A note from the FatBoy Tripods owner:
From a Pipe Dream to FatBoy Tripods. For those who may not know the story behind FatBoy Tripods, I wanted to take a moment and share.
It all started with a pipe dream. I was raised on a farm where replacing broken equipment was not always an option. If something broke, we fixed it. My grandfather was exceptionally skilled with his hands, and I was fortunate enough to spend countless hours alongside him in the shop. He taught me how to use tools, how to solve problems, and how to build things the right way. Looking back, I appreciate his patience more than ever. He could have finished most of those repairs ten times faster on his own, but instead, he took the time to teach me. Whenever a piece of equipment broke, we would head to the shop, look it over, and talk through our plan of attack.
More than once, my grandfather would come back the next morning and say:
“Casey, I had a pipe dream last night about how to repair that.”
That phrase stuck with me.
Years later, FatBoy Tripods became my pipe dream.
Building the First Tripod
Ten years ago, I built my first tripod. There was something incredibly satisfying about taking an idea, working through the challenges, and creating a finished product from scratch. I was hooked.
For the next several years, I continued learning, building, testing, and thinking about what atripod built strictly for shooting could become. Five years later, I decided to pursue that dream and introduced the first FatBoy Tripod. We were not interested in simply making another version of what was already on the market. We wanted to solve real problems. One of the biggest problems was the legs of other tripods crossing during use, so we designed a solution that prevented this. That innovation helped change what shooters expected from a tripod. But we were only getting started.
The Idea Behind the Invert 60
From there came what would become one of our flagship products: the Invert 60.
Once again, the goal was not to make something complicated just for the sake of being different.I spent countless hours overthinking the Invert 60 before eventually realizing that the answer was simplicity.
The shooting industry did not need more unnecessary tension knobs, complicated mechanisms, or features that looked impressive but offered little practical benefit. It needed something simple, strong, and built with purpose. The result was an inverted 60mm ball head designed specifically for the shooting industry.
No gimmicks. No unnecessary complexity. Just a product designed to perform. That philosophy has become a major part of how we approach product development at FatBoy.
From Coyote Hunting to the Shooting Industry What originally began as a tripod designed for hunting coyotes has grown into something far beyond what I imagined when I built that first tripod.
Today, FatBoy is a recognized name throughout the shooting industry. Our equipment is used by hunters in the field, competitive shooters on the clock, and top-tier snipers who demand absolute confidence in their gear. That is something I never take for granted. Every time I see someone using a FatBoy product, I think about those early days in the shop with my grandfather.
The same lessons he taught me—patience, craftsmanship, problem-solving, and doing things the right way—still influence how we build products today.
The Pipe Dreams Are Not Finished
I still have plenty of pipe dreams. Some are already in development. Others are ideas that I continue to think through, test, redesign, and improve. But one thing will never change. I will never release a FatBoy product simply because we can. Before anything carries the FatBoy name, it has to be thoroughly tested. It has to be proven in the field. And it has to demonstrate that it can perform at the highest level. If it does not meet that standard, it is not ready. That is the promise behind every product we build.
FatBoy Tripods may have started as a pipe dream, but the principles behind it were learned long before the company ever existed—in a farm shop, working beside my grandfather, figuring out how to fix whatever was broken. And there are still plenty more pipe dreams to come.
Casey Cornwell, Owner
Casey resides in Illinois with his wife and two kids. He enjoys spending his free time playing with his kids,
hunting, and working on the farm.
Meet the team:
Brittany Weiser- Director of Operations
Brittany has been with the company for 2.5 years. She came to FatBoy with extensive experience in
Operations Management in corporate retail banking and large corporate fitness centers, and she has sold
Real Estate for over 10 years. She has been married 18 years, has 3 kids and 2 dogs, and lives in Oklahoma. She loves to travel, go to the lake, and work in her garden.
Hailey Adams- Operations Administrator
Hailey has been with FatBoy Tripods for 2 years. She was a 4th grade teacher for 5 years before coming
to FBT. Her experience as a teacher makes her very organized and task-oriented. She recently got
married and had a baby girl! She also has a dog named Dash and a cat named Lulu! She resides in Oklahoma, and in her free time she likes to play board games, hang out with her family and craft!
Emily Elmore- Executive Administrator
Emily is the Executive Administrator at FatBoy Tripods. She lives in Colorado with her husband, daughter,
and dog. When she's not at work, she likes to spend time with her family at the zoo or reading.
Rebekah Nichols- Marketing and Sales Specialist.
Rebekah grew up in the outdoors and has worked in the outdoor/hunting and shooting industry for 7
years. Although she has worked for FatBoy for 18 months, she has been part of FatBoy Nation for 6
years!
With her 17 years of marketing and sales experience, she brings a unique mix of industry knowledge,
business experience and a genuine love for the outdoors to the team! She is a native Texan, but lives in
Oklahoma with her husband, Ethan, and two boys, Luke and JJ. If you don't find her thermal hunting, she is probably at the gym or exploring the outdoors with her family!