OK, brace yourselves...
Right?! We received that photo from Stephen Kornacki in Wisconsin recently and, well, we'll just let Stephen tell the story:
Hey all!
Just wanted to share a crazy cool story.
I decided to hike a piece of public land after a fresh prescribed wildfire prairie burn with my 2-year-old daughter. We were in search of deer sheds. We made it to the far corner of the property and stumbled upon a memory card case. Being a photographer myself, I recognized the Think Tank memory card case. The case had clearly been through the fire, but the cards appeared to be okay. Although I doubted they had survived.
But when I got home, not only did the cards load, but it was pretty clear they were impressive trail cam pictures. Not your average person’s trail cam photos. One card was filled with badger photos and videos from January-March of 2019.
Other cards held photos from multiple different cameras in the spring of 2019. The last card had a picture of a person who appeared to be the owner of the cards. (And a shot of him carrying his own Think Tank bag!)
I reached out to the local wildlife biologist in the region who forwarded it to a bunch of other people. One of those people recognized the owner of the cards and reached out to him.
It turns out the guy, Eric Preston, lost the cards 3 years ago. Insane the cards survived for 3 years and two prairie fires!
I own a Think Tank memory card case myself and have newfound trust in it after seeing this! — Stephen Kornacki Stephen connected us with Eric, and this is what he had to say:
I picked up my cards and burned-up Think Tank wallet from Stephen yesterday. After sitting in that field for three years and two prescribed burns, I'm amazed the cards were still readable.
Since 2017 I've been setting up trail cameras, mostly Reconyx Ultrafire XP9, on American Badger dens around south-central Wisconsin. I've had a lot of very interesting activity. If I ever get baby badgers on the camera, I'll be able to make a documentary. Here’s my YouTube channel.
I'm also an amateur nature photographer and have been using Think Tank products for years. I have 3 photo backpacks and many accessories. I love your products. — Eric Preston
That was a stellar piece of detective work on Stephen's part to track Eric down and we're stoked that the cards were in good shape THREE YEARS and TWO FIRES later! Nuts.
Now we just gotta see if legal will let us add "FIREPROOF!" to our Memory Card Wallet descriptions... (not likely).
Here's a photo of Stephen (left) and Eric (right) meeting up for the memory card wallet hand-off. Give them both a follow if you have a chance. And send us the clips of the baby badgers when you get them, Eric!
Good story.
Great pictures.
Reinforces the premise that being in the right place at the right time, even when you’re not actually behind the lens, can generate great images. Good planning is hard to beat.
Fire-resistant? Don’t forget they are likely water-resistant as well.
Absolutely cool! I also have several bags and more than a few accessories. ThinkTank Forever!
I love Think Tank products. My large Think Tank credential holders and small zippered pouches with shoulder straps are vital parts of what I use when I cover shoots. The never wear out! Hopefully mine will never need to endure a test of fire, like this memory cards wallet did.
Thank you Think Tank.
I love this article. Thanks for sharing. So happy there was a good ending.