The PNW Podcast
A daily podcast covering the stories that matter most across the Pacific Northwest, with a primary focus on Oregon and Washington. Each episode delivers a concise roundup of the day's biggest headlines, local news, sports, current events, and the conversations shaping the region—keeping listeners informed, engaged, and connected to what's happening close to home.
The PNW Podcast
Lucy, State Rankings & A Rescue Device That Could Save Your Life
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This week on The PNW Podcast, we have a very special guest—and according to the host, the real star of the show: Lucy Tydeman, just days away from celebrating her 11th birthday! Lucy joins us for a fun conversation about everything from growing up in the Pacific Northwest to what she loves most about the place she calls home. It’s a candid, funny, and entertaining conversation with one of the youngest guests to ever sit behind the PNW Podcast microphone.
Then Marcus joins us for a look at the highest- and lowest-rated states in the country—and you might be shocked when you find out where Oregon, Washington, and Idaho land on the list.
And Dr. Rob Yonover is back to talk about his incredible Sea Rescue Streamer, an innovative piece of technology designed to make people dramatically easier to spot in an emergency. Whether you’re lost in the mountains, stranded on the coast, or in trouble somewhere on the water, this could be one of those inventions you hope you never need—but could ultimately save your life.
It’s another packed episode of The PNW Podcast, celebrating the people, places, ideas, and stories that make the Pacific Northwest such an incredible place to live.
The Grants Pass In N Out Burger has the ultimate hack if you want to go lunchbox. And that is, it's like I've got one daughter who is a little more picky. Yeah. And she wants to go to McDonald's. Well, in Grants Pass, they're right next to each other. They are. So you can go and get double doubles from In N Out and then get your fries at McDonald's. It's lunchy, but tell me it's not amazing. I want somebody to send me a message and tell me that they were in Grants Pass and they pulled that move because it's what we do constantly. And I'll eat the In N Out fries, but let's be honest. Who is the king of the French fry?
SPEAKER_03McDonald's.
SPEAKER_01Always welcome in to the PNW podcast, broadcasting live from the Stafford Hills Club where work meets play up here in the suites. If you're looking for a place to get away, maybe you work out of your house, and it's just a little aggressive. A lot of people are like, hey, can you come down here and do the dishes? Can you come back here? Can you help me move this out of the car? Not that that is my life or anything, but it makes it easy for you to step away, do your thing. You can hit the quality workout facility here, Saltwater Pool, the best weights around. Of course, the classes are next level, great instructors, kids' club, and so much more. Not to mention, it is the premier indoor tennis facility in the Portland area, and vote the best health and wellness facility in the area. It's a packed show today. I've got um all kinds of stuff going on later on. We're gonna have Marcus Bridges on to talk about the top 50 ranking uh places to live in the country by state. You're not gonna love where Oregon and Washington are on that list. And then we had Dr. Rob Janover, who came on the show to talk about his sea rescue streamer, which is used to save people lost in the ocean and on the mountains. And what better place than right here in the Pacific Northwest to work on that? But first things first. I got a special guest in here today. Um, she is the person who made me a dad, and she is actually uh wise beyond her years and oftentimes is nursing me back to health, which something she's been helping with the last couple of days after a strange little hospital stay. But she's in here because every year on her birthday, she asks if she could come on my radio show and just do a little something, something, because she is I would say a little bit of a star herself in studio right now, my firstborn child for her 11th birthday, Lucy Tiedeman. Welcome to the show.
SPEAKER_04Thank you. It's so great to finally be on the show.
SPEAKER_01I just picked her up um from acting practice and we got in the car. I'm like, we're gonna do something fun. And so she's thinking, like, we going to Dutch Bros, we go Costco, Wonderland. Yeah, Apple doesn't fall far from the tree. This girl loves her some Costco. Uh but no, I said, you know what? Today we're gonna go on the show. And how did you respond?
SPEAKER_04I was like, yes.
SPEAKER_01This has been a long time coming.
SPEAKER_04Yeah, long, long time.
SPEAKER_01Now, I grew up as kind of a kid actor, singing, spotlight, MC of events, and you are so much like me that you're just a little bit prettier and a little bit more put together, a little more organized, but you have a lot of the same traits. Do you enjoy the spotlight, Lou?
SPEAKER_04Yeah. And I was just going to say that part about the organized bit, so true.
SPEAKER_01Oh, you you've got it all. I know she shows up in her steps all neatly in a folder. I'd be coming back from play practice, like, I've lost my scrap! Why are there pages missing from this? And that's just the way that I am. Um, but Lucy is a compassionate kid. She's the big heart kid in our family. Not that the other girls aren't compassionate, but Lucy, uh, when I was dealing with my health issues on Sunday, she's bringing me a water, she's bringing me a tum. She's like, just lay down, dad. I could see you if you weren't an actress or an actor, you could be a nurse.
SPEAKER_04Um thoughts on that? That won't really work.
SPEAKER_01Why?
SPEAKER_04Because probably would cower in the sight of blood.
SPEAKER_01Oh, that's true. I don't like blood either. And you know, when I was in the hospital, you're lucky you weren't there because they were poking me every couple of hours. I got the arms of a downtown Portland special right now. But the good news is I'm out of there now hanging with my girl. Amy and the girls are out of town, so it's just you and me. She was already trying to push the Dutch Bros on me. She's like, oh man, I bet they're down there in Grants Pass having Dutch Bros like every couple of minutes. Which Dutch Bros was born in Grants Pass. Did you know that, Lou?
SPEAKER_04Yeah. Great thing to talk about on the Pacific Northwest podcast.
SPEAKER_01That's right. And so maybe you'll get that sometime while they're gone. But here's my question: what is it about the Pacific Northwest that you love, Lou?
SPEAKER_04What I love, I love that there's a majority of options here. Like for one, Wonderland, which we were talking about earlier. The best place to have a birthday.
SPEAKER_01So that's an arcade from my childhood that still has locations all over the area.
SPEAKER_04Yeah, and um, I like how it will rain, snow, and shine here.
SPEAKER_01You get a little bit of everything.
SPEAKER_04Yeah, because when you need rain, it's not like in a huge it's not always really hot. That's what I love.
SPEAKER_01And it's green and plush.
SPEAKER_04Yeah. I also love the rain for some reason. It just feels refreshing. And also, who doesn't love a snow day? And we get that like once or twice, once or twice in winter, and that's always wonderful.
SPEAKER_01So here's the question for you because every dad sees their kid, especially little blonde girl. It's almost screams California when I look at you, that you could be a little San Diego girl, a little Santa Barbara. Um, but what's I've always felt like you would not be the daughter of mine to run away to California. What do you think you'll stay here? Do you think you'll go there? What do you think?
SPEAKER_04I'm never leaving, unless I'm going to Hollywood, of course.
SPEAKER_01So straight to Hollywood would be fine, but you're not just gonna go down there and and mooch off the sun is what you're saying.
SPEAKER_04I won't leave for the sun because we got plenty of sun here. We have a nice beach down in Lincoln City and along the Oregon coast. We got all types of stuff here. And river rafting, why wouldn't you want that?
SPEAKER_01That's true. Now one thing that you love that wasn't here before that is here now that might keep you in state is you love In N Out Burgers.
SPEAKER_04Yes. So exactly.
SPEAKER_01And so you've got that. You've got locations popping up all over the place. That's one downside about not going to Grants Pass with your mom because I will tell anyone who will listen, if you want to skip the lines, you go to Grants Pass. There's no line at In N Out.
SPEAKER_04Yeah, there's a Grants Pass In N Out that has ne never has had a line. The one in, I think Roseburg is it?
SPEAKER_01That one's pretty good too. That one has a little line.
SPEAKER_04Has a little line, but the one in Salem, I think, one time we were there and we were waiting in line for like two hours.
SPEAKER_01It was obnoxious. You have to come long before you're hungry.
SPEAKER_04Yeah, we so we went up there and we got our number and we're like 52. Okay, but and then they're like, number one! I'm like, I hope this is random. And then they're like, number two, and we're like, we're gonna be here for a while. Two hours later, we got our food. But it's still kind of worth the wait.
SPEAKER_01Grants Pass In N Out Burger has the ultimate hack if you want to go lunchbox, and that is it's like I've got one daughter who is a little more picky, and she wants to go to McDonald's. Well, in Grants Pass, they're right next to each other. They are. So you can go and get double doubles from In N Out and then get your fries at McDonald's. It's lunchy, but tell me it's not amazing. I want somebody to send me a message and tell me that they were in Grants Pass and they pulled that move because it's what we do constantly. And I'll eat the In N Out fries, but let's be honest. Who is the king of the French fry?
SPEAKER_03McDonald's.
SPEAKER_01Always. So I I I'm we never even intended on talking about this stuff. Yeah. But In N Out with the McDee's down there, pretty legitimate. Also, if you're in the Grants Pass area, I wish we were down there with your mom right now because get get the Dutch boast.
SPEAKER_04There's like one on every corner.
SPEAKER_01I know, and like every car has the sticker.
SPEAKER_04Yeah.
SPEAKER_01And you know, it started just with one little pop-up tent right there in Grants Pass and now is a multi-billion dollar industry.
SPEAKER_04I was just talking about you about I was just talking to you about this. I said which one I prefer between Starbucks and Dutch Bros. What which one is you do you like better?
SPEAKER_01Well, I don't normally have either of them. I don't mind Starbucks, but I do we have connections to Dutch Bros. We know people who are part of the Dutch Bros family.
SPEAKER_04So And you can get a Dutch Bros free drink on your birthday.
SPEAKER_01And the kindness. Are they not the kind see, they have your energy at the drive-thru where Lucy does this naturally off the clock or she's just like, oh my god, how's your day? But they do that. So do you match that energy at the window? Like if I took you there today, which I might do. If I took you there today, look at you if you're watching on YouTube, her face just lit up. How would do you match the energy or do you just let your mom do the talking?
SPEAKER_04I I so I haven't really ordered that much, but last time I went, uh my cousin Savannah um drove me there with her boyfriend and I ordered my own, and I just rolled down the window, I was like, oh well, more stuff, more stuff. Here's my order, which get the strawberry soda with sweet cream and whi cream. Um and they kind of match the energy. They're like, Oh yeah, would you like this with it? And they're like, Oh yeah, would you like me to add anything else for you? And like it was like super homey, and I just like that. And the times I've been to Strawbucks, it's kind of just been okay, get your order over with.
SPEAKER_01Yeah, it's more robotic.
SPEAKER_04And I also like how you can make your own stuff at Dutch Rose.
SPEAKER_01And kind of shake up the order. Well, that's awesome. And well, I gotta say, because we all we only have another minute or so to sit here and chat, but I wanted to wish you a happy birthday. You're going to middle school here in a couple of days. It's the countdown has been real. Um before we get going, aside from the fact that I want you to have a happy birthday and that you're my motivation to do just about everything I ever do, uh, give us a closing thought on what it's like for an 11-year-old girl to be going to middle school. How are you feeling?
SPEAKER_04I'm feel so pretty. But I'm also a little bit nervous. I have because I only have five minutes of passing time from going class to class. And I'm also a little bit nervous of not getting in a class with my friends.
SPEAKER_01But you have a bunch of classes now, so you'll have some with them and some with new people, and there's all kinds of new kids coming.
SPEAKER_04Yeah, I'm also really excited though to make way new fri so much new friends. And also for that Snack Shack.
SPEAKER_01Yo, and that is cool when you finally get the a la carte Snack Shack, and you are gonna be singing in the choir. Are you excited for that now that you can you can shine?
SPEAKER_04I am so excited. Getting to go for go to a class where I can just sing the whole time, it's gonna be awesome.
SPEAKER_01Because Lucy has the most hits of any video on my TikTok. It's got 130,000 views now. The last time we talked about it, it had like 15,000 less, but every time I look, Lucy's Lucy brings me more followers on TikTok than anything. So I want to thank you on your birthday for giving me that present. And maybe you could sing a few more songs so I can get a few more followers and we can make this life a little easier.
SPEAKER_04That is very true.
SPEAKER_01All right. Well, I love you very much, and uh we're gonna take a quick break and we're gonna be back with Marcus Bridges as we rank the top 50 states in the USA, and you'll be interested where Oregon and Washington sit.
SPEAKER_04I think Oregon should be number one.
SPEAKER_01Of course you do. The PNW podcast is brought to you by Motosport Hillsboro. If you haven't been there, what are you doing? It is by far the best spot to go get yourself your off-road vehicle, your eAssist mountain bike, and so much more, all the gear you use to be on your side-by-side, your dirt bike. You can get it all at Motosport Hillsboro where they've got the best selection and the easiest and best financing where they work harder than anyone to get the job done for you. And what's incredible about the place is right now you can get yourself a gas-gas, electric mountain bike with the eAssist. Take yourself to the trails like never before, and up to $3,000 off for you right now, off of MSRP $2199. You got to get in there and check it out right now. It is by far the best spot for all of these things. Believe me when I tell you, motorsporthillsboro.com. Also brought to you by Axiom Plumbing, Sewer and Septic, my boy Bruce and the gang over there, everything water and waste, they'll take care of you. And of course, 10% off your first service if you tell them that Drew sent you, or $500 off a brand new water heater. And when mine went out recently, it's something that uh cold showers, unless you're doing them on purpose, not really a thing you want to get into. It can shake up your day. So check out axiompdx.com. Big or small, it doesn't matter. Any job works for them as Bruce is born and raised in the Portland area, and it is not private equity. This is a family-owned business where Bruce takes care of you like you're one of his own. Axiompdx.com. All right, uh, we're gonna pivot here to a situation that's got me a little bit frustrated as somebody who was born and raised in the Portland area, and of course, have been a Pacific Northwest boy my entire life, spent a lot of years where Marcus Bridges lives, who's joining me right now. Um I love this place. I've always loved the Northwest. I feel like anyone who hasn't been here has no idea what a magical world that it is. I always say outside of New Zealand, show me a more beautiful place on this planet. And at one point, this was ranked the number one city to live was Portland, Oregon. It was ranked the cleanest city in America, Portland, Oregon. And then I always thought that that was just kind of cool and that Oregon, not all of them know that, but we had the top of the list at some point. Now, things have changed, and you know, we've seen after the pandemic, things definitely took a turn for the worst there for a while. There has been some bounce back, but a list came out, Marcus, that has me um, I don't know, maybe back to a little chafed.
SPEAKER_00Uh yeah, it's it considering that we used to be number one in all those things, Drew, it's a bloodbath. I'll be honest with you. It's not pretty. Um, I found this survey from Wallet Hub. The survey is called Top States to Live In. Uh, states were ranked by five different metrics: affordability, econom uh economy rank, education and health rank, quality of life rank, and safety rank.
SPEAKER_01Uh-oh. Some of those draw red flags. Now I I live in one of the best school districts in the state, but it's not a tough race to win. Yeah. So I I worry about that, but I'm just gonna let you let you do it to us. I'm ripping the band-aid off. What's going on?
SPEAKER_00Well, right now, our fantastic state that we both have been born and raised in. We both uh came together, started this podcast because we love it so much, finds its way all the way up to number 42 out of 50 of the best states to live in. What? And uh Drew, it's uh like I said, um, it's kind of a bloodbath here. Affordability rank, we're going in at number 41. The economy rank, we are ranked number 36. Now, uh, I believe this is education and health is one of the only bright spots. Okay. 26, still in the bottom half. Yeah, still haven't actually climbed up to the top half of the rankings. And the biggest bright spot is going to be what they call quality of life, which, based on the number 11 ranking of the state of Oregon, and juxtaposing this with all the other rankings, what I have to say is the quality of life ranking must be taken by going to the happiest person you can find on the block and saying, hey, how do you feel right now? And they say, you know, 10 out of 11, okay. And they take that in because everything else, Drew, is in the bottom. And I've I will take you to the final ranking here, which I think is the most scary, and that is safety. Would you believe it if I told you that the state of Oregon is ranked 48th out of 50 for safety on this wallet hub survey? 48th. Only behind the Mecca of New Mexico, where crime is just a thing that happens all the time, and I'm not being prejudiced here. You can look it up. Mexico, New Mexico has been a high crime area for decades. And uh, number 50, Drew, you know, uh, we heard we had a guy the other day that was a little bit chafed about not bringing up Washington and the population center of the Pacific Northwest of Seattle, while Washington finds the bottom rung of the ladder when it comes to being safe, 50th overall. Oh my gosh.
SPEAKER_01Now, let me touch on two of those things before we get the overall score on Washington. Um, when it comes to affordability, gas prices are astronomical on the West Coast. Everything is so expensive. They they treat it like they're moving goods to Hawaii when it should not be that way. Um, there just really is. I mean, when it comes to house prices, all of that stuff, I don't know how people survive without having dual income or an epic job. Like I see people doing the jobs that I respect, but know they don't pay a lot. And I just wonder how. How are you surviving? Because even when I had a high-paying radio job, I still felt like I lived paycheck to paycheck.
SPEAKER_00Yeah. And you go up to Washington, you know, I got a buddy that lives in West Seattle. He just bought a new house up there. Um, the the property values, you you think they're bad in Eugene, then you go to Portland. You think they're bad in Portland, then you go to Seattle. It just keeps getting worse. And I I mean, a a two-bedroom, one bath here in Eugene will run you 400 grand right now. That's outrageous. I mean, that's twice as much as I spent on my four-bedroom, two bath, Drew. And it's it it just keeps getting worse. Washington actually comes in at more affordable than Oregon by five spots, believe it or not.
SPEAKER_01And that's probably sixth. That's probably because it's the state and not the city. Yeah. You know, because Seattle obviously is going to clip that, but I'm gonna piggyback that back to the the safety thing. Least safe city or states are Washington and Oregon and New Mexico. Well, that's not Portland. That's not Seattle, that's the whole state. So I will be the first to tell you I have been chased off of a max train with my wife, holding her hand for dear life, running for some sort of light, trying to get in front of the slowest person next to us because a drug zombie was chasing us straight up. But that's in Portland proper downtown at night. That's something I would more expect. It's not okay, but it's something I would more expect. But you start to look out of the city, you get out into the suburbs, and a lot of those do have crime. The rest of Portland, Gresham, but then you also go to the smaller cities. You go to the the Roseburgs and the Grants Pass, and they have big drug problems and they have theft problems and crime problems, and we've done something to be the bottom three. I mean, Marcus, think about all the places you consider the most dangerous places in America. Like you would think it'd be like New York City and Baltimore and all these other places, but they're not below us on the list.
SPEAKER_00Right. Right. It's scary when you think about a place like Detroit, right? Uh, our our minds all kind of go to Detroit. We've seen it over the past 20 years. Detroit has become uh what looks like a war zone to some people. And we have a friend that lived there for a while and got to hear firsthand how it's like, look, you you're fine on one side of the street, but if you go to the other side of the street, you better uh keep your head on a swivel, right? Well, Michigan rolls in at number 29 in the total rankings and number 30 of the most dangerous. Uh, another one I think about is Chicago. You know, we always talk about Chicago over Memorial Day weekend and Labor Day weekend. There's always a reporting of, hey, there was a shooting, there's high crime in these areas. Illinois is the 18th best state to live in and ranks 9th as far as safety is concerned. So there's a reason that Drew and I talk about this stuff on this podcast. It's concerning. This is not just a slip in the rankings, this is a fall from. From grace in every sense of the word. And it doesn't stop with just Oregon. It's Washington too. And I think a very important piece of this, Drew, is widely considered the third state in the Pacific Northwest is the state of Idaho. You don't hear a lot about Idaho. It's uh kind of, you know, little brother in the Pacific Northwest. What's funny is we think of it as dusty and quiet. Exactly. Well, all it is as dusty and quiet is the number one state to live in on this wallet hub survey of best states to live in. Number 10 in the affordability rankings, number seven in the economy rank. Education and health rank dips a bit to 22. We're not happy with that, but it was high enough to get it to number one. Quality of life, 31, and safety rank is number three, uh, falling behind only New Jersey and Wyoming. You know how to be safe? Go to a place like Wyoming where there are no people. That's a very safe place to be. Um you get killed by a buffalo out there, it's your fault. That's kind of the way you have to look at it.
SPEAKER_01Yeah, keep your head on a swivel. And we're not here to just bitch and whine. It's pointing out a legitimate problem and something that needs to be righted by the names of that you've thrown out there, some of those huge cities with and states with low crime rates and high safety ratings, they're not declaring martial law. They're just going about it systematically. I mean, Portland does nothing until it tries to like shut everyone up at once, and then it's a riot. And, you know, and we have a lot of riff-raff and bad blood who aren't from here who come in and agitate those situations, but the way we've been doing things is not working. No. And so, and I don't know what that means. And I think every and Marcus pointed it out last week that, you know, you do need to make a decision for yourself who you vote into power, who who's gonna help you make change. I mean, we're in a political season. I'm seeing the ads on TV for governor and for some other of these leadership positions. Just take a long hard thought about it. And people say that, well, it can never change there. Well, if it doesn't, and I'm not talking about party to party. I'm talking about if it doesn't change, it's only gonna get worse. It's only gonna get more expensive, it's only gonna get more dangerous. Is that where you want to raise your kids? Is that where you want to be? I think most of us would say absolutely not.
SPEAKER_00Yeah, I mean, take a poll of a hundred random people and ask, would you think it would be safer for you to raise a family in the state of Oregon or uh where they filmed the C or the uh the entire series, the Jersey Shore, and you're gonna go uh hands down, Oregon. Well, actually not by a mile, because New Jersey's the safest place. So apparently out there on the Jersey Shore, they party, they only punch each other in the face on MTV. I don't know. I've never been. What I'll tell you is everything I know, everything I've heard about the Jersey Shore and New Jersey as a state would never suggest that it would even approach Oregon as a safe place. And I've lived in this state my whole life. I think what you see here, Drew, is not only are the suburbs having some problems, the rural communities having some problems, but you do see how much the city carries the weight for the entire state. We are a state with one major population center, and outside of that, it's a lot of what you'd call small towns. I mean, listen, there's only 180,000 people in Eugene, and we're the second largest population city in the state. That tells you something. That's it's not a real big population center. And hey, that means your vote actually matters. Your vote matters a lot more than where there's 10 million, 20 million, 30 million people living in the same place. So what you're saying, it really does make sense, Drew. And and look, I feel like this is a collective effort. I'm not the most competitive person, but I like to brag about my state a little bit, and it has been hard since 2020.
SPEAKER_01And I will never, ever tell somebody who to vote for or you know what agenda to follow. But I would just stress this, and that is to try it and look at things with a objective and a level head without getting angry. Because so many times we'll post a clip from this show and there will be a slew of comments that sound just like this it's a lost cause, burn it to the ground. No, I'm not willing to be a part of that. I'm not willing to just punt on the city and the state that I love. And I love and I love Washington. I love visiting Seattle, going down to Pike's Market or go seeing a Mariners game or a Seahawks game. I mean, even and I know you're a Niners fan, but the experience is great. I mean, when you're down there in and and when people are around, obviously things are are are smoother and nicer, but the Pacific Northwest has always been a hidden treasure, not a cesspool. And so I don't know what it's gonna take, but it will it does take change, and we haven't changed, and we're at six plus years of this behavior. I'm just not I'm just not with that. So let's hope that that things can turn around. Those numbers, nice thing about those numbers, Marcus, only can go up from here.
SPEAKER_00Yeah, right. We have found the bottom of the barrel. We know what it looks like. Um, not as appetizing as we thought. Let's uh let's at least pull even with the bunghole in that barrel. That's 50% up the uh up the ladder. Let's get halfway there, then we can talk about working our way into the top 25, maybe even the top 10 again, Drew. But um, I will say this about the city of Seattle. Beautiful place. And Lumen Field, one of the nicest fields in the country. I would love to watch the 49ers play there. I don't know, maybe the Rams, maybe the Cardinals, anybody but the Seahawks. Um, but that's just me. We know I'm a Pacific Northwest guy, but my sports allegiance falls a little bit to the south. I'm sorry. Um go 49ers.
SPEAKER_01We we know you're in a stacked deck. That's not a problem. I mean, it's you're not gonna sit and tell me I'm gonna root for the Lions when they play the Vikings. So it's it's all good. Um, we are gonna take a break. Thank you for joining me with that, Marcus. Send us a direct message if you have an opinion about it. Try not to uh just blow hot fire out of your nose when you do, but we do want to make this interactive. We do want to hear from people. So if you chime in, you might just hear your stuff right here on the program. Uh thanks, Marcus, and it's all up from here, baby. All up from here. The Fit for Radio Podcast is brought to you by the Stafford Hills Club, where you will find yourself amongst a community of great people. All you got to do go to Staffordhills.com and you'll see it all. The saltwater pool, all the amenities in the weight room, great classes, amazing instructors, and everybody here. They hold doors for you. It's a sense of family and community like none other. Or head in and hit up the saltwater grill out by the pool. Also, a nice cafe inside, premier tennis facility. And what I love is the HyROX. Studio X is here now. It's the cutting edge, next thing happening in fitness, uh, CrossFit, kind of a thing of the past as HyRox has taken over, and Studio X is legit. Classes every day of the week. Check them out right now, staffordhills.com. It's the PW podcast, and right now I am joined by an incredible guest, Dr. Rob Yanover. He has, well, he's he's a scientist who's worked on volcanoes and oceans and all the things, but we actually wanted to bring him on here today to talk about his incredible invention that has been uh featured on Shark Tank. He actually winked at Mark Cuban one time. Um now, if and you will have you have the opportunity to go over to the Fit for Radio podcast and check out my full interview with Rob. Uh, but Rob, welcome into the studio.
SPEAKER_05Thanks, Drew. Great to be here. Appreciate it.
SPEAKER_01Um I'm really stoked for people to hear about your invention because what everybody knows about the Pacific Northwest is we have incredible mountains and hiking trails and access to the oceans, and that is such a great thing. But also with that comes danger of getting of getting lost if you were hiking or if you your plane or your boat you know got into trouble in the ocean. You could be out and about. Tell us about what you invented to help with that.
SPEAKER_05Okay, well, what like you said, whether you're lost at sea or on land, your head is such a little speck, you can't they can't see you. And guys that are lost at sea or on land say the same thing. You flew over me five times. Why didn't you see me? That's because you're a needle in a haystack. So flares, smoke, sea dye, that's what they have for the water. And if you look on the land side, you can't have a flare, you'll start another fire in the Pacific Northwest. So you you you can't have incendiary devices. I invented a long orange piece of plastic with spreader bars on it, so it's like a centipede. It doesn't twist, it stays outright. You just trail behind you in your ocean or in or on land, and when they fly over you, instead of not seeing the speck, they see the speck with a long orange tail on it. It's that simple. And it's reusable, so you can go to a different clearing if you're on land or a different part of the ocean. I mean, in the military use it, so if the enemy comes around, they can pull it away, pull it back in, and then redeploy it. No other signaling device redeploys. It's approved by all branches of the military, it's used all over the world, it's saved lives already, and it's simple. It's a little tiny device, it's as big as you call it an energy drink or a cell phone, and it's a sexy piece of gear that you buy and forget about. And as a scientist and inventor, I'm not really a good business guy. I didn't make it wear out. So bad idea there, but good for the consumer. Buy it once and put it in your pack, put it in your boat or your backpack, wherever. And it's, you know, it's it's a no-brainer.
SPEAKER_01I think it's a great thing to have. You know, we have so many people on Mount Hood and other, you know, hiking trails that head up to the summit of mountains, and we lose people all the time.
SPEAKER_05Exactly.
SPEAKER_01And you know, a lot of people have the transponders, but anything that is, you know, with electricity can peter out on you. It can not work. There's nothing about an orange piece of plastic that will not work. You don't need Wi-Fi for them to find your example.
SPEAKER_05Exactly. And furthermore, with Wi-Fi or the transponders that only get you to the area, they still need a visual. You talk to any search and rescue pilot, that they know where they're looking sometimes, they can't see the person. So that that's a critical thing. So you have to be able to spot someone, and and you know, the needle in the haystack is apropos, especially Pacific Northwest. And with the temperature, your water, I don't want to stay in that water a minute more than I have to. Even if they know where you are, they're doing passes at you. If they find you quickly, you're less likely to have died or get frostbite. And it works on snow also.
SPEAKER_01And you're you're a guy who knows the ocean very well. You spend a lot of time out there, you train in the ocean. Right. You got your PhD going deep under the sea, all kinds of things. So you understand it. You understand that it's it's a it's a beast. And one of my biggest fears has always been to be lost in the ocean and nobody can find me.
SPEAKER_05That's a good fear to have. And it's it's if in fact, when I first invented it, I think Google was first coming around, and I put in my Google search lost at sea or lost hiker. Still to this day, for 20 years, I get four or five notify notifications every day. And and even on ShockTech, I told those guys there's seven people lost at sea every not at lost at sea and lost hikers a day. All day, every day. People are lost. So everyone, that's it's not an unfounded fear when you see the massive size of nature and and you get into it, and you can see how things can go wrong so quickly. And one of the things I pride about this technology, no batteries, chemicals, or electronics, nothing to go wrong. And again, I I I wasn't the best business guy for making money, but I don't care. I, in my mind, unequivocally solved the problem, and that is making yourself large enough to be saved.
SPEAKER_01Yeah, and it and it's that's really what it comes down to is if it can save just one life, and and yours has saved lives. People have come up to you and said, hey, I used it, they found me. And that's the greatest compliment you can really get.
SPEAKER_05Exactly. And it's been driving me for years because I want to meet thousands of people. I uh in the future, I would like to go to a convention of all the people saved by the streamer. Most of our biggest customers are the military, so I don't know all the stories, but I'm sure it's been useful on board. Yes.
SPEAKER_01Now, here's something else uh to keep in mind, and this is something that you brought to my attention. Even if you aren't the hiker, if you're not the swimmer, the diver, or whoever's out there, you know, surfing or whatever you're doing, right? If you are the loved one of that person, that's the person we're really kind of talking to because that's the person, and you you had a good quote. It's basically like if you care about this person enough to where you want them to come home, you buy them the device.
SPEAKER_05Exactly. And you know, as guys, we're macho idiots and we think we're the Marlboro men. Nothing's gonna happen to us. So we're buying an extra six-pack. We're not thinking safety. And believe it or not, uh more than half our sales on Amazon are women. And not that they're not women hikers, fishermen, whatever, but women seem to be smarter and more in tune with risks and having people wanting people to come back.
SPEAKER_01So it's it's very true. It's hard for me to wave a couple of modellos at the sky and see if it's gonna get me saved. That six-pack's not gonna do it, but your device will. What what do people search for? What's the name of your device and where can you find it?
SPEAKER_05C Rescue Streamer. And if you put any of those three words into Amazon or online, you'll see it's Sea Rescue Streamer or just Rescue Streamer. And it's very simple, it's all it's all over the internet, and I'm a shameless self-promoter, and I'm old, so if you take those two facts together, there's a lot of stuff out there.
SPEAKER_01And one thing about this place, it is one of the most beautiful places on the planet, but with that comes risk, and you can lower that risk for yourself by getting the C Rescue streamer today, and maybe you'll thank Rob and maybe even me later on. Exactly. Thank you. I'm sorry, go ahead.
SPEAKER_05I'll just say if if if you use if you use it and get saved, tell me, I'll give you two free new ones. And publicize your story if you're willing.
SPEAKER_01But you know, uh, save wouldn't get too free. I I like the idea. Uh Dr. Rob Yonover, thank you for taking the time to come on, and uh, hopefully some people pick up the C Rescue streamer today and uh can be a little bit safer. Excellent. Thanks, Drew. Take care. All right then.