At the north end of Beatty, Nevada, along the west side of U.S. 95, Ernie Bunting sells ammunition cans. They come in all sizes and sell from $8 to more than $100. Ernie lives in both a motorhome or a trailer depending upon whether he's in Beatty or in Kingman, Arizona, where he sells ammo cans at flea markets.
A regular stream of traffic passes by his Beatty location, mostly truckers and other motorists traveling between Las Vegas and Reno -- or in the case of RVers, to and from Death Valley. Ernie operates his businesss year round, even in the hot summer. "They've got air conditioning here so it's not so bad," he said.
He sells hundreds of ammo cans. They're great for storing important things because they're super sturdy and water tight. Ernie finds ammo cans to sell on the Internet. He says he doesn't know if the metal type he sells now will be as readily available in the future. "They're talking about making them out of plastic," he said, shaking his head to show disapproval.
He started selling all sorts of stuff in his present open-air location about four years ago, junk mostly. Ernie didn't say as much to me, but I bet he would agree.
Then he hit on selling ammo cans. I bought one today about the size of a bread loaf for $8. But I could have paid $100 for a whopper-sized one that looked to be about 32 square feet in size. People stop all day long. Some like me buy a single can. "One guy bought 10 of these $15 ones this morning," he told me, pointing to a stack of king-sized cans.
Ernie says he's not making a great living, but sales of ammo cans help supplement his social security. In his younger years, he moved houses and churches for a living. He moved a total of 16 churches, lifting them off their foundations and moving them to new places. "Now that was work!" he said.
I asked Ernie if I could take his picture and he said that was fine and he asked me where I wanted him to pose. "People ask me all the time to take my picture," he said. As I snapped a few photos, a fellow drove by in a pickup truck. "Getting more famous Ernie?" he yelled, and Ernie smiled and nodded.
It's great that someone has set up selling these cans. I used them while I was in the Army (20 years) to keep things dry, and protected from harm in movement. They work. If you don't like the OD color a couple cans of spray paint works very well.
ReplyDeleteAn enjoyable article. Short, and conveyed the story well.
ReplyDeleteIn 2000-2001, I traveled to the end of South America and back in a Volkswagen camper. I bolted an ammo can inside the camper, added a serious padlock and had a very effective "safe".
ReplyDeleteJR
Send him to New Zealand. I could sure use a few of them. Good prices also. Motor home down under.
ReplyDeleteA lot of us geocachers use them to hide thing in. They are very popular. Great for hiding things others are looking for. They work great.
ReplyDeleteIf I ever make it back there, I will stop for my can.
ReplyDeleteingram
I have used "Ammo" cans for years.Currantly, I have one attached to our tow dolly, to carry tape, extra wire for the lights, A pair of wire cutters, screw driver, and anything else I think I might need. Good atricle Chuck.
ReplyDeleteI use one bolted to the side of my air compressor to hold the tools and adapters and nozzles and connectors so i never have to go looking for them.
ReplyDeleteThe ammo can salesman brought back wonderful memories of river rafting when we used mostly army surplus gear and good old black garbage bags-the bag of multiple uses!!-to keep our gear dry! (This was years before the high tech plastic gear they have now for river rafters) fAND We ALWAYS stopped at the Kingman, AZ army surplus store to scavenge useful gear containers and other "neat stuff". Wonder if that's where he gets his cans? We had several sizes of ammo cans and used them for: camera boxes, FA kits, tool kits, junk collectors while on the raft for several days, and snack cans. The most unique use of cans was for the porta potty which transported all the following gear--toilet seat, TP, lime, hand sanitizer, gloves, black garbage bags, and twist ties--only to be opened and set up at the next campsite while traveling down river for several days. The clean bags were initially inserted inside each other and then tied off after each day's "load". The nextday's "load" beginning on top of the closed bag. At the end of the trip the whole bag of "full" bags was dumped into a dumpster specifically designed for those "special" bags at the take out by the forest service. Now most rafters use the commercial porta potties that are ready made for that use. Wonder if anyone else remembers the amazing ammo can on the river? I still have several. THANKs for the walk down memory lane and new ideas for the use of a very useful can!!..Lee
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