Turning Problems into Patents: The Inventive Genius of Bruce Bennett

Join us on a fascinating journey as we sit down with Bruce Bennett, the inventive genius behind Stage 8. You'll be riveted as Bruce tells the tale of a loose exhaust pipe on his Harley that sparked an idea, evolved into 82 patents, and laid the foundation for a thriving business. From solving a costly problem for beer canning companies to addressing a four million dollar issue on the space shuttle, Bruce's knack for inventive solutions is nothing short of remarkable.

Mark Chandler's video of Stage 8 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sC99YFJkhzc&t=138s

Be prepared to be amazed as Bruce walks us through his innovative solution for preventing loose slideouts on RVs - an invention that could potentially save you up to $10,000! We also take a trip down memory lane as he recounts his fascinating experience with a large order from the US government, and his work with the off-road industry and military. You'll find yourself captivated as he explains the critical importance of ensuring bolts never come loose, and how his solution for a Newmar customer ended up being applied in other unexpected situations.

But that's not all! Bruce extends a warm invitation to all our listeners, encouraging anyone facing challenges he can help solve to reach out to him. Our conversation wraps up with exciting event information and a peak into future projects that Bruce is undertaking. Trust us, you won’t want to miss this thrilling episode with a man who turned a simple problem into a lifelong mission of inventing solutions.

Reach Bruce at:
Bruce@Stage8.com

or Info@Stage8.com

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Transcript

Dan Hunt: 0:00

Have you ever had a bolt work loose on your RV causing you a headache? This is the RV Life Podcast. I'm Dan Hunt with my incredible wife, patty Hunt, and our guest today had that exact problem on his Harley One day after replacing his exhaust pipe. He was driving down the road and guess what? That exhaust pipe fell off because that bolt, from the vibration and the heat, just loosened and it went away. He did not want to do that each and every week because he knew it would just keep coming loose. So what did he do? He sat down and invented a new one that actually works and stays on, and that is the day that stage eight was born Today solving problems for RVers everywhere around the world. And not just RVers anyone who has a nut or bolt loose today on anything, even in space.

Patti Hunt: 1:37

This is going to be an incredible interview with our guest talking about well loose nuts and bolts.

Dan Hunt: 1:46

Now we all know somebody that's got a loose nut or a bolt in our lives. but I'll tell you what. when I was speaking with Bruce for the very first time, we were standing on a street in Manassas, virginia, and he started talking about oh yeah, i've got stuff up on the space shuttle, he said. they came to me and asked me a question about could I keep my their camera? their four million dollar camera came loose and it just floated off into space, and so stage eight had the solution for that, and you know, when we're talking about solutions, that sounds means it's time for our fun fact of the day brought to you by open road resorts, and they are full of solutions here on the RV life podcast. Patty, talk to me about open road resorts.

Patti Hunt: 2:37

Open road resorts has four amazing campgrounds. One of them is near Dallas, Texas, and it is just amazing looking. So those of you that are going to be in and around Dallas, you want to check out open road resorts. And then they have three additional resorts in Montana and Utah and the area around Yellow Stone. We had Chase Becker on the show, I guess about a month ago, and he painted a picture of that area that Dan and I just can't wait to get there. It sounds amazing.

Dan Hunt: 3:16

I don't know if, bruce, if you have been to that part of the country, you know, and I haven't mentioned yet too, today we have a special guest. Our producer, patrick Buchanan from RV life, is going to be a special live guest on the show. Patrick, welcome to the RV life podcast. Great Thank you. That was from Patrick. You know we always love it when Patrick is on the RV live podcast And this is the first time we've talked him into coming on and doing the RV life pro tip of the week Absolutely, live, live, put them on the spot. So, bruce, this is a very special show for us And you know, when we talk about our fun fact today, our fun fact is about patents, and I'll bet you have a one or two of those around laying around your office somewhere, huh.

Bruce Bennett: 4:07

Oh yeah, oh yeah, oh yeah Well let's get to the fun fact.

Patti Hunt: 4:12

So Dan and I are actually right now in Virginia, right outside of Washington DC, where the patent office is actually located. And you know, let's talk patents. The patent office came to be in 1790.

Dan Hunt: 4:30

That's when the office started And since 1792 today they have issued just over 10 million patents And, bruce, i think you've got 9,999,000 of those right.

Bruce Bennett: 4:46

Just 82. 82.

Patti Hunt: 4:48

82 patents. That's amazing. Can't wait to hear more about that.

Dan Hunt: 4:53

You know, one of the questions that just always comes to my mind, because I just keep asking questions, is what company owns the most patents? And the sources that we looked at today on the internet tells us international business machines or IBM, holds the most patents of anybody in the world, most US patents. So you have about 80 of them for your nuts and bolts and loose screws. I hear it right.

Bruce Bennett: 5:22

There's a couple other things. Yes, I did.

Patti Hunt: 5:26

Wow, so I can't wait to get in and talk to Bruce Bennett about his inventions that really are going to be, or are, a help to the RV community.

Dan Hunt: 5:41

Yes, those patents have done some incredible things, not just for his motorcycle exhaust pipe, but for anybody who owns a Numar RV. There seems to be a slide problem where there's a little vibration going on with the motor housing for the slide, and they have invented a $78 fix for a $10,000 problem. Basically is what it is. They have invented this and they have worked on it for a customer. We're going to get into all of that right after we go to break right now on the RV Life podcast.

Patrick Buchanan: 6:20

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Dan Hunt: 6:51

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Dan Hunt: 7:35

You know, you never know where any given day is going to take you. But for Bruce, this one day in his life changed his life forever. He took a drive on his Harley that he had just replaced the exhaust pipe on. And guess what? Halfway through that drive, that exhaust pipe fell off. He had to go into the bushes to get some leaves because it was so hot he couldn't pick it up to take it back to his garage And his trusty sidekick Eightball, the German Shepherd.

Dan Hunt: 8:05

Well, that day that that drive fell off, that pipe fell off. It changed his life forever. Now Bruce didn't want to go through. He looked at that bolt, he inspected it and he said you know, this is just going to keep coming off, over and, over and over again. So he said I can do something better than that. And he created a solution that is not just for him, but this solution has changed the lives of thousands and thousands of people. And that day, him and his furry friend who passed away that night that he was making that first bolt for the Harley. His dog unfortunately left us And Bruce named the company after the dog, keeping the respect for that dog and his furry friend with him forever. As I look at him right now, he's got his shirt on. It says eight ball on there And we are so happy to have Bruce as our guest today.

Patti Hunt: 9:07

So we are talking about Bruce Bennett and his dog eight ball. The company is stage eight and we want to welcome you to the RV Life podcast, Bruce.

Bruce Bennett: 9:18

Thank you.

Patti Hunt: 9:19

You're welcome.

Dan Hunt: 9:21

Bruce, that had to be a life changing moment and it just seems so simple. You know, i've looked at your stuff and it just seems so simple. Tell me about how the idea came to you to fix this and, and you know, overcome the vibration and heat issue that you saw was taking that bolt that held that pipe on.

Bruce Bennett: 9:44

I knew clamp load wasn't going to solve the problem because all it does is, you know, stretch the threads or whatever the case may be, and they get worn out. So basically it was just a loosening problem. So I just needed to make sure that that bolt that you just put on with a wrench stayed there. So the whole idea was leaving a little wrench on the bolt and that if the wrench got it there, if you left it there, it's going to stay there. The designs were up until eight. eight whole designs was just my final design, but I started with a hole in the bolt. I started with a very weird shape retainer, but it graduated to number my eighth design and that's when my dog passed away that night, when I actually showed the bolt at three o'clock in the morning to my dog and I realized she passed away, so I decided to name the company after my dog and that's the whole corny story there.

Patti Hunt: 10:42

That's a great story. That is really amazing, and so, while I do help out with some of the work on the RV, i'm not, as you know, good at it as Dan. So for our listeners, we are talking about a bolt that needs to stay locked on, and that's what you invented and will lead people to a video that they could see it. But that's pretty incredible, and you said you took eight times. So you came up with the solution and you know your story really inspires me. You truly are an inspiration and really finding a problem and coming up with a solution Have you always been like that?

Bruce Bennett: 11:27

Yes, i've been self-employed since I was 16 years old and I figure I broke lots of things in my earlier life because I wound up fixing everything in this one And I've always been able to do it. I've been gifted enough to be able to conceptualize a situation and actually physically solve the problems, so I was very lucky to be able to do those things.

Dan Hunt: 11:54

Now, Bruce, you've told us about some pretty incredible problems that you have solved. Can you tell us a little bit about some of the strangest use case for the inventions that you've come up with?

Bruce Bennett: 12:06

Oh boy. Well, I guess the one that would be the claim to fame is holding all the beer can making machinery together. There's a flywheel about 3,000 pound flywheel that rotates when it's making the beer cans. Well, what happened is evidently this flywheel came loose for the company and went right through the wall and cut the owner's Corvette in half.

Bruce Bennett: 12:35

And they called me up and asked me if I'd come down and solve a problem for them. And I said okay, and I go down there and we sit in a room with 10 engineers on a table with a big cloth over a pile in the middle of the table And I ask them what's that? And they go and they pull it over and there's a set of headers all mangled up after it got run over, but it's got my header bolts on it. And so they says, well, if you can fix this, we want you to go around and see what you can hold together in our canning company. So I walked around the plant and it showed them different places that I could solve the problem. And the owner of the company looked at me and he looked at his engineers and he said anything this guy says to put on my machines, do it. And we've been making product for them for over 25 years.

Dan Hunt: 13:34

So what I heard, bruce, is there would be no more beer cans if it wasn't for you, if you didn't fix the problem. So the next time that you go out, if you're an RV life listener, rv life podcast listener, and you're having a beer right now sitting around the campfire, you want to thank Bruce right now and just join me with giving him applause, because I have never had a beer in my life. But I will tell you, a lot of my friends love having that beer every single night And it wouldn't be there if you didn't fix the canning solution for those beers out there.

: 14:15

It's, they just touched everybody.

Dan Hunt: 14:18

Talk about you. know you? Patty said you were an inspiration to her. You are an inspiration to every man in America, thank you. So, yeah, i mean that that is quite the story. Now, beyond beer, i think, i think you have some stuff up out in space too. What's going on out there?

Bruce Bennett: 14:42

We. There's a four million dollar camera on the robotic arm on the space shuttle And it's held together by some very small quarter inch screws And it floated away because the screws came loose. Anyway, now we hold them on. We've been holding those on for about five or six years now And there has been no problems whatsoever.

Patti Hunt: 15:08

Wait, you're talking about a camera that's being held on, but this isn't just any camera. What did you say? the cost of this camera was that have flown away, floated away previous.

Dan Hunt: 15:19

Four million dollars.

Patti Hunt: 15:21

Four million. I just had to emphasize that. a four million dollar fix, that's pretty impressive. I'm additionally inspired and impressed by you.

Dan Hunt: 15:32

You know, bruce, about a month ago you and I had a chat and you inspired me to take my grandson over to the Smithsonian where the discovery is the space shuttle discovery. And that arm that you're talking about is actually on the floor of the Smithsonian And the camera is attached to it, but with a little bolt, your bolt, mind you, but it's sitting on the floor on display in the Smithsonian. You know, i mean, here's a man that he didn't just give you beer, he has been in this. He is now in the Smithsonian Institute with his invent. It's just incredible. You just it makes the hair on the back of my arms just stand up. You gotta just absolutely crazy, crazy stuff. Now also, let's get you into the RV industry. You're not an RVer, you told me.

Bruce Bennett: 16:33

No.

Dan Hunt: 16:33

I am But a Newmark customer. Somebody that owned a Newmark contacted you and said we're having a problem with our slide out. The vibration is making this the bolts on this motor that hold the motor together. It's making them continually come loose. And when those come loose that's not a good thing because the slide starts cocking one way or the other, and you had a solution for that. Tell us about how you came up with that solution.

Bruce Bennett: 17:09

Well, actually it was basically the same solution we use in other situations. Actually, one of the these for the beer can making machinery was a bridge type of assembly. It's just a different size and a different shape. But the trick is never let the bolts start and to come loose, cause once it starts to come loose, it's only gonna go one way and it's gonna get looser. It's never gonna tighten itself.

Patti Hunt: 17:35

Right, okay, so those of us in RVs that have those slide outs And from what I understand, it's not just Newmark but a lot of people having problems with the slide outs Does your product work for different? we have a Monaco. Can we put them on our Monaco? Put you on the spot here.

Bruce Bennett: 17:54

I can't tell you exactly what model they go on. They fit about 90% of the motor homes right now And they use this. I mean these slide outs. But where I live it's not exactly an RV community, and so I've done everything with the RV on the computer and with pictures from people that send them in to me. So I've actually personally never been underneath an RV to put this bolt on, but I know how to keep them tight. So, everybody's very helpful in this industry.

Dan Hunt: 18:34

I will tell you if you do not know what we're speaking of right now our friend Mark Chandler, who has the YouTube channel. Our Journey in Miles.

Patti Hunt: 18:47

That is spelled M-Y-L-E-S, so that people can find it.

Dan Hunt: 18:53

Okay, there will be a link to it in the show notes below, but Mark did a video that actually just came out earlier today and Patrick sent it over to us. Now, patrick, you'll be hearing from him in a few minutes, but he just sent that video over to us. It's a very in-depth, detailed video of how your solution that literally costs $78 on your website is what the solution is $78 on the website is fixing, you know, a $1,000 problem for him that he really had and, like you said, what we need to do is stop these things from coming loose in the first place, because when they come loose, things start breaking, and we don't want things to break on our RVs, especially the slide, especially the slide.

Patti Hunt: 19:43

And you're saying 90% of RVs. It works on 90% of RVs, So that's great 90% of them Great.

Bruce Bennett: 19:51

We get requests for all sorts of different things on the particular motor homes and the slides. If someone out there had a different shape or different problem, we're open to helping them out. You know they get ahold of us.

Dan Hunt: 20:07

Now it's not an RV, but before we came on the air you were telling us about a military installation on a door of a tank, and you actually got to go out in Texas and watch them blow one of these things up as it hit a mine. Tell us about that story real quick.

Bruce Bennett: 20:25

Okay. Well, bae contacted me about their doors coming loose. The doors weigh 900 pounds on this vehicle and they drive over rough terrain and the more it happens and the more vibration and what happened? that they'd hit IED and the door would come off. And what happened? you have an explosion and it create a giant vacuum and no doors. It'll suck the driver out and hurt him bad. Sometimes you kill him. So I went to a testing plant and we put our bolts on a vehicle and then sent it out over remotely and had it run over a bomb and to see if the bolts would stay tight, which they did, and then we wound up making a lot of bolts for the military during that period of time, but they won everything.

Bruce Bennett: 21:19

Yesterday, too, it was a challenge, let me tell you.

Dan Hunt: 21:26

Bruce, we're gonna take a quick break and talk about RV Life Trip Wizard, But after the break we're gonna talk about what's next for stage eight. We're gonna talk about getting the military their product quickly and having to do all the paperwork that goes along with working with the military, And Patrick's gonna bring us our RV Life Pro Tip of the Week. All that is coming up right after this.

Patti Hunt: 21:51

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Dan Hunt: 22:08

It just works and we do not. This is a personal testimony here. We do not move our RV one inch without first talking to RV Trip Wizard, and you know when we're talking about that. Patrick, we're gonna have a great big party at America's Super Show, america's RV Show, in Hershey this year. We're gonna have a party and we're inviting all of the RV Life Podcast listeners. If you're going to be in Hershey, you want to get tickets to this party. It's the RV Life Live event.

Patti Hunt: 22:50

Link will be in the show notes.

Dan Hunt: 22:53

The link for that will be in the show notes. It's $15 per person, includes all the food that you can eat. It includes all the Pennsylvania Dutch beer that you can drink. Some Pennsylvania wine will be there. We have put together an event. Last year we had an event at this same place. We just loved it. We'll have some entertainment there. The border hookups, patty and I will jump up on stage and dance a little bit for you. We're gonna give away a lot of stuff. I know that one of our other sponsors, crackin' Adventure Bikes, is giving away an electric bicycle.

Patti Hunt: 23:27

An open road. I gotta jump in is giving a $500 gift card. I was shocked Patrick's shaking his head, so I'm on the right track. $500 gift card. It's a shame I can't sign up for that one, because I'd like to win that.

Dan Hunt: 23:45

Yeah, you know, going that part of the country and I was there when I was a younger person but going up to Yellowstone and walking through there and seeing Old Faithful and seeing some of those things, you just cannot believe what it's like walking through that part of the country. It is just the most beautiful place in the entire world.

Patti Hunt: 24:10

We're gonna clear something up. So we have our sponsor open road resource, which is beautiful We're talking about open roads which is the gas card that we use all the time. They're donating $500. We have a lot of people sponsoring a lot of things, so just keep it straight Yeah, open roads, which we call the TSD card, they now refer to themselves as open roads. They've given a $500 gas card, so that's amazing.

Dan Hunt: 24:39

That is amazing, and we can all use diesel. It is.

Patti Hunt: 24:45

Well, we don't all use it right.

Dan Hunt: 24:47

Well, if you don't, you should. If you don't have a diesel pusher, you should. But I'll tell you what. That is just one of our biggest expenses, and we do use the open road app all the time to find the best gas prices that we can or diesel prices that we can.

Dan Hunt: 25:05

So we wanna thank them for donating that. There is nothing that Patty and I like doing better than giving stuff away. And if you come to this event, we're gonna give away an electric bicycle. We're gonna give away one of those cornhole games from another one of our sponsors. Liquid Rubber is sending us down a cornhole game. Yep, we've got a couple of other things lined up as well, so we're really looking forward to this event at Hershey. The link is in the show notes below, so just go down to those show notes and take a look. You'll want to. all you have to do is put your email address in. pay us $15 per person If you have a child. kids under 12, correct, under 12 kids under 12 are absolutely free. They can eat all night long. They had the best brownies there. I know Patrick, you had a brownie or five last year when we were at this event.

Patti Hunt: 26:03

Call Patrick out Poor Patrick. Okay, i want to hear more about the whole thing with your product and the military Can be easy working with them. Tell us a little more about what happened there and how that happened, bruce.

Bruce Bennett: 26:22

Well, that's a big question. They come to you and it says that you don't just go bang on the door and say, hey, i have something. So obviously they had to have a major problem And it just happened as an accident On my end. Basically, we had sent out some little display blocks that I'd made that showed the four or five different types of fastener locking fasteners we had made. And when I finally did go down and see them, at their request, they had this, my display block, sitting on the window sill. And the guy's telling me says this was the best idea you've ever had, And I go well, i thought the bolt was. He says, no, this little block that I've been using for a pencil holder or a pen hold, because I drilled a hole in it so you could put a pen on it.

Bruce Bennett: 27:13

And one thing led to another And I was impressed at how thorough everything was And at the point at first I looked at it as total overkill. How many drawings can you make of the same thing? But they're very thorough And when they test something, they tested, believe me, and we won out, i guess. But they decided they needed 5,000 pieces right away. Well, we can do 5,000 pieces. That wasn't a problem, except two weeks later they wanted 50,000 pieces because they missed the decimal point And just a little bit different.

Bruce Bennett: 27:58

Yeah And oh, it's got worse With three weeks go by. They missed another decimal point and they needed a half a million pieces. Well, let me tell you that was 24, seven for two and a half years And they would send up a FedEx truck every day and pick up product and fly it to Texas.

Patti Hunt: 28:22

It was Wow, that's incredible.

Bruce Bennett: 28:24

It was scary, but what was really scary was the fact that my patent was, in effect, that if you can't produce what the government wants you to, they can circumvent your patent. So, in other words, if I wasn't able to use this stuff, they go someplace else to get it. Well, needless to say, jumped through lots of hoops, called in lots of favors And we were able to fulfill all the necessary requirements.

Patti Hunt: 28:55

Wow, that an applaud for you. That is incredible And it's an incredible story. And again, what I'd love is that you see a problem, or somebody knocks on your door with a problem and you find a solution, and that's just incredible. I'm not so much, you know, like that, looking at problems and finding solutions, but that's incredible. Tell us now what's next for stage eight. Is there something new coming up, something in the works? What's next?

Dan Hunt: 29:32

Well, I hear the military is going to order about 50,000 of those door fasteners. Or is it 500,000, or is it a half a million?

Bruce Bennett: 29:40

Well, we're getting more and more involved in the off-road industry. Basically, you've got your shake, rattle and roll in your vibration there And the side by side is a new off-road vehicle. These guys beat the heck out of these things. So we're doing a couple of little projects for them. Naturally, the exhaust headers, which we've been doing for automotive industry, and the smaller motors, those bolts, but actually the suspension pieces, are getting interesting. Everybody has a little different shape And the whole trick is to keep the bolt, never to start to loosen. That project is we have a couple military-wise that I'm not supposed to talk about yet And I don't really know where it goes. But it's a nothing bolt And I'll do my part.

Patti Hunt: 30:39

You better.

Bruce Bennett: 30:42

It gets interesting every day And some of them are real simple and some of them take a lot of work. Well, you know, one of the things I thought which were interesting because you have 10 miles of conveyor belt This is one I did oh God, now I remember I did one for a banana plantation And you have 25 miles of conveyor going out into the jungle and bringing back the bananas. Well, if a bolt comes loose and that line goes down, nothing works. We did that many years ago. I forgot all about it, but just crazy things like that.

Dan Hunt: 31:31

Well, you know, in the RV world we almost all tow a vehicle behind our RV And towing that jeep. I would feel much better if you would design the bolt that holds that jeep on the back of my RV, because there's always that thought that you're going to step on the brakes and see your jeep drive by and keep going beside you there. So, yeah, i think that's something that we could work on with you is getting those fasteners.

Bruce Bennett: 32:03

Oh, you know anybody in the RV industry and obviously you're well involved with that If they have a problem, or rather send us an email or a picture or something like that and say this is driving us crazy. We've been doing this now for 35 years. We have a lot of stuff on the shelf that sometimes we can just pull one off and send it to them. We do a lot of glass ones because obviously it's not going to become a marketable product all the time, But we do have them, and lots of different sizes.

Patti Hunt: 32:37

Okay. So for our RV Life listeners, rv Life podcast listeners you heard it from the owner, bruce. He said just reach out to him, send him an email. Of course, the email will be in the show notes And if you have a problem that he could solve, just let him know and he'll find a solution for it. And we want to thank you, bruce, so much for being on the show. The RV Life community so appreciates what you are doing.

Dan Hunt: 33:06

You know, there are hundreds of guys that I know that sit around campfires and bitch about this or that or the other thing. Well, this gentleman right here, bruce Bennett, he has the solutions and he is saying send them an email. We'll put his email address in the show notes below so you don't have to have that problem anymore. Stop sitting around the campfire and bitching and do something about it, because that is what life is all about having that good, positive attitude to get things done. Talking about getting things done.

Dan Hunt: 33:42

we're going to be back right after this with Patrick Buchanan and this week's RV Life pro tip of the week. And, patrick, you're going to have to get another bolt into this pro tip of the week. I know you're doing it live for the first time, but you got to get that in there. I'm just going to put a little hard stuff on here. So this is the RV Life podcast. I'm Dan Hunt, we are with Bruce Bennett of Stage 8 Fasteners and we also have our producer, patrick Buchanan, online with us, but we will be back right after this.

Patti Hunt: 34:16

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Patrick Buchanan: 35:01

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Dan Hunt: 35:33

I'm Dan Hunt, with my incredible wife, patty Hunt, and we are so happy to be able to bring Bruce Bennett to you today with stage eight fasteners. The wrong the wrong slide came up for me here, but that's OK. I also have Patrick Buchanan with this week's RV Life tip of the week. Patrick, are you with us?

: 35:58

Yes, as RVers, we're always looking to explore, so we don't often go home the same way we came, if we can help it. Sometimes, however, it's helpful just to plot the fastest way home or simply go back the way we came. In these cases, the round trip options in RV Life, trip Wizard, is a handy tool to make your return trip planning more efficient. Using the round trip options, you can mirror your stops back to your starting point or find the most direct route back home. Take a look at the round trip options feature and see if it's right for you. For RV Life. I'm Pat Buchanan.

Patti Hunt: 36:35

That is a great tip, dan and I, as we travel around the country and we speak at events And we'll talk more about that People ask that all the time. They say I'm trying to plan on the app, when in fact you need to plan on a computer, right, patrick? and then look at the app And I have to say now, dan and I have been RV Trip Wizard users. Dan got this app, this suite of products, before we ever had the RV, so he was already planning out the trips before we had the RV. And I have to say, in the almost three years that we've had it, rv Trip Wizard has made so many changes and so many improvements to the app, to the program. It's just been amazing And again, people ask that a lot, so I like to share that. there have been so many changes that have been awesome.

Dan Hunt: 37:31

You know we have met at some of the shows some of your backroom tech guys, and don't kill me, but I'm going to let something out of the bag. I hear a little birdie told me that come 4th of July, the price of the RV Life Trip Wizard app is going to be going up. So you want to take advantage of the discount you will get by using the discount code for RV Life Podcast listeners, which is in the show notes below, and you want to do that before the 4th of July, because one of the things I love about RV Life and I love about this product your price is locked in. It may be $59 a year right now, but if it goes to $159 a year after the 4th of July, your price will be locked in for your life at that $59. And I love that option for RV Life. So you want to like.

Dan Hunt: 38:33

This is not a time to procrastinate. This is a time to get that wrench out and screw that bolt on, because you got to do it now, because it's going to be going up, and when I get a memo from the big boss that says we're going to be raising our rates, you might want to get your people to get out there and buy it now. This is what I'm telling you If you don't have RV Life Trip Wizard right now, you're missing the boat, baby. You need to get it right now and get it before that price goes up, because remember, once you get it at the price that you get it at now, that price will be locked into you for your lifetime, every single year. You will not be paying those upgraded prices.

Patti Hunt: 39:20

And while we're talking about this so much, i do have to say RV Life Pro is a suite of products. So that includes the RV campground reviews that are for RVers by RVers, that includes the maintenance, that includes anything that RV Life adds on is included. So you can hear, dan and I are really excited about these products.

Dan Hunt: 39:44

There's a couple RV courses in there, i think nowadays too, right? Yes, patrick. Now Patrick mentioned that RV Life does have a booth at the Hershey event. Dan and Patty Hunt, the host of this podcast, that would be me and my incredible wife to my right here We are the featured speakers at the Hershey RV event, so we will be featured and we will be telling you. We will do a seminar on how to plan an RV trip without killing each other.

Patti Hunt: 40:17

I'm going to jump in with the details. The Hershey RV event. I think it's called the Hershey Super Show, if I'm not mistaken.

Dan Hunt: 40:25

America's Super Show.

Patti Hunt: 40:26

America's Super Show. Again, it'll be all in the show description. Dan and I will speak Wednesday, Thursday, Friday, Saturday and Sunday at 10 o'clock. Now they did put us in a bigger room this year Last year the room was so packed that literally people could not get in And we will talk all things trip planning. Show you some of the things that we do, some of the ways that Dan and I work together to trip plan so we don't kill each other when it gets stressful. I mean, we'll talk all things trip planning at that seminar. So you want to be able to get in, get your seat for that seminar And then, as Dan said, RV life will have a booth and some of my good friends will be in that booth, including Patrick.

Dan Hunt: 41:17

And we look forward to that each and every year.

Patti Hunt: 41:20

Now let's talk again about the event. I get it really excited. While you're in Hershey on Thursday, september 14th, from 6 to 10, this is called RV Life Live Event. It's an Inglewood. It's right near the Hershey event where the Hershey event will be. We are putting this out to our RV Life Podcast listeners. First and foremost, it will sell out to. Dan gave you a lot of the details. All of that will also be in the show notes. Get signed up for that event and join other RVers and hang out and so many great giveaways. I think we're up to I don't know three or $4,000 worth of giveaways.

Dan Hunt: 42:05

Yes, we are, and I am really looking forward to that event, because there is nothing I like better than eating brownies and giving stuff away, and I will be doing both of those things. That night, i will be eating the best brownies in the world furnished by the Inglewood there They were so good last year And we'll be giving an e-bike away. We'll be giving an open road card for $500 away.

Patti Hunt: 42:33

We'll be giving away all kinds of stuff Wow. Okay, our producers are hitting buttons that should be hit because that $500 gas card would be awesome. I don't know what's going on there.

Dan Hunt: 42:48

Yes, it will be awesome. We are looking forward to that. So we really do look forward. Now we're running a little bit over time, patrick. Anytime you get on the show I go over on my time, but that's okay because the producers here thank you for that great tip this week. Can you give us any insight on anything new that's coming out that won't come and torture you for telling the general audience about?

Patti Hunt: 43:19

That is great. And I do want to mention those of you that are going to sign up for RV Trip Wizard after this broadcast. You want to go on. Rv Trip Wizard has videos on YouTube. You want to go on and check them out. They're short, bite-sized videos. We know you don't want to sit once really long ones, but they will be very helpful in getting you started with your new RV Trip Wizard app and planning. So you want to check those out. And those of you who, like Patrick said, who haven't used that app in a long time, you're going to get on see a lot of new things going on. So, the YouTube channel what's the name of the YouTube channel, patrick, that they need to go to?

Dan Hunt: 44:05

RV Life. Right, that's right. And I will tell you that we have been using RV Trip Wizard for over two years now, almost three, almost three years now, and every time I talk to Patrick Buchanan, every single time I talk to him, i learn something new about this app and something else that it does. He talked to us about that satellite view And I've used it 20 times since then. When you pull into a gas station, sometimes you've got to figure out how you're going to get out when you have your 40-foot RV and then you have another 25-footed Jeep behind you that you're towing with the stage 8 fasteners that are attaching my Jeep to my RV.

Patti Hunt: 44:51

Coming soon, right, coming soon, those fasteners. Again, we do want to give a shout out to Bruce. He's still here with us And he has offered that if you send an email with something that a bolt or a fastener can fix on your RV, reach out to him. His email will be in the show description And hopefully you could solve some more problems for our RV community.

Dan Hunt: 45:16

And, believe me, the RV community has a lot of problems. There's not a day that goes by that something doesn't break on my 20-year-old RV, but or, as Patrick said, that cost him $1,000 every time he goes into one of our sponsors.

Patti Hunt: 45:37

That's the fun part of it, right.

Dan Hunt: 45:39

But, bruce, it was great having you on the show. We truly appreciate your stories. I dream about being up in space with that $4 million camera. I just dream about using a $4 million camera. It's just sounds so exciting. Hopefully you'll be at the Hershey RV event. If you are, we'd love to see you there. Patrick, i know we'll see you there. And to our listener, i know we will see you there. If you see us there, please come up to us and say hi. We'd love to interact with the audience. We do this show for you And we truly appreciate you coming and listening each and every day. So with that I will say my name is Dan Hunt. I'm the host of the RV Life podcast, with my incredible wife, patty Hunt, saying have a great rest of today.

Patti Hunt: 46:33

And an even better day tomorrow.