based out of their Pagosa Springs home, is the Pouch, now selling on Kickstarter<\/a> for $35 with a projected delivery date of October.<\/p>\n

An initial Pouch production run of 500 units, 300 to be sold on Kickstarter and 200 units that will retail for $60, is planned.<\/p>\n

Cold Case Gear is looking to raise $9,500 on Kickstarter to fund development of five products including a hydration sleeve, a smartphone case, a fuel canister cozie and a heat-reflecting tarp.<\/p>\n

Rosenberg said his firm\u2019s ultimate goal is \u201cto untether from temperature.\u201d He added, \u201cThe whole idea of the Pouch is to isolate whatever is in it from the temperature.\u201d<\/p>\n

\"Jon
Jon Rosenberg has spent the last 1\u00bd years from his home developing his company, Cold Case Gear, which makes products to help protect outdoor explorers\u2019 stuff \u2013 everything from food to camera batteries \u2013 from the extremes of hot or cold temperatures.<\/span>Courtesy of Jon Rosenberg<\/span><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/p>

The Pouch, 7 inches by 4 inches by 4 inches, is meant for keeping snacks, electronics, batteries and other small items isolated from either cold or hot temperatures while people are recreating in the backcountry \u2013 either in Colorado\u2019s 14ers or the deserts of Utah.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s difficult on a 14er in winter to keep your water bottles from freezing. Camera batteries won\u2019t drain in the cold. Diabetics have told me, \u2018Oh wow, this is great; I can keep my insulin in it.\u2019 The more people I talk to, the more use-case scenarios I hear that I hadn\u2019t thought about,\u201d Jon said.<\/p>\n

The firm has a patent pending, and it expects U.S. Patent and Trademark Office approval in several months, Rosenberg said.<\/p>\n

The Pouch will be manufactured in Michigan and shipped to Pagosa Springs, where Cold Case Gear will finish the units with hang tags and package them for shipment with literature about the firm and its other planned products, Rosenberg said.<\/p>\n

Startups: New jobs<\/div>\n

Mary Shepherd, executive director of Southwest Colorado Small Business Development Center<\/a>, said while the center doesn\u2019t track the total number of startup companies in Southwest Colorado, the region has a \u201chealthy ecosystem for entrepreneurial activity.\u201d<\/p>\n

In an email, she stated, \u201cOur last two Starting Your Business workshops boasted the largest attendance we have ever seen for this workshop.\u201d<\/p>\n

Startups, she said, are critical for a healthy economy.<\/p>\n

\u201cStartups are responsible for almost all net new jobs and create much of the economic diversity. Because, ideally, a startup is created based on consumer demand that is not currently being met or is being inadequately met, startups drive much of the innovation that is occurring in creating new and better solutions,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n

She noted the SBDC offers technical assistance to business owners in the form of no-cost, confidential business consulting and no- or low-cost trainings.<\/p>\n

As a statewide network with 15 SBDC centers across the state, Shepherd said her center can tap into consultants and resources from other areas as well as network specialty programs that aid in technological development, cybersecurity and other aspects of business development.<\/p>\n

\u201cAt the startup stage, when risk tolerance is high and ownership structures are often fairly simple,\u201d she said, \u201cbusinesses are much more nimble in their operations and can pivot to meet consumer demands quickly, in ways that existing businesses, with legacy processes and broader financial accountability, have a harder time doing.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u2018I give myself deadlines\u2019<\/div>\n

Rosenberg, who has held down a full-time job for the past 1\u00bd years while he\u2019s developed Cold Case Gear, said his main business development procedure has been \u201cto write down lists of small, easy-to-accomplish goals\u201d that will lead to reaching bigger goals. He added, \u201cI give myself deadlines on when I want to accomplish something, like I want 3,000 Instagram followers by November 2019.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt started out with me saying, \u2018I don\u2019t know what I\u2019m doing,\u2019\u201d he said of the genesis of Cold Case.<\/p>\n

He has since developed relationships for professional marketing services and a manufacturer in Michigan.<\/p>\n

The most difficult attribute of developing Cold Case Gear, he said, is simply believing in himself.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe biggest problem is getting in my own way and sabotaging my own momentum with doubt. I think, \u2018I\u2019m not an expert in this, I can\u2019t do that,\u2019\u201d he said. \u201cBut then I talk to people and they say, \u2018that\u2019s supper cool.\u2019 Most of the time we\u2019re going after our dream, and we don\u2019t know what it looks like day to day.\u201d<\/p>\n

parmijo@durangoherald.com<\/a> This article has been edited to correct the spelling of Deirdre Rosenberg.<\/em><\/p>\n

\n

If you go<\/h4>\n

The 2019 Southwest Colorado Accelerator Program for Entrepreneurs will hold its Startup Showcase and Investor Social from 4 to 7 p.m. Sept. 10 in the Ballroom at Fort Lewis College, 1000 Rim Drive.
\n Join SCAPE in launching new, innovative businesses followed by a networking social with entrepreneurs and investors.
\n Before the program, an overview of angel and venture investors will be held with Greater Colorado Venture Fund and West Slope Angels. This event will be from 3 to 4 p.m. in the FLC Ballroom.
\n Register online at
\n goscape.org
\n for both events.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Springs startup looks to aid backcountry explorers<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":74002,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[5742,6034,5754,5740,5737,5735,5808,6137],"tags":[431,338,13,28,445,310],"naviga_topic":[],"class_list":["post-74001","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-business","category-business-general","category-business-enterprises","category-frontpage-lead","category-headlines","category-news","category-newsletter-lead","category-pagosa-springs","tag-business-general","tag-business-enterprises","tag-frontpage-lead","tag-headlines","tag-newsletter-lead","tag-pagosa-springs"],"acf":[],"author_name":"dh_admin","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/74001","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=74001"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/74001\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":92580,"href":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/74001\/revisions\/92580"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/74002"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=74001"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=74001"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=74001"},{"taxonomy":"naviga_topic","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/naviga_topic?post=74001"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}