The Beginning
Necessity is the mother of all invention. Our story is no different.
Growing up on a farm in Northwest Wisconsin, life was relatively simple. We had crops. Animals. Land. Water. Gas. Vehicles. And more. If there were snowstorms, we had big tractors with plows. If the power went out, we had a massive generator and hundreds of gallons of gas that would last weeks if not months. Sure, life could get uncomfortable, but it never felt beyond our control. We had space to move, tools and knowledge to do anything we needed to. Life felt… safe.
To this day, the farm represents common knowledge blended with a strong work ethic. The right tools make any situation sustainable.
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The author, keeping peace between cats and dogs at an early age.
33 years later, I found myself living in Southern California. A place known for it’s beauty and quality of life. But it’s also a place that faces earthquakes, mud slides, droughts and conflicts that come from millions of people living in extremely close proximity to each other. The change in life was palpable.
It wasn’t until late 2014, when I decided to drive to Colorado for New Years with some friends, that it really hit home. As luck would have it, a storm rolled through Southern California, and dropped a few inches of snow in the mountains I was traveling over. Being from the Midwest, it didn’t faze me. I’d have never guessed this would add 7 hours to my drive that day. As I passed dozens of stuck and abandoned cars, and people setting up for long and cold nights, it shocked me how truly unprepared people were for even the smallest change in environment. I started to ask myself “what if something REALLY happened? What would these people do? What would I do to protect myself and my loved ones?”
And so my search began.
We're concerned about people just like you and me. The mother with 3 kids in her car that finds herself stuck 50 miles from home when an earthquake splits the highway, the guy driving to meet his friends in the mountains but accidentally drives in to the ditch in the middle of the night, the people sitting at their desk when a terrorist attack hits, and all they have with them is their laptop and a coffee. What do these people do to survive?
Our products are designed for these people. People like you and I - with families, jobs, and normal lives. Neighbors, family and friends who just so happen to find themselves in a stressful situation while going about their daily lives. So when everyone is making a run on the last bottles of water at the convenience station, you can head in the opposite direction and get away from a potentially even more dangerous situation. So when you come across a car wreck on the highway, you’ve got what you need to stop bleeding, and keep someone warm. So when something terrible truly happens, you are ready.
We're designing products that are simple, efficient, cost-effective and very high quality. You need to trust that our products will work when you need them, because your life may actually depend on it.