Real Life Survival Story - Thank Goodness For Wazoo!

Dear Wazoo,

My brother and I cannot say thank you enough. Some time ago I purchased the Adventure bracelet from you and on Saturday, July 15, 2017 I had to use it.

We were at our cabin in Manitoba, Canada and had just finished dinner. My brother did very well fishing earlier that day and since it was a nice evening, we decided to go out fishing some more. While we were out, the temperature started to drop quickly (a sign a cold front coming in). We pushed our luck and fished a little longer because it wasn't an uncommon event and we had done this many times before.

Apparently we pushed our luck a little too far this time. The wind came from out of nowhere and it started to rain. As we headed back, the wind and rain continued to increase. Waves picked up front he strong winds and it was raining so hard that it looked as though a fog had fallen on the lake.

Storm Building on the Lake

It didn't take long to realize the 20 HP motor on our flat bottom boat was not strong enough to get us home. We realized we were being pushed out into the middle of the lake - not where we wanted to be! My brother yells that we'll try for Gull Island to get on the wayside to ride out the storm. To head towards Gull Island, however, we had to go broadside to the waves. 

We were doing fairly well at first but the waves began to fill the boat with water. When he cracked open the throttle to make a run for shore, all the water shifted to the back of the boat which made it dip below the water line. Water flooded in from behind and the boat went down!

Luckily we were not too far from shore and only in about 6 feet of water. We swam to the island but that didn’t mean the ordeal was over. It was still raining and the temperature was continuing to drop.

            All our gear was on that boat.

                       Cold and soaking wet, we were in trouble!

Luckily for us, I had my Wazoo Adventure bracelet on. We had to make a fire to get warm. I tore strips of birch bark off the trees and my brother gathered up sticks and dead fall for wood. I waited till the rain let up and I took both tinder packs off of the bracelet and the ranger bands too. I then used the ceramic knife to cut the FAT packs open and to shred one of the ranger bands to create more surface area. I lightly fluffed up one of the tinder packs and placed it inside the ranger band. The second tinder pack I fluffed up even more and placed it on top. The striker and ferro rod made plenty of sparks to ignite the tinder packs. We were both damn cold by now and I can't express how happy I was to see that initial flame!

If it were not for that bracelet, I’m not sure how things would have turned out. I just know it did its job when it was most needed.

Thank you just does not seem to say enough.

             Yours truly,

                           Leo