BBQ, Survival Sarah Palin-Style

With summer just around the corner, it’s fitting that the latest episode of Amazing America with Sarah Palin on Sportsman Channel focused on barbeque. Make no mistake however, this ain’t your granddad’s grill we’re talking about. Unless of course your granddad is David Klose.

Field host Benny Spies hung out with Klose for the day and learned about his top-notch barbeque pit making biz in Texas.

Klose, owner of BBQ Pits by Klose has been building unique grills and smokers for 35-years and he says the best ideas have come from kids. Klose and company can make barbeque pits out of almost anything. The possibilities are unlimited. A torpedo, a fire truck, even an antique baby carriage can be transformed into working barbecue pits by Klose and friends. After showing off the baby carriage grill, Klose talked about cooking baby back ribs on it. Spies quipped “As long as you say ribs after that.”

Klose promoted barbecuing around the world for decades but nowadays with business booming and two factories he spends most of his time at work.

“Barbeque is America’s signature cuisine,” said Palin. “Across the states there are many different styles. From the Carolinas to Kansas City, we’re a nation of backyard, meat-grillin’, weekend warriors.”

“Anything real is done in steel,” Klose said before giving Spies the rare opportunity to build his own barbecue pit. In his typical quirky style Spies emerges from the factory with a miniature grill that looked straight out of a doll house. Amazingly the junior model actually worked as the guys proved by grilling a tiny piece of a hot dog on the mini-model.

BBQ Pits by Klose does some great work for our military too. They volunteer for charities like Wounded Warriors, providing delicious meals for our true heroes.

“Expert craftsmanship and resourcefulness can elevate our hobbies to become impressive feats,” Palin said. That’s true of the work of David Klose. It’s also true of the man field host Mark Christopher Lawrence met in California.

Jim DeLozier designed a one of a kind armored Survivor Truck, made to keep his family safe if the worst were to happen. DeLozier’s truck includes a command center and mobile safe room. The massive vehicle is equipped with nuclear and chemical filtration systems and firearms. The costly ride contains 3,000 miles worth of gasoline and everything a family of four would need to survive for a year.

The truck includes a toilet, a sink, a stove, and a shower system. The command center is equipped with cameras. The entire room is armored with ballistic fiberglass. A “basic” truck will cost you about $189-thousand dollars. For all the bells and whistles you’re looking at over $285-thousand or higher.

DeLozier takes Lawrence for a ride in the monster on wheels. He even let’s Lawrence drive. “It’s intimidating for me,” said Lawrence. But, all in all he did pretty well. DeLozier showed Lawrence some survival skills too, including how to combine toilet paper and alcohol to cook.

So why did DeLozier build this Survivor Truck? “My grandmother always said you should always have something in case you need it,” said DeLozier. “You shouldn’t spend all your money. You should always save some money. You should always have extra food. This is basically just taking it, you know extrapolating it out for a longer period. All I’ve done is hedge my bets. The good news is, probably nothing will happen, and I just got a lot of extra food to eat. But if something did happen, I got a lot of food to eat.”

Bring on the zombies!

Palin was impressed. “It’s truly incredible what Jim has been able to conjure up just by seeing a need and using his imagination,” she said. Palin credits both DeLozier and Klose for their willingness to go their own way. “Their unbelievable, out of the box thinking is what will keep the heart of creativity beating strong here in America,” Palin said.

Amazing America with Sarah Palin airs Thursdays at 8pm ET on Sportsman Channel.

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