Destin Sandlin examines the systemic engineering and economic hurdles involved in manufacturing a grill scrubber entirely in America. Through a deep dive into sourcing components like injection-molded knobs and specialized chain mail, the project highlights the complexities of maintaining domestic supply chains and preserving vital technical trade skills in a competitive global market.
This entire series boils down to Destin finding this simple thing out again and again.
If you want to assemble a bunch of low value inputs into a finished product, America isn’t manufacturing the low value inputs.
Basically every step along the way he has tried to make his business buying a bunch of American made low value inputs and then paying a room of college aged kids to assemble them into a high value product. And he keeps finding the same answer, you can buy your inputs from overseas or make them yourself.
Is that a problem? Why would you want something made in america in the first place. I know more people avoiding products because they are made in America rather than buying them because they are.
To keep money in my community and to help support my countrymen. I’d much rather my money go to some guy in my state than some nameless faceless conglomocorp in some far off land exploiting their workers to undercut my neighbor
People who already live in America don’t stop existing just because the government is garbage.
This is an overall look at macroeconomic influences and how greed/capitalism are affecting them.
From a solarpunk perspective, it makes sense to Buy it for life or buy local. This video documents the factors that make that harder and harder.
Wouldn’t it make more sense not to buy a grill scrubber in the first place? Sounds like a product in search of a problem.
Had loads of BBQs over the years and not once seen something stuck to the grill in such a way that it needs to be scrubbed off.
I’ve never used nor know of anybody that scrubs a grill… must be some tradition across the pond.
I just toss the grill into the fire while adding more wood on top. Get it red hot, done.
Meanwhile the ladies have cleaned and seasoned the chicken.
Add a fridge full of Estrella Galicia, and it’s a good evening.
Gross. Clean your grill, bro.
I personally use a wooden one.
Fire cleans all, the few bits that don’t burn off don’t require scrubbing, a gentle touch with absolutely anything would work. Like a stick.
Enjoy your stomach cancer.
Is there any evidence to support that it makes any difference? Have heard cooking food over a fire can in general, not aware of it depending on how you cleaned the grill half an hour before cooking on it.
Don’t know about evidence, but the residue on a dirty grill is deposited smoke and soot and charred/carbonized food remnants.
It’s like you put an air filter over a fire that filters out the carcinogens, and then started licking the carcinogen-filled side of the air filter.
Valid point IMO. Not buying something is the better choice very often!
Sure, why waste money on toilet paper?
People with a bidet already know.
Support more local jobs and a larger variety of jobs.
If you love all manufacturing to foreign nations like china, they will be able to control the prices you pay, and various political bullshit can interfere with your producs price. Like tariffs, general trade war, weird ships getting stuck in a narrow corridor, etc
And while it have been cheaper in the 90s, prices are not that much lower than local production, these days (well, depending on whats being produced)
The us now sees china as a threat in terms of global influence, economics etc
And this is mostly caused by companies moving manufacturing to china some decades ago, when the avg chinese citizen would ride a bike to work.
And you cant move production back because the people who know how to, are dead
I live in a small country and when a large business in a small town closes down and move production out to another country, it basically kills the town. Slowly but surely, the people who worked there found jobs in other towns and moved out, fewer people means less people to keep the local small businesses alive. Local mechanics, small shops etc all close down eventually when this happens
And nobody wants to live in a small town where you gotta drive 20 minutes to another town. to buy groceries … when youre used to just walking 10 minutes
And you cant move production back because the people who know how to, are dead
That’s kinda bullshit. China had no EV industry 15 years ago, until Tesla came over and showed them how to do it. Within a decade of Elon laughing at the idea of Chinese EVs, they caught up and passed him fast. They have done this again and again and again, usually with US investment. Apple spent more money in China than the Marshall plan, inflation corrected.
You can’t move production back because:
-
No US manufacturing can afford US health insurance.
-
US manufacturing prioritizes 7 and 8, 9 figure executive compensation over R&D, the exact opposite of China.
-
US education is so expensive, previous STEM grads have to work in finance or die of starvation. Or become social media influencers.
-
various political bullshit can interfere with your producs price. Like tariffs, general trade war
You mean like America is doing?
This video series is frustrating. Even if you need a chainmail grill scrubber, you can buy then for $29 (with tariffs) and this clown wants $60. Clearly, he has no clue about engineering, product design or a business plan. You want to support US industry, be prepared for 2-3x the costs and no innovation. The whole premise is he is making something innovative or better, neither is true. Gadgets cannot fuel an economy.
This guy runs a STEM education channel, and the best product he can imagine is a grill scrubber. Weak.
Ignorant
Idk whats worse, that you either watched the whole thing and still went “whoosh” or that you hardly watched it at all and unsurprisingly missed the point of the video
If you watched his videos you would know that the other chainmail grill scrubbers only appeared after he released his. The price difference is literally the central thesis of the video series - because the US has almost entirely outsourced manufacturing to countries like China and Vietnam, buying products from there are cheaper due to economies of scale. This gives those countries great economic leverage, and the US should not have been so happy to outsource. This can of course be reverted with sustained effort, that Destin is hoping to be a part of.
Ask your doctor about
