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Episode-749- Listener Feedback for 9-26-11

The Survival Podcast Posted on by

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Today is Monday and I have a lot of great positive stuff this week along with a lot of interesting questions and concerns from the audience.  Remember to submit content for a show like this simply send your email to jack at thesurvivalpodcast.com with the appropriate subject line such as article for jack, comment for jack, question for jack, etc. and I will try to get your material on the air.

Please note I receive 200-400 emails (real ones) on an average day, there is no way I can respond to them all or put them all on air, I do read them all though and your thoughts are important to me so keep em coming.

Join Me Today As We Discuss…

  • Come hang out with me and Sepp Holtzer in Montana in May
  • An update on AgriTrue, coding has begun
  • A possible land buying opportunity
  • Is now the time to buy precious metals
  • One piece of monitoring equipment kills power for 6 million
  • Advice for anyone in any demographic
  • Follow up on carrying a zippo and not having it dry out
  • The real cost of not having a back up generator
  • Storing vehicle components such as motors long term
  • A simple small scale wetland/swale project
  • A sneak peak of a new song I co-wrote with Gegg Yows
  • When I want cash for my gold and silver what do I do
  • The protesters on Wall Street are NOT your friends

Resources for Today’s Show

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. Also remember you can call in your questions and comments to 866-65-THINK and you might hear yourself on the air.

Comments

Episode-749- Listener Feedback for 9-26-11 — 15 Comments

  1. Hey Jack I’ve been listening for a few months now and it’s a great resource. I just wanted to let you and your members know that I completely agree with your thoughts about how to basically improve your life no matter what your social or ethnic background is! We teach our children to look beyond looks and color. And Like M.L.K. said “judged by the content of your character” At work I hear from co-workers all the time crap about how Mexicans are discriminated, blah blah blah. I and my wife don’t let the fact that we have nice tans (levity folks) keep us from making a better life for ourselves and our children. I tell people this all the time. As a Libertarian I’d much rather have neighbors that are Gay, Muslim, Anesthetist, Brown, White, or whatever; just as long as they are respectful to me. I wave to them on the way out the house they wave back. We watch each others’ houses when ones away. We can share drinks over a grill. I’ll take them all day versus some disrespectful twit that has nice cars, a fancy house, or someone that I couldn’t have a neighborly conversation about the weather. Keep spreading the knowledge Jack, thanks!

  2. Regarding Precious Metals:
    After losing my home to foreclosure and my second business to the economic recession (taking out my clients) I began looking at alternatives for life and income. I had been storing up a small amount of silver when my business was running strong and was able to purchase the metal under $20 an ounce. This made a substantial impact on me when things went to crap because I had only been holding about 100 ounces of silver when my life went through the “terrible” change of losing so much. When I went to sell the silver (there is a small bullion trader business in my new town) I was able to sell it for $37 an ounce. This dramatic increase that happened within 18 months really changed my mind as to the value of metals as a solid currency.
    The first thing I noticed was the sheltering one can do that helped keep my money safe. First rule I have for buying and selling precious metals; Never deal with more then $9,999.90 a day. If you have a solid dealer who is following the letter of the law while protecting their clientele, they wont mandate any record of the purchase or sale if it us under 10k.
    Second rule; pay with cash. Checks and credit cards leave a trail. Americans have already lost their precious metals to the government under ridiculous sedition acts in the past. Use cash and buy the physical (in your hand) metals so there is no record. This will help to protect your metal because no one needs to know you even have it!
    Third Rule; watch the market. Precious metals are volatile! They will go up and down, often times dramatically over the period of 1-2 months, sometimes even weeks. I’ve been making a small but helpful supplemental living from trading in smaller amounts as the conditions change. There is something to be said when you can get exciting about precious metals both falling and rising in value!
    Working with small amounts of gold and silver can get you very excited. You don’t want to got o far, but I can tell you the biggest benefit of my endeavor’s with precious metal was the gateway effect. I have been something of a small prep’er for a long time, but looking at my finances from the ‘sustainability’ point of view rather then the ‘make money fast and spend it’ view has altered my entire perspective with regards to every aspect of my life. Thus, I became a member of TSP and am actively seeking out more information and activity which will allow me to create and ‘sustain’ a comfortable, healthy life.
    Just some food for thought.

    • @Shaddess

      One thing to note is banking and financial transactions no longer are subject to the 10K rule. It was dropped to a lower amount (can’t remember how low) a few years ago. 10K still pops up a lot as a basis for reporting requirements but not in the world of finance any longer.

  3. A little more on storing engines. sqiurt a little oil in each cylinder through tne spark plug holes (teaspoon or less). Turn the motor over by hand several times to get the oil all over the cylinders. Every 2-6 months, turn the motor over again, stopping in a new location. This will keep the cyclinders lubed, and the valve springs from loosing tencion bue to being compressed for a long time.

  4. About carrying cash:
    I agree with Jack on carrying cash, However please consider also getting one of those VISA or other credit card gift cards for a minimal amount (Like the cost of a tank of gas and/or a hotel room) and stash that somewhere. I kept one in my BOB and did end up having to use it, and I was very thankful I had it there!

    In a different instance, before and after a hurricane here in the South, I noticed that some places took only cash, yet some places would only take credit. It depended on what systems were working at the time in various stores and gas stations. At one drug store I offered to pay for another customer’s purchases with my bank card and allowed him to give me his cash for the items. This worked out well for both of us since the store wouldn’t take cash, I had none left, he didn’t have credit, and all ATMs were down and banks were closed.

    About Zippos:
    I love and collect them, and have a good stock of fuel, flints, and wicks. Be sure to keep an extra flint or two under the cotton at the bottom of each lighter. I always carry two Zippos – one I am using, and one in a small pill ziplock bag. This way when the one I am using runs out, I have a freshly-filled spare. In a BOB I would carry two Zippos in small but heavy ziplock bag, and check them every week or two to see if they need to be refilled. If you have room carry fluid, but I do think a little Bic lighter would be better than Zippos in a BOB.

  5. Since Fortress Defense was a Sponsor of the Day…

    I attended A Fortress Defense Class this weekend, and found it to be very informative and good training. It was fairly rigorous in my way of thinking, and challenging as well. I really feel it benefited me, and…the price really is good.

    Not trying to turn this into an ad or anything, but just wanted to share a bit of personal experience (for what that’s worth).

  6. Jack – I’ve been carrying a “Peanut” lighter for about a year. Great little lighter. No problems if it stays submerged for a while. O-ring seal works great.

  7. About buying and selling gold/silver:

    Listeners should realize that converting from any asset to any asset includes transaction (overhead) costs. In some cases, you can come out ahead trading assets, but that only happens with somewhat unusual relationships: i.e. you trade a lawnmower for a welder and is somewhat rare. With relationships that are well established: US dollars -> anything (including gold), the transaction cost is more consistent (Because these assets are so frequently exchanged) and therefore apparent.

    However, in general, there are always transaction costs for any transaction.

    So there are probably a couple pertinent lessons here once you accept the concept of transaction costs:

    1) You can come out ahead when you barter. Because you go from Asset A directly to Asset B, you don’t have the transaction costs of going “Asset A”->cash->”Asset B”, which is two total trades instead of one.

    2) Buying gold or silver carries transaction costs just like any other exchange. So if you are buying metals to serve a purpose such as wealth protection against inflation, then you must hold those metals long enough to gain enough benefit to at least offset the value of the transaction costs, or else you should just keep your cash in cash. If you are going to transfer the metals back to cash in a short period, it doesn’t make sense to really engage in that transaction, suffering the transactions costs of cash->metal and metal->cash. Better to just hold the cash over that period.

    • I realized there is a third significant implication to this issue, that is the effect of increased productivity, or maybe “direct productivity”.

      For instance, if you always work in cash/dollars (e.g. you go to work, get dollars and then use those dollars to buy things like squash or footballs) there is quite a bit of transaction cost associated with all those trades into and out of cash.

      However, if you work on direct productivity like gardening, soap making, *whatever* then you can start gaining benefit/productivity without having to use dollars. This is similar to barter in that you get direct benefit of the activity and you don’t have to cycle your productivity through dollars and the overhead that incurs.

  8. I’d have to disagree somewhat with bluprint.

    While they’re dead on on the barter discussion, the transaction costs are a different concept. True, there are costs in buying and selling precious metals, generally the dealer’s commission or fee. However, if the market gain is more than the transaction cost or fee, then the seller is still making a profit. That profit may be reduced by the transaction fee, but it is still profit. Buying and selling metals is playing a market, just like stocks, ETFs or bonds. Risk in investment is normal.

    That being said, it does depend on the goal of the buyer. Generally, those that are purchasing metals as an inflation hedge are going to be long term holders, and rarely sell on market dips or spikes. Those that are purchasing on an investment basis will want to pay attention to those moves in the market and sell or buy depending on the movement. A transaction cost in using the metals market that way is inevitable. As long as your profit is larger than the fees, it is still profit.

  9. A great long term storage technique for engines is 50/50 ATF and Kerosine. Mix it up, put it in a bottle, pull the plugs and spray some in the combustion chambers and over any bear metal parts, just a light mist is plenty. You’re creating an oxygen barrier, lubricant, and hydroscopic effect (from the ATF). Some salvage yards do this for long term exposed storage. I did it on an old SBC and after sitting several years on my patio, sold it to a friend and it fired right up.

  10. Re storing engines – people who have to store aircraft engines have some manufacturer-suggested procedures that they follow. They involve making sure the engine is well-lubricated with a preservative oil, and putting dessicant plugs in place of the spark plugs. I’m not sure if the dessicant plugs are made in the size that would fit an automotive engine but it would be worth checking into, particularly if you live in a humid climate. More info:
    http://www.lycoming.textron.com/support/publications/service-letters/pdfs/SL180B.pdf
    and http://www.sacskyranch.com/corrosion.htm (toward the bottom).

  11. What happened with the lots mentioned in episode 749? Is there a special place in MSB for more info?

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