Back From Idaho

We Made It Home... Finally!

We were supposed to get home last night at about 9:45, after starting with a 7:20 a.m. flight out of Spokane.  We ended up sitting in the completely full plane, on the tarmac, for over 2 and a half hours due to weather to the east and traffic to the north.  I will give Delta credit, they kept the water flowing and kept us updated.  We had a couple of drinks and snacks in our carry on bag as well, so other than getting home well after midnight, we were pretty comfortable thanks to some very basic preps that we had with us.

Survival Enterprises

While in Coeur d'Alene, we visited Survival Enterprises and its owner, Kurt Wilson.  Kurt is an interesting guy, and a wealth of information.  He's been in the survival business for 27 years, starting in Califor,nia, then Reno, and finally ending up in North Idaho.  For much of that time, he was in the firearms business until he became yet another victim of BATF abuse.  You can read his story here.  He also dealt mostly with wholesale distribution and "alternative" health care.  He got his survival retail store much more recently.

He has tons of Honeyville Grains long term storage foods, plenty of Yoders canned bacon, Bega canned cheese and Red Feather canned butter on his racks, as well as Survival Staples canned meats, and more Wise Food Storage buckets than I've ever seen in one location... all at very good prices.  He also has Doulton water filters, Survival Food Tabs, and an assortment of camping and survival gear.  He showed us his warehouse which has pallet after pallet of more of his products.  He said that when other dealers had shortages of long term storage foods recently, he kept his shelves full because he plans ahead and orders in large quantities.

Kurt is a big proponent of herbal healing, and has his own line of Infinity products and other brands.  He has years of research and training with herbals and was raised with Klameth Indians and is blood brothers with the Hopi and Yaqui nations.

Kurt is not just a seller of merchandise, he is also a teacher.  He wants people to be prepared to survive whatever calamities life throws at them.  He said that if he can't fill a client's needs best, he will refer them to someone who can, rather than give them something they don't need.  After the Fukishima disaster, when Potassium Iodine pills were selling for hundreds of dollars on EBay, he pulled his from the shelf and refused to sell them to panic buyers. 

When I asked him to sum up his survival philosophy, he said, "Survivalism is a good understanding of Murphy."  That's about as succinct, and true statement as I've ever heard.

If you are ever in North Idaho, you owe it to yourself to visit Survival Enterprises at 235 W. Dalton Ave. in Coeur d'Alene.  If you live in the North West, make a weekend trip out there (it is a beautiful city with a ton of things to see and do) to check him out.  If you are not fortunate enough to go there, check out his website.

He is also the host of the weekly radio talk show, The Armchair Survivalist.  I plan to add that to commuting podcast rotation.

I picked up a can each of the bacon, butter and cheese, and will do product reviews in the near future.


Wedding Survival

We went to Idaho for my cousin's wedding.  I was honored to be his groomsman, and we just love his new bride.  Over the years, I've picked up a few tips that might help any of you who are getting ready to walk down the aisle...
1.  Don't tell the bride, the day before the wedding, that you made a command decision at the tuxedo shop and switched from a traditional black tux to a white pin-striped pimp suit
2.  An EDC kit on the belt makes an unsightly bulge under a tux... A skeletonized neck knife and a tactical folder, however, do not.  But have the EDC kit, along with plenty of water, some food, and a small sewing kit available at the church
3.  Using new bank line for your neck knife will leave the most atrocious ring around the collar on a tux shirt - use paracord instead. 
4.  Bank line, stripped down to it's three smaller cords, is great for tying beer cans to the newly-weds' bumper


Sponsor of the Week

Our Sponsor of the Week is Thrive Foods from Shelf Reliance.  Shelf Reliance is having the grand opening of their new facility in American Fork, Utah, on September 1st.  They'll have product samplings and building tours, along with a ribbon cutting by the Governor of Utah.  I really wish I could be there to see the new product showroom, tour the buildings, and see the Thrive Kitchen where they will host cooking shows.  The Thrive brand of food is of the highest quality and they have unique products such as freeze dried Mandarin Oranges that you won't find from other suppliers.  They also have the Cansolidator and Harvest lines of canned food rotating storage systems.  Check out Shelf Reliance and please tell them that you heard about them from If It Hits The Fan!