Started in a Melbourne garage. Tested in the Mallee.
Good Mate started with two mates and one broken product. We'd both fitted cheap water tanks to our own tourers, and both let us down: one rattled a bracket loose on the Mount Buffalo track, the other ran dry on the second day of a Grampians trip because gravity-feed just isn't pressure. Instead of putting up with it, we made it our mission to fix it properly.
So we built our own. Marine-grade aluminium, air-pressurised so you get real flow at the tap without relying on a powered pump that can fail, and mounted to the roof rack with hardware that doesn't work loose over a thousand kilometres of corrugations. We tested it on our own vehicles for a year before we let anyone else near it.
We're based in Melbourne, Victoria, and everything we make is designed, prototyped and pressure-tested locally — not because it's trendy, but because it means when something needs fixing in the design, we can walk out to the workshop and fix it that afternoon. Good gear, from your good mate.
What we build against
Tested here, not just designed here
Every prototype does laps of the Victorian High Country, the Great Ocean Road's back tracks and the Mallee itself before it's signed off.
Built to be fixed, not replaced
Standard fittings, no proprietary parts. If something fails in the field, you should be able to sort it with a multitool, not a warranty claim.
Small batches, real accountability
We're a small Melbourne team. If you email us, a person who helped build the thing will write back.
Every adventure needs a Good Mate.
Want to see it before you buy it? We're happy to show you the tank fitted to a real rig — get in touch and we'll organise a time.