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THE DISTRIBUTOR’S LINK
SPECIALTY TOOLS & FASTENERS DISTRIBUTORS ASSOCIATION
PO Box 44, 500 Elm Grove Rd., Ste. 2I0, Elm Grove, Wl 53122
TEL 1-800-352-2981 FAX 262-784-5059 EMAIL info@stafda.org WEB www.stafda.org
BEAR GRYLLS TO KEYNOTE STAFDA’S
SAN DIEGO MEETING by Georgia H. Foley, CEO
British extreme adventurer and wilderness survivalist,
Bear Grylls, will keynote the Specialty Tools & Fasteners
Distributors Association’s (STAFDA) upcoming San Diego
Convention & Trade Show, October 30 – November 1,
2022. Grylls will speak on Monday morning, October 31,
on Resilience & Overcoming Obstacles during STAFDA’s
General Session.
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 twoday
trip into the wilderness where
he pushes the boundries on their
physical capabilities and mental
toughness.
The son of a British politician,
Edward “Bear” Grylls got the
nickname “Bear” from his sister a week after his birth.
From an early age, he learned to climb and sail with his
father. Then came skydiving and a second dan back
belt in Shotokan karate. After college, Grylls briefly
hiked in the Himalayan mountains of Sikkim and West
Bengal. 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. Becoming
SHOW EVENT ARTICLE
a survival instructor, he was twice posted to North Africa.
His time in the SAS ended as a result of a free fall
parachuting accident in Kenya in 1996.
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
where he looked down on the summit
while coping with temperatures of
-60 degree Celsius (-76 Fahrenheit);
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 is that they are all
attached to a charity. Whether it’s a children’s charity
(Global Angels), raising awareness of global warming, or
The Prince’s Trust, Bear always names a philanthropic
organization to benefit from his extreme physical tests.
Bear will not put any convention attendees to the
physical rigors he’s accustomed to, but his mental
toughness tips in a COVID-laden environment should
provide a refreshing and positive outlook on the world
today.
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