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The Prosthetics and Orthotics Podcast
The Prosthetics and Orthotics Podcast is a deep dive into what 3D printing and Additive Manufacturing mean for prosthetics and orthotics. We’re Brent and Joris both passionate about 3D printing and Additive Manufacturing. We’re on a journey together to explore the digitization of prostheses and orthoses together. Join us! Have a question, suggestion or guest for us? Reach out. Or have a listen to the podcast here. The Prosthetic and Orthotic field is experiencing a revolution where manufacturing is being digitized. 3D scanning, CAD software, machine learning, automation software, apps, the internet, new materials and Additive Manufacturing are all impactful in and of themselves. These developments are now, in concert, collectively reshaping orthotics and prosthetics right now. We want to be on the cutting edge of these developments and understand them as they happen. We’ve decided to do a podcast to learn, understand and explore the revolution in prosthetics and orthotics.
The Prosthetics and Orthotics Podcast
Full Send: The Hard Road That Led to Helping Others Move Forward with David Slider
We record on the road to the mothership to fit a 3D-printed adjustable suction socket using AirFit casting and compare loaded scans to raw scans. David shares his crash-to-career journey, why adjustability matters for neuromas and daily volume, and what makes the Americus foot feel lighter and livelier than it looks.
• AirFit casting under load versus direct scanning
• Four-scan workflow and remote 3D fabrication
• Suction plus adjustability for volume and hotspots
• Flexible inner swaps for quick tuning
• David’s neuroma history and fit lessons
• Merecus foot layup, split keel, and energy return
• Social media as connector, career builder, and patient support
• Choosing a prosthetist who listens and offers trials
• Safety, waste, and smarter ovens in the lab
• Why 3D printing speeds care and improves revenue cycle
Find David: YouTube The Adventurous Amputee • LinkedIn David Slider • Instagram Pirate Peg Leg and The Adventurous Amputee
Special thanks to Advanced 3D for sponsoring this episode.
Welcome to season 12 of the Prosthetics Orthodox Podcast. This is where we connect with experts in the field, patients who use these devices, physical therapists, and the vendors who help bring it all together. Our mission remains the same to share stories, tips, and insights that help improve patient outcomes. Tune in and join the conversation. We're glad you're here and hope it's the highlight of your day. Hello everyone. Welcome to another episode of the Prosthetics and Orthotics Podcast. You would not believe what I am doing right now. I'm sitting shotgun next to uh David Slider from Allard, and uh we are going to do a podcast live from the car. How cool is that? So uh David came in uh yesterday to our office to try a couple new things and uh and look around. And he also did some stuff. We have a ramp and stair set up. He did some stuff with a new foot called the uh Merc. Americus. Mericus. Mericus. Is there a number after it too, or just America?
SPEAKER_00:Americus.
SPEAKER_02:Okay. And uh and then we're also trying a couple things for uh his socket. So uh David, I'll I'll let you kind of spill the beans on on what we were doing last night.
SPEAKER_00:Cool. So uh getting my first 3D printed socket, uh interesting process. It's uh was it the iFit or how is it AirFit Airfit? The AirFit. Um I've never been casted that way before. It's still kind of similar to traditional, but a little bit of technology put in there with the the vacuuming of the the casting. So it was a cool process to see and watch you work while you edited in the 3D print. Never seen that process start to finish. So it's really kind of cool. But we're going to can we talk about the university? Yeah. Cool. So I don't I don't even know what university it is.
SPEAKER_02:I've East Carolina.
SPEAKER_00:East Carolina, we're doing a gate study on adjustable sockets. Uh I've always wanted an adjustable socket having a technician background. Um I've made a lot, but I've never made myself one. So I'm interested and excited to try it for the first time.
SPEAKER_02:Yeah, so uh typically we typically go for a test socket, but uh I think in uh you would say we went ahead and went full send.
SPEAKER_00:Full send all the way, yeah.
SPEAKER_02:Uh and this is interesting. I mean, uh I just want to talk a little bit about the airfit. Obviously, I'm not uh missing a leg, so I don't know exactly what it feels, although I have stuck my arms down in there and pumped it up. Um but I can tell you I've had some uh pretty amazing success with the uh the airfit system in Guatemala. I'll tell you one of the the good things is that you know that you are in the ballpark. Like uh so you know we took the the when we released the pressure, and then I kind of held your leg up in the cast and had you move around. I mean, how did how did that feel?
SPEAKER_00:It felt good. I mean, it's different from anything I've experienced. I've done under vacuum, but not the uh the air fit system. Uh it was different, I'm a little bit different than what I'm used to, but oh, we're gonna have the GPS on here too.
SPEAKER_02:Man, perfect.
SPEAKER_00:Yeah. Um, but yeah, it was it was good. I you know, I think it's a real intimate cast. The way it was done, uh the mold looked very much like my residual limb with a liner on when we were done. Uh I think it'll fit very well, especially being that's 3D printed. I feel like there's a little bit more easier to make minor modifications to the without taking plaster and shaving too much off or adding too much back on.
SPEAKER_02:So, yeah, I mean that's the other crazy process. So we did the air fit, we scanned it in, and then I did some modifications. I actually sent the file to Diego. Diego started your flexible interliner remotely from his house, and then Tyler was actually at the office uh because we can't start the color printer remotely. So, but he was able to quickly put color on it, and then um, like no technician, no plaster involved, and uh we're actually driving down. We're gonna fit you in uh in about an hour, hour and a half or so is however long it takes us to get to Kinston. So definitely a different different workflow. But you know, one of the things about air, and I even noticed on your leg, and I got to dive into it a little bit more. Is um and how does the GPS you know make you make you lose your place? But so so you know, it was interesting, you know, a lot of people ask, well, why don't you just direct scan the limb and and and then reduce from there? And I would say that uh while people are successful with that style, you actually do not still don't know what the tissue is going to do under load, which is why I love the airfit system. You know, not only did we put it under load, you were actually putting your weight down through that system, and then we actually are able to check from there to see if you have any hot spots. And you do have a few hot spots, and it didn't seem to bother those areas that you had.
SPEAKER_00:No, yeah, I have that neuroma on the medial side of my distal tibia. But when I first lost my leg, actually, I was walking fine in a take-home test socket for uh a good couple weeks, and then took a step one day, and I just could not tolerate wearing the socket. It was so so badly irritated that uh we had to go back to the drawing board, and we didn't know what it was at first. So we went back to my orthopedic surgeon who I'd been seeing for two and a half years at the time, and he did an MRI, and he's like, You got two options either we can do another surgery, cut the neuroma out, hope it doesn't come back, or you can work around it in your prosthetic. So I did the simpler of the two to begin with, and that's kind of I just know where that spot is. So being able to point that out while casting um usually helps, and I don't get irritated, so I have to worry about it.
SPEAKER_02:Yeah, so one of the interesting things, we uh we took a scan of your leg, then we took a scan of your leg in the liner, then we took a scan of the cast, and then we took a scan of the socket. So all four things that are very important to you getting alignment and that sort of thing. But one of the things that I noticed is uh but specifically between the scan and the uh the cast is the way that that air pressure loaded your limb. And uh yeah, I'm really excited to actually fit the socket to see how it's going to go. But the way that it's loaded is definitely different than just the scan without the loading.
SPEAKER_01:Yeah.
SPEAKER_02:And I think that there's a a lot that to dive into that, uh, and there's a lot of research in that area that I think would be very important for patients. And so I'm excited to get your feedback because you've been doing this for so long, uh, and we'll we'll know pretty quickly uh how things are going. And and the other thing about the Airfit system is you know that you're gonna be in the ballpark. Sometimes you may want to add a sock or two, but the and but this is our first socket, right? So the beauty is that we can always just flip the flexible in or out a little bit thicker and you go back down to like a zero ply. But we got to remember too that you do have some adjustability now. Yeah. And so that'll be nice. Hopefully, uh, you know, take up uh a few ply or three um and and go from there. Now, one unique thing that we're doing for you um is we've got the adjustable socket, but it's a suction socket. So we'll see how it all goes together. Um we did not put a valve in this one um just because we were trying to do something uh pretty fast. But uh in the in the one that if we if we nail the alignment today, I'll be able to just send you another one and uh with a valve and everything and then go from there. So I mean I'm really excited about that.
SPEAKER_00:Yeah, and I actually just uh my last prosthesis I completed. Uh I worked for a little mobile clinic in Texas before taking on this job in between Hawaii and and moving back to Texas. And uh we had a patient who was in a seal-in and an adjustable socket, click medical. Um, but then it wasn't getting it wasn't getting good vacuum, so we had to go put a sleeve on it. I think we ditched, I didn't, I wasn't part of this. I came in after the fact, but so we went from a seal-in to uh a sleeve uh suction socket, and the whoever was putting together at the time couldn't figure out why they couldn't get vacuum, and they had the sleeve over the outside of the shell where the holes are cut for the adjustable, so it was never gonna seal. So I pretty much we went back to the drawing board, and I've done this before, so I said we have to make it flexible, we have to put the sleeve over the flexible, then we have to laminate directly over that to give ourselves space to put the sleeve in. And talking 3D printing, I love the idea that you can change out the flexible without reprinting the whole socket. Um, a lot of times in Texas we do uh in the flexible socket. That way, if the person swells up, we can take it out and they have more volume to grow into. Um, me being a person that I am, a technician, I always thought that looked tacky and it just didn't sit right with me. So the fact that you can just reprint a flexible, thinner, thicker to take up more volume, it's quite quite interesting. Uh I was scared of 3D printing to start out. Thought it was gonna take my job, but the more I learn about it, the more I see it as a a benefit to everybody involved, technicians included.
SPEAKER_02:Yeah, yeah. Well, let's tell to uh tell us a little bit about your journey into the prosthetic uh uh realm. It uh definitely was unexpected, I would say. Um but yeah, tell us a little bit about your story.
SPEAKER_00:So uh 2007, actually 71107. Uh I was moving to Lubbock that day. I my whole high school career, I wasn't really a college uh-bound kid. Um kind of a little bit of a mess up, but I did graduate and decided I wanted to be an electrician. And the day I was moving to Lubbock to go to school, I got in a really bad motorcycle rig. So I was going 120 miles per hour when a truck full of car windshields pulled out in front of me. It was about a 40 mile per hour street. So, yes, most being stupid, it's going triple the speed limit. Um, but from this uh CSI, because they did pronounce me dead on arrival, um, they put me at about 120 miles per hour at a point of impact when I hit the back of the truck. I hit the truck so hard I actually totaled it with a slow total tacoma. Um, I went through three windshields. I think I flew about 80 to 100 yards. A compound fractured my femur and severed an artery and that my upper thigh. Uh compound fractured my tib and fib in two places. When I broke the lower half of my tibia, it ripped all my tendons in half. Um and then I broke a lot of my bones in my feet, broke my neck and a vertebrae in my back. Um, I went through the windshield, I slipped my throat. So my right vocal cord was completely severed and paralyzed. I severed the vagus nerve, which I'm sure a lot of you know, controls a lot of your organs. And I was immediately put into a drug-induced coma. Um the day I got to the hospital. I was in surgery, I think 12 or 14 hours. Um my mom was actually picking my sister up from the airport. She was flying back in from boot train uh boot uh combat training and the Marines. So my mom picked my sister up at the airport, and my dad gave her a phone call, said, Hey, don't freak out. David's been in a minor accident, he's okay. He's going to JTS. My dad tried to keep my mom calm, but also my dad was lied to by the person who called him. They said I had a small laceration on my neck and a fractured leg. And when they get to the hospital, they find out I'm dying. I was pronounced dead on arrival. I died on the way to the hospital. I think I had to be resuscitated again at the hospital. I had a full blood transfusion the first day and another full blood transfusion about a week later. And uh they put my body into a drug-induced coma for about a week. They didn't think I could handle any surgeries, so they left all my bones broken, sticking out. And about the seventh day, I think, because about a week later. Um this is one memory I have of waking up in the hospital. The paramedics that rescued me came back to visit because they heard that I was still alive and they were dropping somebody else off. They were just so so shocked because they had originally called the care flight because I broke my neck. They knew if they didn't take me to the hospital immediately that I was gonna bleed out. So if it wasn't for their quick thinking and uh quick actions, then I probably wouldn't be here sharing my story. And uh I did limb salvage from 2007 to 2010, so I had about 20 surgeries. Um, the last surgery I had that I kind of made me want to give up was a bone marrow transplant that took bone marrow from my good femur, screwed my hip up in the process, uh, and I had about an inch and a half of bone missing from my tibia. And I had over, I think, 200 screws in my leg at one point over the three years. And so my leg looked like Swiss cheese if you looked at the x-rays. I walked in and I asked, you know, the last appointment, I said, Can I see a comparison of day one to now? You put both x-rays up side by side. I just remember looking at it and like which one's which? I couldn't tell. And this was after the bone marrow transplant. So at that point, I told my doctor, I was like, I'm just ready to move on. Like, this has taken up a lot of my life. I was in my 20s at the time, so um, I was trying to move on with my life and I couldn't. So he made me think about it for two more months. Yeah, I'd bring my whole family in to make sure I was sane and not just make it all a rash, harsh decision. And when I came back from the room after he asked me to leave, my mom was crying, and I knew that he had agreed to do the surgery. So he scheduled it two days later, which I was kind of nervous about. Stayed up the night before taking pictures of my foot because I thought I was gonna miss it. But if you saw my foot back then, it looked like my left foot was my good foot, my 20-year-old foot, and the right foot looked like a 90-year-old man's foot. There was no meat on it, it was just really frail, and I had dropped foot technically because I had no muscles attached. Um, so when I woke up and my leg was gone, I was I was nervous, but the good part of that story is it immediately got me into the field. I I knew immediately I wanted to help people. Uh, I've always enjoyed helping others. I had no desire to be in the hospital or hospital industry, but here we are in the medical industry. And uh I've moved around quite a bit as a tech. So I've lived all over Texas. I just moved back from Hawaii where I was the lead tech there for three years. I've been part of a lot of adaptive groups as well as support groups. I actually spearheaded one in Hawaii called Aloha Limbs that me and the owner of North Shore Prosthetics ran together. And uh it just brought me more opportunity. And what I like to say mostly is it's opened more doors than it's ever closed for me. I feel like I've had more opportunity because of my experience and wanting to help others in the process.
SPEAKER_02:Wow, what a what a story. I didn't know uh uh all that. Yeah, but I mean, you know, word that comes to mind is you know, pretty close to a miracle.
SPEAKER_00:Yep, yep.
SPEAKER_02:Uh kind of gives you a different perspective on life. Definitely does. Can you touch on a little bit on that?
SPEAKER_00:Yeah, so um I grew up racing motocross, so when I woke up in the hospital when I was finally conscious and not heavily doped up, I remember looking down and just thinking, my life's over. I I can't do anything in life anymore. And um it was just a real, real bummer to wake up and see that. And it was the complete opposite when I lost my legs. So it just really motivated me to get out there and prove that I could still do things. Um, I've done a lot of photo shoots for companies over the years. Um, my friend made this thing called a Hydra Surf or Hydrafly. Uh-huh. And it's attaches to the back of a uh jet ski and it sends you up in the air about 20 feet. And it's all ankle control. So I was able to conquer that a couple years after my amputation, was able to fly around on it. I'm working with uh Future Motion right now, who makes one-wheel uh electric skateboards. I'm actually making content for them and getting paid for it. And they're actually flying out to do a little bit of a story on me. Um, just kind of my progression into one-wheels and what life is like after amputation, and the fact that I'm still able to help others while doing all this and working at the same time. So I'm very excited about that, and I think the socket we make made actually has a little bit of uh I don't know the right word, a little bit of promotion for them, I guess.
SPEAKER_01:Right.
SPEAKER_00:So um, yeah, it's just it's just been a great thing. And I'm I when I left Hawaii, uh, I've always had this dream of mine. It's called the Adventure of Samptee. And I came up with that name about three years ago, but the idea has been in my head for 10. And I just wanted to showcase, fly around showcasing uh people with disabilities still living life to the fullest. And if you follow me on LinkedIn, David Slider, I post a lot of that content. Now it's not all my content, but if I see it, if I like it, uh I make sure I want to share it. But the Adventurous Amputee will be me living full-time in an off-road RV and just traveling around uh North America, interviewing people and showcasing their ability after becoming disabled.
SPEAKER_02:Yeah, yeah, that's amazing. Let's uh let's let's hit on that social media aspect. I mean, I I know for me it's been a in a big LinkedIn specifically has been big for for me. It's opened a lot of doors, uh, have a lot of conversations with a bunch of people. Uh that's actually how we we we connected as well. So um yeah, share, share just a little bit about social media. Like I I don't do the Instagram and all that stuff. Uh I think I have an Instagram, but um uh I know and I know that's an important part of a lot of things, but I and I know you're up to date on a lot of these trends, but uh share a little bit about that, the power of social media and how that is a connector.
SPEAKER_00:Yeah, I mean, honestly, my last five or six years have all been uh at least job-wise, have been from social media posts. And like we connected, I have connections all around the world now. We just were at AOPA earlier this year, and I ran into some people from Latif that I knew from LinkedIn, and a friend from Belgium I'd never met, but we connected and actually went to go watch a rocket launch while out there in Orlando. And so the power of social media, I mean, everyone loves the hate on it, right? There's the downfall, and you can fall into a deep rabbit hole of what so-and-so is doing and keeping up with the Joneses, but it's been so powerful for me as a tool. That's how One Wheel found me. Actually, I was just posting videos of me riding riding the skateboard around Hawaii. And one day my friend goes, Hey, you know One Wheel follows you. I'm like, No, I didn't. I need to start tagging them in videos. And I started tagging them more, and they started reaching out to me and sending me free products, and I got a bunch of free t-shirts, and um, then just recently they reached out to me and said, Hey, we have a new idea to have paid social media content. And uh I was like, I'm all game for it. Well, that's just just getting started. I just uploaded the videos for them to edit. They actually are doing all the editing for me, so that's just way easier for me to go out and film myself with the N360 and just give the video over to them and let their editors go through it. But it's been a powerful way for me to connect with people around the world um to motivate people. Previously, my role was going around to rehabilitation clinics and trying to get them to use my OMP facility that I work for. And so I've built a lot of connections with therapists and doctors and surgeons through that network on LinkedIn. And it's just a good way to share motivational stories, uh, patient success stories. I know as me, an amputee, when I first lost my leg, my best friend was an amputee previous to my accident, about six months before. So I had someone to walk walk the path with me. Um, a lot of amputees don't have that. So I like to share my social media with them, show them all the cool stuff I can do with a one prost with the prosthesis, and just basically give them hope not to give up, but also connect with colleagues in the industry at the same time.
SPEAKER_02:Yeah, that's that's great. Let's let's dive in a little bit into the prosthetic and orthotic industry. You know, uh, I mean, you've been teching for for a while, you've seen some different trends and such. Um let's touch on the like patient searching out for a prosthetist side of things first. Uh what do you look for? What is potential uh like green light? What's a potential flag that you might need to dig in a little bit further just from some of the things that you've seen?
SPEAKER_00:So, I mean, I've worked in several different clinic settings from private businesses to big corporations, and uh one day I really noticed about my practitioner in Hawaii, Jim Che, I'll give him a little shout-out because he's an amazing old school prosthetist. He would give patients a choice. He'd have me come in explain what I liked about my foot that I was wearing at the time, and then the owner of North Shore was also below knee amputee, and he liked a completely different foot than I like. So he'd have me come in explain what I like, he'd have Eric come in, explain what he likes, and then the practitioner had a foot that he liked to go to. He wasn't an amputee, so he wanted everyone's opinion. And he'd actually give them a couple, two to three feet to try out. And uh, I just thought that was amazing because my very first prosthetic I got, I walked in and was handed a foot. There was no options. I didn't know there was other feet manufacturers, and I mean there's several feet on the market. I I'm a true believer that one foot doesn't fit everybody, and you won't know until you try it. So the fact that four, I feel like some clinics are opening up more to that idea. A lot of them don't want to do that because they think it's just more paperwork, they have to send one back, they have to pay shipping or whatever. Um, it's really just I think that's a downfall to the patients, uh, not being able to try stuff. I think social media is a powerful tool for them to see that. I am getting a lot of ads from other companies in the industry on my Facebook and Instagram. It doesn't bother me. Yes, I do work for somebody, but it's cool to see that, or social media is reaching the people who really need to see it because yes, as a professional prosthetist, orthodist, we make suggestions, but it really comes down to what the the patient needs or patient wants for their everyday use. And uh we all know there's not one foot fit for everything, but there is a foot that could do the majority of what you want to do in a daily life setting.
SPEAKER_02:Oh, that's interesting. So you're saying you're getting targeted ads because they know that you're an amputee. So I've heard about all that.
SPEAKER_00:How does that even work? You know, I mean, have you I haven't dived into it. I'm assuming it's because of I don't, I'm not a part of any Facebook amputee groups. I get tagged in them all the time. My Facebook's always been private. Um, but now that I'm in a different position, I'm I understand that people look to me for motivation. So I've opened up my friends list to whoever decides to add me. So I have a lot of amputees on my Facebook now, but I don't think I browse anything specific unless I'm browse on my own company's website or other companies as I'm researching them before I go talk to them. I like to dive into the clinics before I go talk to them about RFoot. I want to know about them, I want to know what kind of people they are. I like to look them up on LinkedIn. I'm giving away some of my trained secrets here.
SPEAKER_01:Oh man.
SPEAKER_00:I I enjoy learning about everyone's experience. And uh I want to like we want to relate to them, so I want to walk in knowing more about them. And uh, I'm a people person, I'm sure you've picked up on that so far. I can go anywhere in the world and I have a friend within five minutes because I enjoy talking to people, I enjoy learning about them, and uh I like to ask them questions that maybe others don't ask, like, what do you look for in a foot? What what kind of sockets do you like to use? Are you up on this technology? As I travel the country for my my day-to-day job, I'm also asking people, are you 3D printing? Because I'm really interested in that. It's you know, the technology is coming out. I feel like this is the best time to be in ampute. It's in this modern time now. There's so much coming out for us.
SPEAKER_02:Yeah, so I mean that's that's an interesting perspective from the you kind of the patient side of things and and what to look for. It sounds like this idea of a prosodus that listens. And I think that's important. Uh that not only listens, um to me, listening sometimes is uh a better trait to have than actually having experience with, say, a particular sort of uh amputation level or technology. Uh I think time and time again, uh as long as they have a as long as the clinician has a network of people that they trust that they can reach out to, um you you can have success as a patient uh specifically if you know that they're in your corner.
SPEAKER_00:Yes, exactly. And um, I mean I've been very blessed. I've most places I've worked for are the places that made my legs. So um being the technician, I get to make my own legs, and I'm real adamant on that, even though I'm not a tech technically anymore. Uh I'm very excited to be part of this process of the 3D printing because I still feel like I'm involved, but um it is, I feel like it's changing, and that the industry is obviously changing. There's more women entering the field, which I feel I'm not, you know, this might sound sexist to men, but I feel like women listen better uh to the patients. I've had a lot of great men prosthetists or male prosthetists. Um, but I feel like you know, more women entering the field is gonna open up to more more emotion, if that makes sense, because men like to hold close their emotions, but you know, sometimes you need someone to to vip to. As a new amputee, you might not know other amputees, and your prosthetist might be able to link you with somebody. So having a support system, including your prosthetist, in my mind, is one of the most important things as a new amputee.
SPEAKER_02:Yeah, I mean, I think that's an interesting um point of view as well, um, because having uh having a prosthesis and an amputation uh is is more than the physical equipment itself.
SPEAKER_00:Yes.
SPEAKER_02:You want to share, just touch on that?
SPEAKER_00:Yeah, so I mean, I'll tear a little bit more about my story here in this little part. Um so when I was in my rack, I was actually um it was kind of crazy. My motocross number growing up was 711, so 711 pops up everywhere. I was actually uh engaged to a girl at the time, and uh we it didn't work out. I was very emotionally upset afterwards and thought my life was over. But by the time I got around to cutting my leg off, our relationship had run its course, but uh it was just an emotional roller coaster for me. And it was like when I amputated my leg, I amputated all those feelings with it. Um but if I would have woke up and had my leg missing from day one, I would have spent the next two or three years going through those emotions. So I always like to say I went through them before losing my leg. And when I cut my leg off, I knew what it was like to have a leg that could fuse. Um so that to me was just like a relief when they cut it off. But most patients, that's the opposite. They wake up or that it's an emergency surgery and they have to amputate, and then they don't you don't you don't know much about amputation or prosthetics. I don't remember ever seeing somebody with a prosthetic before. And uh the fact that I knew people before amputation, I got to talk to the clinic that made my first leg. Uh, I was able to go through those emotions pre pre previously to the amputation. But a lot of patients don't have that, so they get their leg cut off, they're bombarded by all these prosthetists, all these companies that want to help them. Uh, I'm sure as you know, it's kind of like a you know drop of blood on the water with some of these, some of these companies. I'm not talking bad about anybody, but there's a lot, there's a lot of need to help people, and there's also a lot of um a lot of people chasing the same person, especially if it's someone active or someone that's like a star player. Um I wasn't seen that way, but now that now that I've been established, I feel like I have kind of a LinkedIn following. I do have companies reach out to me and they want to help me or want me to try something, but it's also very much the same for a new amputee. Everyone's trying to get them and they're being pulled and tugged each way, they don't know which way to go. Sometimes I just need another amputee's experience to to say that, you know, to say, hey, it's okay to switch. It's okay to talk to multiple people. You have to be comfortable with your prosthetist just as you would be comfortable with your doctor.
SPEAKER_02:Yeah. Well, let's go more to your the the professional side. So you were tech for a while and now you are at Allard. Yep. Uh can you just share a little bit about your transition into that role and then what does that what does that mean moving moving forward? It's uh it's a different chapter.
SPEAKER_00:Yeah, so I mean that's very exciting. Um I've always loved traveling, and uh when I first became a tech, I worked for a little company in Fort Worth called Baker Prosthetics, and it was originally owned by Gordon Stevens, and he gave me the opportunity to become a tech and paid me very well for starting out and not knowing anything. So I spent countless hours staying late, coming in early to learn new techniques when I could. And I while I did love it, I love working with my hands. I had previously came from a sales role with the Riley Auto Parts where I was used to selling over a million dollars a year. And uh I just I say it's the gift of Gab. I could talk to anybody. So as the sales reps came through and I learned more about what they do, I was always asking people, hey, can I give you guys hiring? Let me know. And while I did several interviews over the last 15 years, I never got to the third stage or second stage of the interview. So Alard actually found me because of social media. Um, I believe Jonas, the CEO here in America, saw a post of mine and shared it with a couple of the other salespeople. And um I have no idea that Alard is even coming out with the foot. So when they reached out to me, I was kind of like, Well, sorry guys, I'm not too interested in selling orthotics because I wear a prosthetic. And you know, like, oh great, we have a foot. And like, well, I've never heard of it, so that's That didn't give me much high hopes for the foot, honestly. And uh we had been talking since about February of this year, and I was moving back in June, so they just said, hey, wait until you get back to Texas and we'll sit down and talk. And so I was waiting to get a hold of them. Uh their travel schedules didn't align with mine. And uh I took a temporary job with the mobile prosthetic company, and they finally reached out and said, Hey, we want you to come up here and have a chat, and sat down in the conference room and started talking about my experience and personal stuff, and then well, hey, let's get let's give you a tour of the facility. And we walked straight to the warehouse and they handed me a foot and said, Okay, have a good day. I'm like, Well, what do you mean? It's like, we want you to try the foot, let us know what you think. I'm like, I thought I thought this was a job interview. So I I left a little upset, and I'll be honest, I put the foot in the back seat and didn't think about it. Um, I've been pretty brand loyal to another company my whole life. So the feet that I've tried outside of their feet I didn't like, so I wasn't excited about it. And a few days go by and Hampis reached out to me and said, Hey, have you tried that foot yet? And I'm like, No, dude, I've been busy. So I haven't had time to sit down and do it. So they finally convinced me to do it after like the fourth day of calling me, and I put it on, and immediately I text Hampus and said, Hey, I got some really bad news about this foot. And he goes, Well, what's that? And I go, Well, you're not getting this foot back because I'm keeping it. And I was just so excited about it. It was it was a completely different foot than what I expected. Um, and it just continues to impress me every day. And that's when Hampus called me, kind of laughing. And he's like, All right, you like the foot? And I was like, Yeah, so I'm a little upset because I thought we were talking about a job, and he kind of laughing. He's like, I wanted your honest opinion about the foot. I didn't want you to say you like the foot because we offered you a job. He's like, I really just wanted you to see how you really felt about it. And it's it's been a really great experience. Um, I learned a smaller, big company, I would say. So a little bit more freedom to do more creative, like social media creative-wise. And uh I'm covering 25 states in Canada, pretty much all North America. And so I've always loved to travel, and I'm single with no kids, so I volunteered to go everywhere. I just got back from Quebec for AOPQ. AOP something like that. I don't know how to spell, I don't know what their acronym is, but I just got back from their little AOPA uh thing last month, and it was really fun. Uh, now that I'm getting to travel and and tell my story and also you know sell a great product at the same time, it just It feels like a dream come true for me.
SPEAKER_02:That's that's great. I want to dive a little bit into the foot because I mean uh you've had a chance to wear a bunch of other feet and such. And you know, when you first take a look at this foot, uh I mean simple design. It's it's a simple design. You can tell that a lot of work, yeah. When you start looking at it, a lot of work was done on geometry and that sort of thing. But it doesn't look like it's gonna be as high performance as it is.
SPEAKER_00:Yeah.
SPEAKER_02:I mean, is that an unfair statement or is that a fair statement?
SPEAKER_00:That's a fair statement. I mean, that was my first impression, you know. I looked at it, you know. I'm I'm not a um, I'm a very lightweight category foot guy, so I like um I like the soft foot. I like as little weight as possible. So I've done rotators, I've done shock absorbers, and all that stuff just adds more weight to it. And I'm a very thin guy. If you've never seen me in person, I'm about a 165, 6'2. So um anything I can do to reduce the weight of my prosthesis helps me in my my natural gait. So yeah, by looking at it, real simple looking design. But I think the real proof to the concept or proof of the pudding, it's is inside the layup. So it's a uh patent pending layup or patent pin and carbon carbon rivets, which hold it together. And then each uh prosthetic foot, each category has a specific recipe or a layup. So I've been told by a couple people in the industry that a lot of the bigger corporations they take one big carbon billet and they cut three different sizes from that billet depending where they cut it at. Depends what category and size. Um we have a specific layup for every exact foot. So a P526 is not the same as a P525, and so forth for the P4 and P5, the different weight categories. So it's a natural, smooth gait. Uh it's full split, heel to keel. And we did the carbon rivets because we did some testing with metal rivets, and it was losing some energy. And so we did it with the carbon rivets, and we realized we were onto something. So we cook the top piece and the bottom piece in our autoclave. And then after that cures, I think it's a 24 to 48 pro 48-hour process. We pull it out, we put a little assembly glue on the toe to hold it together while we put the carbon rivets in. We put the carbon rivets in and put it right back into the oven for another 24 to 48 hours. And don't quote me on that time because I'm not exactly sure, but it is cooked twice in the process. And uh each person who's involved in the layup process must master each step. So, say there's 10 steps, you have to master step one completely on your own without any help before you can move on to step two. So it's about a one-year training process for anybody that comes in to work for us to learn how to make the foot start to finish.
SPEAKER_02:Wow. Yeah, I mean, it's just an elegant solution. And then watching you walk and then watching the videos. Uh, so for if you haven't uh checked out uh David's post, uh so today is the 18th, 17th. 17th. So uh look on uh November 17th, 2025, especially if you're listening to this in the future. Um you go back to that post that David has and watch him going up and down the stairs and the ramp and such. It's uh it's very, very impressive. And then there's uh another gentleman that's been around the field uh for a while. A lot of people call him the godfather, right?
SPEAKER_00:Jack Richmond. I call him the godfather.
SPEAKER_02:Yeah, there you go. Yeah. Um so he's been around a while, and he's wearing the foot too. And I mean uh him, especially as a prosthetist, and obviously an amputee, and somebody that's been around a long time, and somebody that's seen the evolution of uh prostheses, uh just prostheses in general. I mean, yeah. I I think it's uh I think it's a big time uh win when somebody says with that kind of experience says this foot is amazing.
SPEAKER_00:Yeah, and that's an I I was gonna mention him actually that's kind of got rambled on there. But so Jack actually has helped develop a lot of feet on the market and actually retired and came back because of Pete Peter Allard, the owner of our company, reached out and said, Hey, I'm going to go into prosthetics, I'm developing this foot. I would love your input, feedback on it. So he's been involved in the RD team every step of the way. And uh I honestly didn't know Jack before I started working here, but within meeting him at AOPA for the first time and and his wife, uh, man, they're just a delightful bundle of joy to be around. Um his wife, she's in the upper extreme, upper extreme of the amputee, and she's just full of energy. And we went to so everybody can move dinner the first night we were there, and just her energy enthusiasm cheering everybody on. And she's they've both been amputees way longer than I have. So to see them go through the experiences and to motivate new amputees, it's just a great team to be around. And Jack's been nothing but beneficial in my professional career, but also in my personal career career. Um, he does a lot of mission work, and I'm trying to get involved with some of that. As a as a technician who is, I guess, retired now. I still enjoy working with my hands. I just don't want to do it in a clinical setting unless I'm doing it for people who need help around the world. So um I do a lot of training classes with a lot of my friends. I'm teaching my friends how to do an upper extremity uh arm right now. They've never done one, they have a CFAB, and uh, it's just something I really enjoy doing. So if I can do any kind of side work or not work, but mission work, um, I'm more excited and thrilled to jump in with anybody who wants me to be involved.
SPEAKER_02:Yeah, yeah. Let's let's touch a little bit, you know, our our podcast does talk a lot about additive manufacturing and where where it may or may not fit in the prosthetic and orthotic realm. Uh I'd just love to get your perspective, not only as a as a person that's missing a leg, but then also on the professional side too. Where do you see 3D printing going?
SPEAKER_00:So when it first came out, I feel like everyone felt. I was like, that's that's not gonna work. I didn't think it'd be strong enough. It took too long. I mean, I could pull a check socket, cut it out 20 minutes, uh 20, 30 minutes, let it cool off. So uh a pretty quick process for me. Obviously, that would include modifying it, all that, setting the oven up. But to me, it just didn't make sense with the eight to ten hour prints. Uh uh, I know a lot of practitioners want a clear check socket, and I'm not sure if clear was an option to begin with, but I was opposed to it, being that I thought it was gonna replace me eventually. Um, but the more I learned about it and the more I looked into it, I realize it's a great tool for everybody to have in their their back pocket. But nowadays, I believe it's mandatory. If you're not learning about 3D printing, you're gonna get left behind in the future.
SPEAKER_02:So do you you you you feel that strongly that 3D printing is the is the future?
SPEAKER_00:I believe it'll help us help more people around the world. As many of us know professionally, prosthetics are not cheap. Um, it's never been an issue for me working in the field, but for a lot of my patients along the way, the high deductibles, uh, out-of-pocket expenses, travel. Um, we all have those easy-to-fit patients, but for those hard-to-fit patients, a lot of times they might have to travel two hours two states over to get a good fit for someone that's able to work with whatever disability they have or issues they're having with the fit. So I see it as an opportunity to make more prosthetics cheaper, quicker, and adjustments like we're talking about the flexible socket. Instead of having to remake a socket every six months because someone's losing volume, you print a new flexible. I see that as a benefit for the clinical side, also for insurance side who's don't want to pay$100,000 or$20,000 for a new prosthetic or$5,000 to$8,000 for a socket replacement. Now we can print a flexible inner, a little bit thicker, a little bit thinner, or maybe to relieve like an aroma like what I have in a cert area without reprinting the whole socket. And then if you do have to reprint it, I believe it's not pennies on the dollar, but it's a lot cheaper than a standard fabrication. Am I right there?
SPEAKER_02:Yeah, I think it depends on which which way you you go and what machine. But I mean, I would say in the future, I think you're getting probably close to a lateral move. And when when we talk 3D printing, that's that's kind of at least the goal for advanced 3D, is we want to be a lateral move to a central fab price of traditional fabrication. Yeah. Uh so and I think we can you know be there or be in that in that ballpark, even though the product itself may be at a uh higher level. So adjustability, you know, lattice structures, cushion, like all that stuff. But it really comes down to the design side of things to uh to make a make a go at this. Just kind of like yesterday, you know, we scanned your leg, we did a bunch of different scans, and then we started on working on that. I think you know, when you mentioned the thing about potentially losing your uh job because 3D printing, I mean, you saw that process. Yeah, and it's it's not negligible, right? No, I mean scanning. Someone has to do that.
SPEAKER_00:Yeah, someone still has to be there doing that.
SPEAKER_02:Yeah, so I think this idea that uh the InstaSocket, you throw it in the microwave and all of a sudden it pops out, um, you know, is not uh a reality. In fact, I we had another uh patient in and doing a similar thing to what uh what we're doing with you. Uh but you know, essentially a next day, a turn that's you know within probably 12 hours or so. And uh the the comment was made, man, this this was so easy. I don't know why more people are doing it. And I'm like, yeah, it's not easy.
SPEAKER_00:No, it's not. Watching that process start to finish, I mean you still have to have a technician because the clinician, in my eyes, the most important thing they could do is you know, initiate the first uh the first contact or the first appointment and getting the documentation for the patient. And a lot of the places I've worked at, we've started using assistants between the first appointment and the last appointment. So first appointment uh process comes out, gets documentation, makes sure everything's in order. Sometimes they would go ahead and cast. A lot of times the assistant would come back out in that we're mobile. We had three assistants and a couple process on staff, and they would do the test socket, the check sockets. Uh sometimes they'd do casting, but they didn't do delivery, obviously, because they have to sign off on the paperwork. So it's always done. It basically is creating more room and more time for clinicians to spend seeing more patients. And I think that's important as as time becomes a big factor in how much time we're spending with patients. And and you know, some patients, you know, a lot of places I've worked for, it's two check sockets no matter what, but if you need a third, fourth, fifth check socket, um, we're eating that cost, absorbing that when we're making sure we're giving a good fit to a prost a prosthesis patient. So I just I think it would create more time for the clinical side, and then the technicians can, like you said, work remotely. So I could go home at three o'clock and then you call me and say, Hey, I need this printed, and I can get it sent up to print remotely. I could come in at 5 a.m., 4 a.m. 6 a.m. and do the finishing details and have it ready for delivery at 8 a.m. So time is obviously a big factor in everything we did.
SPEAKER_02:Yeah, and I think that's an interesting point that you make there is the this idea of time. Uh the detailed aspect is revenue cycle management. And if you're able to get the product, and let's just pretend uh that the product is a superior product in a faster amount of time, that gets billed, sent to the insurance, and you're you get your money faster. Yes. That is good for everybody. Yep. So I think that's an interesting byproduct of what 3D printing can do. And but we're not talking about taking people's jobs. The jobs are still there, assembly has to be done, the revo fits still have to be laced up, stuff needs to be buffed. But the reality is it's health-wise, yes, probably a lot safer. I could speak on that too. To to to to do that. I mean, you had some allergic reactions to resins and such.
SPEAKER_00:So I just um, you know, I've been working as a tech for about 15 years now. And uh while in Hawaii, I started getting real bad eczema. I've never had eczema, and I'd smashed my finger, and I think I've got a little resin in it. And it took about a whole year. I went to the doctor and we tried all these treatments, and one of my coworkers who um her husband's been Hawaiian this whole life or lived in Hawaii, and he had mentioned that surfer or surfboard makers sometimes build up uh a toxicity of epoxy in their blood after so long. So that's the only thing I could think that was wrong that it's causing it because I left technician job in June, and probably about end of July, September, or August, my finger finally healed and I wasn't around resin anymore. So just the you know, the exposure. It's got to the point when the UPS person would come in the back room and like, man, it stinks back here. I'm like, I don't smell anything. You smell something, it's you get used to the smells and the toxic chemical, but you know, we all know that's bad, but it's even worse when you don't smell them yourself anymore.
SPEAKER_02:Yeah. Well, I think that's a the the safety side of things, and that's why I appreciate what Niles is doing for our field so much, not only desk collection, extraction, and such. Uh and you know, you were you you alluded to it, but with more uh women coming into the field, you want to make sure that stay long term, not only stay long term, but uh not affecting potential children, pregnancy, all that stuff. And I think that's where 3D printing really is uh uh a story to tell as well.
SPEAKER_00:Yeah, speaking on that, the the girl I'm referring to in Hawaii that was telling me about the toxicity from surf surfboard makers. Um she was pregnant when I first got there, and you know, we were really cautious what we had her do. So typically the clinicians come in, they glue their own pads up, stick them in, at least where I worked, they would stick them in the socket, and they're trying to tighten one or uh move pressure around. Um, but it got to the point where we just took it from her. Like she was we just made sure that she was safe. So I'd let her stay in the room and finish her notes, and I'd do any of the gluing or grinding or any of the more toxic things for her. And then even when she came back, you know, you're still um breastfeeding, you're still giving, you know, milk to your child, and you're still taking in those toxic an environment, so to speak. So yeah, I think 3D printing solves a lot of that. And one thing that I'm big on is uh environmental. So it's always bugged me that we're throwing away these resin bottles in the trash that goes to a dump where it rains and that water leaks out and goes into our reservoirs, and just seeing the plastic waste that our industry produces and plastic also is resins as well. It just drove me nuts. Um, and when I lived in Austin and worked for a big company, we had to recycle, I think, 60 or 70 percent of our waste. And I was throwing the bulldog test socket blanks in there and and then old test sockets in there, and I finally reached out and I found out that the local recycling company wasn't even recycling our plastic. So I'm pretty sure they were just pulling it out, throwing it in the trash. So it kind of uh kind of irked me the wrong way knowing how much waste and how much toxicity we're putting into the environment for 10% of the product we're using at 90%, 80% waste, I feel like.
SPEAKER_02:Yeah. Well, and I think there's a lot, uh there's still a lot of work to be done, but I think for me, one of the thing, biggest things is when I had Jan Nielsen on from um oh man, where is he uh anyway, somewhere in Europe. Uh sorry, Jan, I know you listen and I have forgotten where you are. We do talk uh oh, Denmark. He's from Denmark. Okay. So um what struck me is the amount of clean water we use to pour plaster casts.
SPEAKER_00:I didn't think about that till now.
SPEAKER_02:Yeah. And that was pretty upsetting. So, you know, you use clean water and then it becomes expendable. Yep, but that water is gone forever.
SPEAKER_00:Yeah, it's locked into that plaster rock.
SPEAKER_02:And uh that, like, you know, you talking about the resins and all that stuff, but the clean water gone for a temporary mold really bothered me.
SPEAKER_00:Yeah, and I think that we know as a you know here in America, we have most of us have clean drinking water, but there's a lot of places in the world that don't. And the fact that we take that for granted, I obviously took it for granted too, until you brought that up. That you know, that obviously makes a lot of sense. And being the tech, I've always had to take the trash out. So one thing I hated was plaster trash day or plaster trap day. Um the fact that you're eliminating that in the process, and I think that's just a huge upside to 3D printing.
SPEAKER_02:Yeah. Well, as we close out, uh I'd love for you to just share some, you know, maybe maybe funny tech stories or clinical stories or things that uh stick out, maybe uh one or two, and I'll share one or two.
SPEAKER_00:Yeah, so I can think of one. This is to Leonard, actually, because uh every time I go to the AOP or any of the uh the events, I always like to go to his classes. And he was sharing stories of shops burning down. And one thing I never thought of is you know being used to the chemical smell, the VOCs that land on the counter and stay there while I was gluing something up one day. And I was always taught by an old school tech to let your heat gun cool off. So I walked away thinking it was a cool-off mode on a wooden table. And it was about five in the morning, I was finishing something before the patient came in at eight or nine. And I smelt burning about a few minutes later, a few seconds later, and I walked back and the table was on fire from the heat gun that I did not put in cool-off mode. And uh I freaked out because my the owner of the company in Hawaii always told me not to do that. He's like, I'd rather buy another heat gun than you burn the place down. And I was like, I've been doing this 15 years, I've never burned anything down. Well, there's a time for everything. And I walked back and I freaked out, and I was able to get it out. It wasn't a huge fire, but if I didn't catch it within that certain time frame, it would have been big. And uh I put a piece of cardboard over it to hide it, and I didn't tell him. And then one day we're doing the cardboard change out. If you guys are attacked, you put cardboard on the table to make it last longer, and he noticed it, and uh, you kind of got mad, but I told him what happened, and he kind of gave me a scolding like dad would do, and told you not to do that. And so I printed a sign that said it was Smoky the Bear that says, only you can prevent lamb fires right in front of it to remind myself every day. But it was like it's a good funny story after the fact, but it could have been a lot worse. I could have been jobless afterwards.
SPEAKER_02:Yeah. No, I mean that's a that's a good one. And I think people forget like how dangerous some to creating some of these products are. I mean, I one one story from from mine uh work is uh a tech had put in a piece of foam and it was uh uh peeling.
SPEAKER_01:Yeah.
SPEAKER_02:And um, or no, it was like a thick ally plast foam for a distal cushion. And he forgot about it, and the thing starts smoking. And so I was a clinician at the time. I I see it smoking, and I no, no technician to be found. So I opened the oven, I put one glove on because that's all you need, right? You go stick it in and I grab it, and it was so flexible when I turned the the um foam was like molten lava and came around, it stuck to the back of my hand. And it just kept burning and burning and burning. And uh, I mean, I still have scarring to this day from that. So anytime you're pulling something out of the oven, just a reminder double glove, double both gloves, yeah, no matter what. Um so then to your point on the the gluing and that sort of thing. So this was I was working with uh a guy that's been around for a while, and he was saying that he was gluing up a bunch of knee pads, and so you to sew them up, you have your patterns, and then you have a cream piece of cream cow way out, and you you glue the whole thing with masters or whatever. And he was fairly new, but he had seen an experienced technician actually um take a lighter and kind of just light it um and to dry the to activate.
SPEAKER_00:Yes, I know exactly what you're talking about.
SPEAKER_02:So he did that, and I guess it stuck to the lighter, and he freaked out, he flings it, and the guy behind him was on the sewing machine. Oh my and so this massive piece of cream towel wraps around this guy's neck on fire. Uh luckily it was almost out, but needless to say, there were probably some choice words that uh don't yeah, don't ever do that again. And uh I'm sure it was bleeped out a few places, but yes, I'll never forget that story. I mean, it's it's it's one that you you can't even make up.
SPEAKER_00:Yeah. And the funny you brought up, because we were just talking previously recording this podcast. I asked you if you've seen Leonard's new oven, and that's one of the benefits of it, I believe, is you can't overcook foam. You could I've we've all walked away, you know, third 20 second, 30-second window to grab the foam out. If you're up at you know 365 to 400, you can't just leave foaming and walk away. But you know, a lot of times in Hawaii we left our oven off unless we were using it. First place I ever worked at, we didn't turn the oven on all day. So we I could turn it to a lower temperature, put it in, and walk away. But for the most part, your oven's cooked at 350 to 400 and it's on that all day. And we put foam in there, you have a short 20-second window, maybe? 50 seconds. Yeah, and so yeah, we've all had the flaming uh ball of foam thrown across the lab. So that's uh I've never had a stick to anyone. I haven't haven't been there doing that.
SPEAKER_02:Yeah. Yeah. I mean, and uh I was with Niles just this past week, and I didn't even realize this. Like that oven uh on the when you blister mold, it will actually so if like you you only want four inches of droop, yeah, it will hold it there.
SPEAKER_00:I did not know that either.
SPEAKER_02:Yeah, so like if you have it timed and it will be ready to go at at four inches, or if you want six inches, you add a little bit more time, but it never gets away from you. It just falls on the bottom of it.
SPEAKER_00:You're watching and you're at the like the one, you're at the one-fourth mark, and you're trying to get to that one-third or two-thirds mark, and then you walk away to do something, and it's on the it's on the table floor.
SPEAKER_02:Yeah, so I think that's an interesting thing. So if you're if you're out there listening, uh, and I know Niles is actually a avid listener of the Press North Athletics podcast, but check out his uh new oven. I think it's gonna be a great tool. Uh for sure. We're actually trying to get one to go down to Guatemala because one of the things, while we do use 3D printing for some of our pediatric stuff, it still is faster, like what you said, to uh drape mold something, yeah, cut it out, especially when you have a short window while visiting. Correct. And but it will heat up uh a sheet of quarter-inch polypropylene or co-poly in eight minutes, ready to pull.
SPEAKER_00:Oh, that's that's that's very pressant.
SPEAKER_02:Talk about a crazy cycle time, yeah. And so that's always been our bottleneck in Guatemala, and uh to get something down there like that would make it not a bottleneck.
SPEAKER_00:Yeah, not to mention, I think I think Leonard brought this up in one of his seminars, and I truly believe as a technician, I feel like a lot of technicians are underpaid and underappreciated. So I've been blessed to have some really high-paying salaries in the industry, but it took me a lot of fighting and proving my point. But this will actually open the door to more technicians who are not as uh tenured as I am to come in the door and not mess up so much. So you're not afraid to hire some kid who just lost his leg but wants to be involved in the industry. You can give them a path to to join the industry with us. I just I love that. I think more amputees are wanting to get more involved because we don't know anything about the field until we become an amputee, and then hey, this is a really interesting career path. Maybe I want to be involved in it.
SPEAKER_02:So one of the things though about that, the downside of this of this oven is that there's extra productivity. Yeah, yeah. So there are there are actual technicians, you know, that when that you put this the the piece in the oven, you might you might go out and take a smoke. Maybe you go to the you know, I'm working on something else usually.
SPEAKER_00:Oh no, 100%. I'm not saying you. No, I know what you mean.
SPEAKER_02:But um, so he was saying, you know, out of all the ovens that he's put in, there's also been this this thought, like, oh, you're expecting me to be more productive now.
SPEAKER_00:Yeah.
SPEAKER_02:And and that's not the case at all. It's it's a tool, and it's also a safety tool at the same time.
SPEAKER_00:And a cost because you're messing up less plastic and materials.
SPEAKER_02:100%. So it's just funny to like I would have never thought that way, right? Like, oh man, I don't have a time to you know take my my smoke break or my TikTok break. Whatever, whatever it is. So anyway.
SPEAKER_00:No, you love it.
SPEAKER_02:Well, uh, thanks so much for being on the podcast today.
SPEAKER_00:Yeah, I really had a lot, I had a blast. I love doing this kind of stuff and talking, talking shop with people.
SPEAKER_02:Yeah. Um, for people that don't know where to find you, where do you find you?
SPEAKER_00:Uh so my YouTube is the Adventurous Ampute, all one word on YouTube. Um, my LinkedIn's David Slider, I think. I think it's he was David S, but I made it easier for people to find me. And then uh my Instagram, which is an old Instagram, but I use it mostly as Pirate Peg Leg, and my new one's the is Adventurous Amputee. So hoping to really push this content coming out next year and working on a little RV project that's gonna cost cost a small fortune. But it's been a dream of mine, and I'm trying to make it happen by my next birthday. So hopefully by next September, I'll be ready to hit the road of my new Adventurous amputee mobile.
SPEAKER_02:That's awesome, man. Well, and thank you for listening to another episode of ProSetics and Orthotics Podcast. Have a great day.
