The Specialty Tools & Fasteners Distributors Association (STAFDA) has announced that it is going ahead with plans for its 46th Annual Convention & Trade Show which will take place from 30 October- 1 November at the San Diego Convention Centre, CA. Additionally, British extreme adventurer and wilderness survivalist, Bear Grylls, has been announced as the keynote speaker for the Association’s General Session, Monday morning, October 31, discussing Resilience & Overcoming Obstacles.
Grylls first drew attention after embarking on a number of outdoor adventures then became widely known for his wilderness survival TV shows in the United Kingdom and America: The Island with Bear Grylls and Running Wild with Bear Grylls. For the latter, Grylls takes celebrities and professional athletes on a two-day trip into the wilderness where he pushes the boundaries on their physical capabilities and mental toughness.
From 1994-1997, he served in the Territorial Army with 21 SAS as a trooper trained in, amongst other things, unarmed combat, desert and winter warfare, survival, climbing, parachuting, and explosives.
Some of Bear’s adventures include circumnavigating the British Isles on jet skis; climbing one of the most remote unclimbed peaks in Antarctica; setting a Parajet paramotor record in the Himalayas near Mount Everest in addition to summiting Mount Everest at age 23, becoming one of the youngest Britons to have done so. Other adventures include the world’s longest indoor freefall, an open-air formal dinner party in a hot-air balloon at 25,000 ft., and a 5,700 nautical mile trek in an ice-breaking, rigid-inflatable boat in the ice strewn Northwest Passage. The most notable thing about his adventures are they are all attached to a charity.
STAFDA’s San Diego Convention Registration opens on June 27, at 8:00 a.m. Central from the members-only section of stafda.org. You must be a member to attend.
For more information on the STAFDA Convention & Trade Show or membership, please contact Catherine Usher, cusher@stafda.org, 262/784-4774 or 800/352-2981.
Are you in the fastener, tool, fixing or related industries? You can subscribe to Torque Magazine or sign up to our weekly newsletter.
