The Adventure Portal crew have been using the TemboTusk standard front fridge slide for years. I recently spoke with owner and creator Jerry L’Ecuyer, a seasoned overland adventurer, Here is what he told me about his company, products and what motivated him to design his own gear.
“The TemboTusk business is centered on building heavy duty, durable gear for overland travel and car camping. We design and manufacture almost all of our products locally in Southern California.”
“TemboTusk services the camping/overland accessory market. If you have a fridge or cooler in your vehicle, we supply the slide to help access the fridge. If you 
camp outside, we supply camp tables and lantern hangers that are compact. If you liketo cook on the trail, we supply a Dutch Oven Table and a South African inspired skottle grill and if you enjoy a beverage or two, TemboTusk offers a most useful canvas wine/beverage tote. Our clientele is very self-sufficient, independent and discriminating. Anybody can buy cheap throwaway mass-produced gear. TemboTusk clients buy gear that will last a lifetime. We have been in business since 2010 and have grown every year since. TemboTusk started with only one product and we now fabricate almost a dozen.”
“The motivation for starting the business came out of frustration! I had a drawer system to help me keep organized while camping, and I strapped my Engle fridge to the top of the drawers. Great use of space! However, I hated lifting the fridge in and out of the vehicle every time I needed to get into it. I needed a way to easily get the fridge from top of the drawer system down onto the tailgate of my vehicle and back up again without straining my back. A fully loaded fridge is very heavy. It took two years of thinking about it and a year of prototyping the design before I came out with my patented LoadSpotter slide. The slide allowed me to store my fridge up and out of the way and with a moment’s notice, I could pull it out and swing the fridge down and out of the vehicle. We debuted the prototype at the 2010 Overland Expo and had our first sale! TemboTusk was on the map! Another frustration was a lack of a good quality robust flat slides for the ever increasing popularity of the 12 volt camping fridge. TemboTusk set about to design a better flat slide. Equipt Expedition Outfitters and Adventure Trailer took notice and they are now major customers.”
“Most of our current products were designed because a good alternative was not available on the market. I could not find a good quality, compact camp table; we now produce a very robust table that will fit in a drawer system. I have been using a South African skottle style grill for 20 years and guarded that grill with my life! Everyone one wanted to buy it or take it! When I could not find a replacement anywhere, I designed the Tembo Tusk Skottle grill. The Skottle grill is quickly becoming a runaway hit, we are barely keeping up with production!”
“We believe what makes our company stand out is our philosophy that a good product should be bought once and be good enough to be used for a lifetime.”
Jerry@TemboTusk.com
Interview and photos courtesy of Jerry L’Ecuyer, owner of Tembo Tusk
written by: Lori Palmer TAP Editor
