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Episode-568- Listener Call In Friday 12-10-10 — 19 Comments

  1. If there is not a LDS cannery in your area, the LDS church is still a great resource. Look them up and let them know you are interested in food storage. Sometimes local congregations will get together and make a trip to a cannery, bringing back orders.
    Equipment to seal mylar bags, seal into number 10 cans etc are often available locally. See when they are getting a group together to can or seal into mylar bags. Buy your own can, bags, absorbers share the equipment.

  2. Jack,
    You absolutely must see 127 Hours. It’s a true story about a guy named Aaron Ralston who had to amputate his own arm when it was trapped under a boulder in Utah. It’s directed by Danny Boyle. (Slumdog Millionaire)You may have already heard about this guy back in 2003. Great survival story. The amputation scene is tough to watch but as far as a lesson on preparedness and survival, it’s the best i’ve seen, end of story. It’s out in the theaters now. Check out the trailer.

    http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OlhLOWTnVoQ

  3. A great older movie is “Panic in Year Zero!” (1962); A family of four leaves Los Angeles for a camping trip just before a nuclear bomb destroys the city. As lawlessness prevails, the father must fight to keep his family alive.
    http://www.ovguide.com/movies_tv/panic_in_year_zero.htm

    For a good read, try David Weber’s new book, “Out of the Dark.” The Earth gets invaded by some dog-like invaders and one set of the heroic characters are an extended family who head to the hills in their pre-prepared BOL.

  4. Another great show, Jack.

    ‘Panic In Year Zero’ is a great movie. Made in the 50s, it’s a very real world post apocalyptic movie with lots good information.

    ‘Alive’ is a good one that shows how important teamwork is post SHTF

    And ‘Stranded’ is the documentary about ‘Alive’ that has interviews with the survivors and they actually go back to the scene of the crash.

    Touching the void, is a good one.
    Out of the wild, the Alaska experiment.
    Collapse

  5. Jack,
    Thanks for another great show. One more show to watch is
    Survivors, Its aired on BBC America. First 2 seasons are on Netflix.
    It deals with a pandemic that kills most of the population. Shows how the healthcare system was overloaded and broke down and deals with the aftermath of the pandemic and trying to rebuild society. Good show if anyone is interested.
    Thanks
    -Blake.

  6. 28 days later, 28 weeks later, The Beach, 180 degs. Great survival movies with great soundtracks too. Thanks for all you do Jack, and all of the members and listeners for their input.

  7. Rumor is that Independece day 2 & 3 are in the works though the producer was bit of an A clown because he supposedly said it was about a king defending against an invasion and didnt want to make that while Bush was pres. Now that BO is in, he can make the movie.

  8. Another note on the LDS canneries, at the link below you can find if there is one in your area:
    http://www.providentliving.org/location/display/1,12568,2026-1-4-39315,00.html

    Though I am not an LDS, they had no problem with me putting in an order. I went there, they helped with the canning of my order, and were VERY nice people to work with. I wasn’t sure what I was in for, but was very pleased with it. And the prices were amazing! I make my own bread and was able to get wheat from them at the lowest price I have ever seen. Again, nice folks, and I was concerned they would be trying to proselytize the whole time, they didn’t at all.

  9. Thanks for talking about heating greenhouses in the cold. I am trying to do it for $0 recurring costs. Like you pointed out, it’s expensive to heat via electric. Most commercial units up here heat with gas furnaces.

    I’ve talked to a few people about polytunnels locally, and they all said that when the sun goes down, so does the temp. They basically have very little insulation value.

    I am going to build a cold frame against the foundation on the south side of the house that incorporates the dryer vent. No plants this winter, just wanting to see what it holds for temperatures. It will be ready for spring as well.

    I’ve been working on the wood stove idea as well. Best I’ve come up with so far is a rocket stove in the garage cut into the floor. Run the exhaust out below ground across through the polytunnel. Use the thermal mass of the ground itself to keep the greenhouse warm. I’d like to get it passive heated enough that I only need to fire on the very cold days.

    I’ve also been thinking about incorporating some aquaponics in it just for the thermal mass that the water brings me. Setting the tank(s) over the rocket stove exhaust would give me additional thermal mass.

    I like the chicken coop idea. The city council for the town adjacent to mine just passed that people can now keep up to 4 hens with a few reasonable restrictions. The city’s zoning and ordinances now have to be updated. I am hoping that the acceptance of chickens will migrate to my town soon. Doubtful 4 chickens will do too terribly much heating though. Although moving the small hen house inside the greenhouse with the ‘yard’ outside the greenhouse during the winter may help a little. The lighting for winter egg production should add a little heat to the greenhouse as well. Will chickens use ‘doggy doors’?

  10. @Mike Asked “Will chickens use ‘doggy doors’?”

    We never had a true doggy door like one you buy at Petco, but we had a free hanging door that our birds in PA used all the time. Chicks (when we had a few) couldn’t push it though so it stayed propped while little ones were around.

  11. For the guy asking about Fidelity investments, they have a gold investments GLD and a silver investment SLV. I moved some of my 401K intol the gold less than a year ago. I did not want to take it out and get a tax hit. after less than a year the money I transfered in has gone up 35 percent. I only put in 5 persence of my retirement I wish the other investments had done as well.

  12. In response to question about prescription meds for storage check out thepatriotnurse on you tube she talks all about medical preps.

  13. Whether LDS canneries allow non-members or not is at the discretion of those who run them; some do and some don’t. Each also has its own way of operating; some go by appointment only. If you are interested in visiting one, calling first or dropping in to meet the volunteers operating the cannery is a good idea. Or if you know someone who is LDS, you could ask about procedures and perhaps even have them take you.

  14. I just got to this show after getting a bit behind, so I hope this reply isn’t too late.

    On greenhouse heating, I have a lot of customers who are buying these from my store:

    http://store.oldgrouch.biz/usmiimhe.html

    Anyone who was in the Army from the 90’s and back should recognize the immersion heaters- they were used to heat water for washing mess gear in the field. They have no moving parts aside from a drip valve, and will bring a 55 gallon drum of water to a boil.

    They can run on gas, diesel, or blends. Most of my customers who have greenhouses are running kerosene or a blend of either kerosene or gas with used motor oil. They will bring the 55 gallon drum of water to 200 degrees in under an hour, burning about a half gallon of fuel. A 55 gallon drum of water at 200 degrees will radiate heat a long time, while also adding humidity to the enviornment.

    Some of them have installed the fans that go on wood stove pipes to grabe more heat from the exhaust as these use standard wood stove type pipe. One of my customers gets all his fuel from a junkyard and marinas, they give him all the “bad” gas they have to drain from cars and boats and it burns just fine for him. In 3 years he has yet to pay a dime for heat.

    Just something for folks to consider- these are a whole lot cheaper than a wood stove, and if you can get used oil free you can blend and end up paying under $1 a day for fuel to run it.

  15. On tobacco:

    Tobacco is incredibly easy to grow and produces TONS of seeds, so the initial seeds are usually pretty cheap. It is also pretty easy to cure, so if you’re concerned about tobacco if SHTF, definitely look into growing it!

    On Greenhouse Heating:

    One thing I have heard of people using is homemade soda can heaters. Look up how to make one. The basics of it is, it uses a black box and soda/beer cans spray painted black to absorb heat from the sun. Then, you use a inline fan to suck the warm air out and have a duct to recycle the air from in the greenhouse. This could easily be powered by a solar panel and doesn’t use fossil fuels!