Episode-233- Listener Questions 7-08-09
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Today I am broadcasting live from the BOL and will answer questions about I answer questions about water storage and harvesting, storing diesel fuel, raising bees, bugging out, indoor gardening, power outages and more with an upload and posting assist from Starbucks and their awesome wireless hot spots.
As you may already know we were delayed in our return from Arkansas due to a break down. When I got to the hot spot last night to update everyone and get all my mail there were a ton of new questions. So not having the time to do any research I decided to do a listener question show today.
I will also fill you in on our break down and what it taught us about common sense preps, a little video we shot and some other tails from the road.
Tune in to hear…
- Why a AAA Card may be one of the best preps you can have
- Why a tool kit and mechanical knowledge won’t always get your vehicle moving
- My thoughts on Bee Keeping and allergy control with “local honey”
- Storing water in BPA plastic in a truck and preventing negative effects on the water
- What productive plants can you grow indoors that won’t bring in bugs
- Are there any issues with using a cave as part of a structure
- Will refugees stop at the first big forest they come to
- How do you extend the storage life of diesel fuel
- How do specialization and division of labor effect survivalists
- What about using dry ice during an outage to keep the freezer cold
- What are the proper dimensions and methods for installing swales
Resources for today’s sow
- Members Support Brigade
- Join Our Forum
- Region Six Get Together
- Video of our breakdown
- The skinny on BPA toxins
- Good Diesel Fuel Storage Additive
- Good blog post on swale installation
Remember to comment, chime in and tell us your thoughts, this podcast is one man’s opinion, not a lecture or sermon. Also please enter our listener appreciation contest and help spread the word about our show.
You also now can call in questions or comments for the host at 866-65-THINK, (866-658-4465) please read the suggestions for calling in before you do for the best chance of getting your comments on the air.
Jack,
In re: the BPA bottles, ultralight hikers have found that 1-liter Gatorade bottles not only do NOT leach BPA into your water, but fit perfectly into the pouches, pockets, etc. made for the nalgene bottles. Additionally, they last longer (i.e., they don’t craze or crack) than the Nalgene-type bottles, are more drop-resistant AND the cap holds the exact amount of iodine solution needed to purify questionable water.
Just a suggestion, hope it helps.
Professor
Dry ice enthalpy of sublimation (-Hsub) at -78.5 °C (-109.3 °F) and has 571 kJ/kg (245 BTU/lb).
In other words if you don’t have a freezer at -110 °F you cannot store it long term. no one I know has a freezer that cold, most freezers are or should be set at -5 °F.
Long term storage is not feasible.
My “-” signs turned int “?” – please note.
Jack if your stuck for topic ideas, not that I mind the question oriented shows… but without making it seem too commercialized, but maybe more in depth about your advertisers, maybe a show each? Who they are, what they do provide, why they got into things. How what they have for those who find they could make use of the services they provide could do so and why such is a good idea, maybe if you have the time to include a pre-recorded interview or some such. It does make advertising on TSP a little more attractive, even if they would still be vetted by the moderators. A lot of people in the survival community appreciate the human factor of interpersonal relationships, they like to know the people and if they could they would like to be able to look them in the eye to see how trustworthy they are, but knowing more about the companies and the people behind them gives people a more personal understanding of the people involved, and hopefully be able feel better about interacting with them professionally.
@Equus Pallidus
Fixed those symbols for you.
I started listening to this show some time ago when someone told me to, and, like, usually, you are just confusing to me. Especially when you get angry and call people names. That’s just unnecessary.
Today though I’m happy because I think there is hope for you. AAA is kind of like Obama. It takes care of you when things go bad, fixes you problems, and only costs a lot if you are rich and have a bunch of cars. If you think of it that way you’d see that all that prepping really is unnecessary and you don’t have to stress out so much.
The government will fix it.
Jack,
Just wanted to make a quick comment for the listeners about indoor gardening. I’ve attempted tomatoes, peppers, onions, lettuce, bush beans, etc for over a year. I don’t have a good window, but I got a grow light setup using a spiral CFL that acts like a 400w bulb at 6500K color temperature. It has worked great. The real challenge has been pollination because you have to be the bee.
But about bugs. When you buy potting soil from the store, it has bugs in it. None living, but there eggs are there. I have had millipedes hatch out of the soil, gnats, etc. This can be solved before you even start if you bake it in an oven under 200 degrees F. Doesn’t work so well once you have plants growing though. 🙂
Something very common in bagged potting soil is something called fungus gnats. If you over water your soil, fungus will start to grow under the surface of your dirt. This triggers the gnat eggs to hatch and the larvae will feed on the fungus and turn into gnats. The problem propagates until the soil dries out and their food source goes away, you chemically kill them, or put a layer of playground sand on top of your dirt(The larvae have to live within the first inch of soil in order to climb out after turning into gnats).
Anyway, keep up the good shows and sorry about the car trouble.
Sup3D
http://www.weirddivide.com/
AAA is nothing like Obama.
1. I can choose to use it or not
2. It gives a positive ROI
3. It works for me not against me
4. It doesn’t give or need bail outs
5. It is profitable for all associated with it
6. No entitlement is implied in anyway
7. They are on my side
8. They don’t travel around the world apologizing on my behalf when they were never asked to
9. They are not a bunch of ass clowns
10. I could keep going but it ain’t worth it
Honestly if you are “confused” perhaps you have work to do on your end. Love the name though! Just remember you called yourself that not me.
Marion S. Heeple
I sincerely hope your tongue was FIRMLY planted in your cheek.
Obviously, someone knows you well enough to know that you are going to need LOTS of help and cared enough to send you to this site.
I can see why you would be confused if you think that Obama is a positive force for our country.
But, stick around, check out the forum, maybe you can be saved. At least I hope so.
We want everyone to survive the comming disaster that the obscene spending is going to cause.
Best of luck to you and yours.
@Modern Survival
Thanks
Flaggy, I think Sheeple’s tongue WAS firmly planted in her cheek. It’s a silly person playing a silly joke. I loved it. Made me laugh like crazy (as well as Jack’s response). Funny stuff!
As for the show being back on the air, thank GOODNESS! *casually asks* How was the MJ funeral, Jack? 😉
In all seriousness, great show today. I have to say, I absolutely loved the platform for today’s show. I’m gonna have to put this episode on a flash drive for mom and dad. Even though they’re both fairly liberally inclined (they’re coming around though! w00t!), they would love today’s show.
Great show as always, thanks. 🙂
I just wanted to add something about indoor growing.
A simple, easy to grow and great tasting indoor herb is water cress. Get something like a shallow plastic container that take-aways come in, fold some absorbent kitchen roll in the bottom and lay some cress seeds on top. Keep it watered and place it on your kitchen window sill and you will have lots of cress ready to snip at 2-5 inches tall in just 2/3 weeks. Tastes great added to salads and perfect in addition to egg mayonnaise sandwiches.
My thoughts on local honey and allergies. People can be allergic to many things including pollen. As far as I know, the pollen that people are most likely to be allergic too comes from wind pollinated plants like birch, oak, pine,ragweed and grasses. Bee pollinate flowers which are not wind pollinated (which is why they need bees). So the honey that bees make is not from the plants the people are most allergic to so I don’t understand how honey can help cure seasonal allergies.
I disagree, no tongue in cheek, but rather head firmly up the ass. But still, I agree, very funny. We need more humor, even if it comes from one trolling for a lunker.
Jack,
Great show as usual. Regarding honey a couple of points. The theory behind use for allergies is just like you said, which is basically what happens with allergy shots. Drawback is the same also in that if your allergies are severe it could cause a potentially dangerous allergic reaction.
As far as honey for medicine, it is a great cough suppressant. Some studies show it to be comparable to robitussin. The darker the better if you can handle it.
Jack thank you for the you tube video not many people would have thought to do that instead of whining and crying.Keep up the good work
A point I would like to add to regarding the honey is furthering cougar’s point here and Jack’s from the show- that being the cough suppressant aspect of it. It is my understanding (weight that however you will…) that honey, local or not, is a natural anti-inflammatory. Thus why it helps the sore throat and the reaction to allergies short term, then the homeopathic aspect theoretically helps build immunity to the allergy long term.
p.s. thanks for your thoughts on the question jack.
I used to have horrible seasonal allergies until I read about using local honey. The bees get the pollen from plants in your area to make the honey, you eat the honey, you build immunity, and whammo…cured. Worked for me! And Jack I happen to love it when you go off on some jerk on the road 🙂
Dear Jack,
it would appear that you did not post my question about your choice of a vehicle with a automatic transmission. A manual transmission is something which gives you better mileage, less sudden failure and something which one can repair the clutch.
Am I missing something as to why you did not want to address this issue?
Joe not sure what you are talking about first I remember seeing you make this point. At this point as long as you use the same name and email your comments are automatically approved.
In any event manuals do have some advantages. In an emergency though they have one major disadvantage. Should you be injured, unable to drive, etc. there are many people that don’t know how to drive them today but can drive an automatic just fine. We are about to buy a Jeep and have been discussing this very issue and weighing both sides.
While the wife and I both have no issues our concern is if we ever a dependent upon someone else in an emergency that can’t drive a stick. In fact this is why even the military shifted to mostly automatics in the 80s.
Dear Jack,
I did a search and could not find it.
Sorry if I jumped the gun.
I think that rule number on is not to hang around people who don’t have such skills as driving
a manual transmission.
The jump starting aspect can not be over stressed.
your battery could get weak, your starter could go. As in your case, a passer by had his own
vehicle and helped you out. Any way,
you have a great show and we all have learned alot from you. keep up the good work.
Joe,
Can’t say I am going to begin screening every one I meet to see who knows how to drive a stick and who doesn’t.
One consideration thanks to “safety” many new vehicles can’t be started with a clutch pop any longer.
wandering jew is a house plant which is edible.
Living in a country where I would guess that 95 percent plus of cars are manuals and 95 percent plus of people can drive manual transmission, this isn’t really a problem for me but I have a view on Joe’s concerns.
You can get small battery booster packs which can plug in to the cigar lighter of your car to enable a boost start of a flat/tired battery. They fit in the glovebox and you don’t even have to get out of the car!
Modern cars have so many electronic components such as switches, solenoids, sensors, etc, that manual gearboxes can be subject to as many failures as autos. Most breakdowns are non-starting related so it is wise to think about alternatives for autos/manuals where bump starting isn’t possible so booster packs are the way forward. An even cheaper alternative/addition are jump leads (I paid 3 GBP for a set) but this of course relies upon another motorist stopping to help out.
I’m just getting caught up on podcasts as we’ve been away building a cabin at our BOL.
My husband is a sustainable beekeeper. There is a lot more to honey for allergy relief than just taking a teaspoon in the morning and at night in one’s tea. If that method worked, it was either a very happy accident or a placebo effect.
In order for honey to be effective for allergy relief, you must get local honey that was harvested at the same time as allergies are being experienced. Honey collected in the fall will do nothing for spring allergies. The honey must be made from the pollen causing the allergic reaction.
The only way to ensure that you have the right honey is to get it from a local beekeeper. Every county has a beekeeping association. Look your’s up online, and they can put you in touch with a beekeeper. Or, try farmer’s markets, another great resource. Or, better yet, keep your own bees.
The honey must also be raw honey, not the pasturized junk sold at the grocery store by the big commercial honey retailers. It is the enzymes in the honey that react with the offending pollen to gives honey it’s allergy-fighting properties. Pasturization kills the enzymes, rendering the honey useless for allergy relief.
Also, honey from the grocery stores is often not just honey. It’s often cut with cheaper sweeteners like high fructose corn syrup. This is an Industry Standard Practice. The FDA has a loophold that if the addition of an ingredient is an Industry Standard Practice, it does not have to be included on the label.
Just boiling honey will also kill enzymes, so if you take honey with tea, please wait until the tea is cool enough to drink before adding honey for either allergy or sore throat relief.
One last thing… two teaspoons a day is not enough to treat allergies. It would be better to take a teaspoon 3-4 times a day. Do not wait until allergies are severe to take honey, as it will take longer for the honey to work.