↓
 

Episode-890- Listener Calls for 4-27-12

The Survival Podcast Posted on by

Podcast: Play in new window | Download (25.3MB)

Join Me Today as I Answer Your Calls

Join Me Today as I Answer Your Calls

Today I take your calls on snakes, the AR15, solar panels, pepper spray, fruit storage, off site storage, mulching, overseas travel preps, real estate, electronic currency and destroying vs. saving America.

Remember to be on a show like this one just pick up your phone and call 866-65-THINK. The best way to improve your chances of being on the air is ask your question or make your point up front, then provide details.

Also please do your best to call from a quite area with a good connection and speak up so you can be well heard. I can’t put all calls on the air but I do my best to get most of them on.

Join Me Today As I Respond to Your Calls On…

  • Why I used to breed snakes and why I still keep some
  • Making choices and cutting though hype when buying your first AR15
  • Another real world example of why you should carry pepper spray
  • How do you store surplus fruit from weekly shopping
  • Should you store firearms off site and what should you look for if you do
  • If you get a damaged solar panel for free do you use it as is or “repair it”
  • Getting mulch into a remote area
  • Prepping for overseas travel, specifically to less stable parts of the world
  • Thoughts on investing in real estate right now, especially raw land
  • Is a cashless society on the way, yes, so what do we do about it
  • Biltong from lamb and goat, can you do it, if so whats the good and bad of it
  • Why don’t banks want your change any more and what does it mean
  • A shocking video called If I Wanted America to fail
  • My response to the above video – “If I Wanted to Save America”

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-890- Listener Calls for 4-27-12 — 51 Comments

  1. I also have a Smith & Wesson M&P 15, it’s a great AR. Over 2k rounds and zero malfunctions. There are lots of great options though, definitely a buyers market!

    On the mags, you can’t go wrong with Magpul PMAGs, but another good option is the Troy BattleMag. Review on our site if anyone is interested.

  2. On the storage unit idea: About a year ago a storage place 1 block from my house caught fire and that is a problem in reguards to anything that you have stored as it might go up in flames, not that the stuff in your unit started the fire. Also stored gun ammo can be a danger to the firemen there to put out the fire.

    Something to think about.
    Best, Duncan

  3. Storage units are a joke….I used to do a lot of contractor repair jobs at storage sites. They are really easy to break into, they don’t fix water leaks until after lots of damage is done to someon’s property, there insurance is a rip of f, ect,ect

  5. hey Jack,
    as usual, fantastic podcast. And as i often like to point out – i generally consider myself “liberal” and yet I agree with just about everything in your podcasts, and including today in regards to that video. Keep up the great work. Maybe it’s not too late to save these United States. I am always trying to get my friends & family to listen to your podcast. Even if they disagree on some things, I hope they can see that the core is exactly how we feel. You’re doing a great job bringing together the various ‘groups’ we get boxed in. The country boy, the hippy, the anarchist, the punk, the farmer. We have so much in common, that our differences are not reasons to fight, but something to share! The false differences between us are part of the problem today. There’s a better way!

  6. Wooow … I … wow… what can I.. say uh…. i’m ……speechlessly in awe …. amazing…. so very moving, heart felt passion. I feel you really shared your very soul with me/us.
    Thank you warm hugs back at you.

    So we should have had SNACKS & TISSUES for this show. You will I mean will you, make a recording or you tube of that at the end? I just have to pass it on and share with others.

    Gotta say Jack you are dam good at what you do. What a gift! Thanks again
    Have a great weekend.

  7. Jack, your comments about not allowing America to fail may be your best work to date – inspiring, reasonable and direct. Thank you.

  8. Thank you Jack for answering my question. I will see if I can persuade my family to make biltong out of goat. I have been planting liberty seeds over the past few days.

  10. Thanks for putting my call about storage units on the air.

    You made me think about the issue in another way. I will just have to wait for the right time to have yet another discussion with my wife about guns in the house versus in storage units.

    I do like your suggestion about gun ranges storing the extra guns. If I cannot persuade my wife on a gun safe in the house, then I can go down that road.

    • Do you have any friends or neighbors who would let you put a gun safe in their house? This is just an off the cuff idea… the only forseeable problems is if something happened to your neighbors house, but it seems just as likely as a problem at a storage unit, methinks. And much better access in case of emergency, most likely.

    • You might want to keep 1 spare gun in storage with some ammo but I wouldn’t put all of them in there.
      a better option is a wall or floor safe which is easily hidden. For those with some cash you can get furniture with hidden safes in them. I even saw a safe that is a box spring. Pretty nice if you like a hard bed and with a bed skirt over it theives will be hard pressed to find it.

    • Whatever you put in a storage unit be careful not to let other people using the same facility see what you have. Several years ago I had a storage unit and someone cut off my locks, went strait to my generator, grabbed a few other things and put new locks on the door. I’ve always assumed that they saw the generator when I had the door open and came back later.

  11. Jack, your “If I wanted to save America” response was fantastic! I am so glad to hear to you say those things. They really need to be said over and over again. The video you played was very good, but after that there had to be some solutions offered. I see so many people that point out all of these problems, and I fully agree that they need to be pointed out, but then after that the people hearing them are left empty. Just like with permaculture something needs to occupy that empty space. It needs to be positive, life changing ideals like the ones you put in your response, otherwise it is easy for the things occupying that space to become those things that take the country further in the wrong direction.

    I will play your response for everyone that I can get to listen to it, it was just right!

    Thanks for all you do!
    Scott

  12. Jack, have you got an edited version of your ‘if I wanted to save America” audio for sharing? I’d love to stick it on facebook, but don’t want to use or edit your audio without permission…

    • @229Mick first if you ever want to pull out a portion of any show to use for any non commercial use, go nuts with it. On making a version I am thinking about what to do, was thinking about getting some pics and doing like a slide show for youtube or something.

      • Jack,
        Why not try to contact the person that posted the video “If I wanted America to fail” and combine your response.” Or, make it a reponse on Youtube. Both are moving but yours is motivating! Jack, you get better everyday, but today you leaped. Thank you for who you are and what you do!

  13. Jack,

    Thanks on the mulch question .. Some people on the forums told me once that alot of the smaller chippers aren’t much good .. What size chipper would I need ?

    My BOL is a 4 hour drive at the speed I drive. I would perhaps like to not have to stop and get a chipper or wood chips from somebody, and add more extra time but maybe I would I don’t know. I don’t like going up there on 2 day weekends too much because of the drive but I need to do some work up there in the spring including the mulch thing. Maybe a landscape place in my state as you said ..

    I tried to use leaves, but the wind blew most of them away it seems.

    Where can I get cyprus mulch from ?

    • Don’t know if using straw would work for you. It sure has worked for us. Well as long as you can water it down good or put it down just before a hard rain. That way it won’t blow away. I have even soaked a bale of straw in water and put a big hole in the top placed a huge planter container with drain holes in the bottom. When it rains it fills the pot and drains in slowly soaking the bale again. Makes like a large self watering sponge. Just place it next to the plants that need watering. Not sure how well it would work in all areas I live in the Pacific Northwest. Just thought I’d throw out another idea that worked for me. It’s been hard for us to get enough wood chips with the green leafy material mixed in. Bark pleanty of that but does not work quite as well.

      • thanks, I think I need something that I can just bring up there, unload from the truck and spread around. I don’t even have running water to wet down some hay ..

        • yeah if you can’t water it down good it will fly around for sure. If you ever do decide to use straw make sure it is straw (not hay unless rotten) and second cut is better. Good luck to you.

        • @surfivor, given what you have said I would just buy a load of chips from a local landscape place, cover with a tarp and head up there. I don’t think you will have any issues crossing the border and like I said just keep your receipt. If you have to go with bags just do it and don’t worry about all the alarmism, I used cypress mostly from home depot for years in Arlington and you saw my results were awesome.

          Now if you did want to use hay as the other guy suggested if you hosed it down before you left and tarped it it would still be damp enough to spread out when you got there. Again though I do have to say if you went up there on a long weekend or something and spent a day with a chipper likely you could make 5-6 truck loads and have it piled up for future trips.

        • Thanks Jack ..

          I was trying to locate a friend of mine who has a farm and some wood chips.

          I did see some playground chips at the local nursery in bags which was $5.99/3 cubic feet. Those chips where cedar. Some big chunks of like pine bark was $8.40 for the same size. Is cedar ok or would it adversely effect the soil a bit when it breaks down ?

  14. That was my question to Jack and I’m glad he addressed it. Security of an off site storage location is a huge concern especially if it is guns. The ease that they can be broken into is a concern.

    The real problem is that it is almost impossible to have a reason-based conversation with my wife about guns. Perhaps it is my lack of ability, but there is some deep-seeded reason and/or years of demonization of guns that I cannt overcome with logic, reason and evidence. People, including me on certain subjects, are not reason-based. We are driven by emotions. So, I have to deal with the issue on a non-rational level. Non-rational means sub-optimal. The further from reason, the worse the solution. That is a fact of life that I have to deal with.

  15. Guess what finally came in the mail today! My FOID card! (Firearm Owner’s Identification Card– for those of you in any other state other than sucky Illinois)
    It took a couple of months but I got it. Now for some training….

  16. I have to say Steven Harris was somewhat short today. I am glad Jack gave the warning.
    Jack Joe Nobody was awesome! You must get him back on for another episode I will have to listen to that segment again.

  17. That close was the most inspirational thing I’ve heard all week. Thanks so much Jack. 🙂

  18. I listen to the show when I walk at night (PT for back surgery from a few years ago). I’m at the furthest from the house when Keith Snow comes on; 10:00pm and no dinner yet, WOW! That should have had a disclaimer on it! Keith is an outstanding council member. Thanks.

  19. If ever there was a single podcast that Jack has done that covers the nuts and bolts, with a healthy dose of the TSP philosophy, this is it. Thanks Jack !!

  20. To add to the which AR should you choose. If money is no object and you want one of if not THE most accurate AR, look at LaRue Tactical’s OBR. Also look at Daniel Defense and BCM (Bravo Company USA). Both make great rifles that will last a lifetime.

    Don’t upgrade ANYTHING on your rifle until you’ve shot the heck out of it. Get to know your rifle in it’s standard format.

    D&H magazines with Magpul followers work great and are probably the best value magazine out there right now. Magpul PMAG magazines are also great but cost a little more.

  21. Wow there is so much I could say about todays show. I was blown away. I will however confine this post to the storage solution for firearms. Keep in mind the factors that could block your access from your firarms. First if you are late paying for even 1 day you may be denyed access and if your more than thirty days you may not ever see them again. Thats rough. If you go with tight security you wont have 24 hour access. and of course 24 access equals poorer security. An armorer will keep guns for you if you choose that option but releaseing them to you each time is the same process as purchasing a gun. So again limited access. Also consider cashing them maybe on a route out of town, that might serve two purposes. You mentioned you already have a gun in the house that she is tolerating. That being the case you should first try talking your wife into taking a class on defending herself with it. If she does and you choose a good instructor it will change her mind for you. I promise! It worked for me. By the end of class my wife wanted her own gun and I gladly bought it for her that very day. Also work on the soft sells first – first aid class, food storage too save money, etc.

  22. First I’d like to second what ScottM48 said about Jacks comments today. I guess I would just like to add that I believe we will eventually win our country back. The closer these groups ocupying our government get to completely stamping out freedom the harder it is to hide their agenda. People are wakeing up everywhere and direction is what we are lacking but the word is spreading. Just a few years ago I thought I was nearly alone in my beliefs and now there are things like free state projects and I see front yard gardens with Ron Paul signs in the middle of them all around my little town. I want to add to Jacks comments on starting from the bottom to make change, sheriff is an important office to focus on if yours is oppressive, If you have a good one make sure you keep him or her. After all bad laws are useless without someone to enforce them. Jack if you are reading this, thank you for being the voice of truth bringing all of us, rich or poor, liberal or conservative, togather as friends who respect each others rights.

  23. I am having trouble putting into words what an awesome, truly astounding show this was.

    Reference the reali-life issue involving posibly defending yourself with pepper spray; I have not tried Inferno, but I have tried and highly recommend Sabre-Red. Most, if not all Sabre Red products not only have pepper spray, but also tear gas. I have been in law enforcement for 10 years and have been hit by several other sprays. Sabre Red is the only one that effects me almost instantly.

    Jack made a great point about dispalying a weapon to scare someone off and the police end up getting involved. A friend of mine made a late-night deposit at an ATM and was approached at least twice by then same man who was attempting to bum money. On the last attempt, the man got real close and real assertive. My friend felt threatened and deployed a knife in order to scare the man away. The man left and called the police. My friend was stopped, detained and thoroughly questioned. My friend now carries pepper spray as well.

    Two officers I work with have purchased the M&P AR15 through gunbroker.com and both love them. Each got a base model with a colapsible stock for under $600.00. Might be a good place to check.

    The expert panel rocks! I so look forward to these call-in shows every week. The knowledge that Jack and the experts provide is outstanding. I do hope that Jack does some kind of video to go with his “How to Save America” speech.

  24. Jack,

    The question about wood mulch had me wondering. I just got my first garden spot tilled. I know I’ll want to mulch, and you gave me some good ideas about sourcing that mulch. Where does compost fit in though? Do you plant, add some compost, and then mulch heavily, or is there another order of operations?

    Great show as always!

    • @sarah, personally I use a ton of compost (ton meaning a lot not a literal ton) when I build a bed either conventional or hugul. I then mulch on top of that. Down the road when I want to add more organic matter I do so and reapply mulch. Sometimes I pull the existing mulch layer back and then add compost and reapply the old mulch and add new stuff.

      Yet if the existing layer is almost totally broken down I just layer on top of it. Right now I am using wood chips mostly in my perennial areas. In my beds where I grow veggies I am growing cayuse oats and vetch all aroud the adjoining area, I just cut it as I need it and use it as mulch, growing my own. It doesn’t last as long but it requires no real effort or inputs and I just add a layer of compost on top of it when I do a new planting and cut more and wash rinse repeat. With wood I generally rake it off, add the compost and put it back and add more so it is more work but lasts longer.

  25. This is in response to the gentleman who was having difficulty convincing his wife that he should have firearms in the house. A co-worker of mine was having the same issue with his wife. He has always been the protector, having had years of training in the martial arts, knife fighting, and firearms. His wife and daughter assumed that, if anyone attempted to come into their home and commit an act of violence against them, that Daddy would just take care of it. He tried for quite a while to convince his wife and daughter (daughter is 18), that he cannot always be there for them. They come home to an empty house because his shift is a couple of hours later than his wife’s. What he did was to have his wife watch the news with him for a few weeks. When the media told her that home invasions were way up, and that robberies were way up, she agreed to go out with him and shoot a gun. He took his wife and daughter out to a local indoor range, bringing a couple of handguns. He showed them how to hold the guns so that they were not endangering themselves or others, then how to maintain control while shooting. Once his wife had actually shot the handgun a few times it was a whole different ballgame. The difference was seeing someone shoot a gun vs. being in control and shooting it yourself. She decided that particular handgun was now hers, and it is on her nightstand every night. Since then he has taken his wife and daughter shooting many times, both at indoor and outdoor shooting ranges. Both of them have taken to it so well that they appear to have grown up around guns. Their marksmanship has improved dramatically. Now he no longer worries about his wife or daughter being the victim of a home invasion or the victim of a violent crime. They both know how to handle their guns safely and with accuracy.

  26. Your comments on how to save the United States were on point. I hope someone like Glenn Beck hears this and features it on his radio show. Great job!

  27. Definitely one of Jack’s best shows ever.

    In regards to storing weapons, I have a third of my guns, ammo, and food at my house, another third in a storage facility in the next town on the way out of my city, and another third of my guns, ammo, and food stored in my friends basement vault in Utah (on my way to my buyout location). As Jack states repeatedly, never place all your eggs in one basket. My two alternate storage locations are enroute to my bugout location, so I have a Plan B and a Plan C.

    If you choose to place guns, ammo, or food in a storage facility, makes sure there is adequate security. The storage facility I use is surrounded by a 14 foot brick wall on all sides, has 24 hours security cameras, and the managers live in an upstairs apartment overlooking the entire property.

    The facility doesn’t allow firearms or bullets, but I didn’t volunteer the information to the manager when I rented the compartment. I keep everything hidden in the back with other gear on top. My storage compartment was designed for motorhomes, so the walls are made of concrete blocks and there is a fire suppression system in the overhead.

  28. Lamb was the only red meat in my freezer when I first heard of biltong. And Jack’s statement about how it would taste with regards to the fat content and flavor was SPOT ON! I need to get some beef to try it, but I’m certain it will taste better than the lamb.

  29. Thanks Steve for answering my questions on solar panels in the show.

    I managed to test my damaged solar panel today (details at bottom) and found it to produce 160 watts! (I plan on buying a load more this week)

    I am still a little concerned about what I do about large holes in the glass causing undue corrosion. My panel has a large hole in the glass (half an inch in diameter). Wheras I can understand that there is no point in doing anything about the tiny cracks that cover the entire panel I feel that it would be worth plugging the large holes in the glass. (I was thinking of simply taping on some aluminum / bitumen tape used to patch up gutters). Do you think this is a good idea and if not could you let me know why it is not a good idea?

    On my question about not using batteries. I can see how it would have seemed a little bizarre as I didn’t really provide enough background. My house is 100% off grid and the electricity is 12V which is currently provided by two solar panels (130 watts max output in total) linked via 20 amp solar controller to two 100 AH deep cycle batteries. I guess I was after advice on how I beef up a system with enough power to run 240 volt power tools occasionally with minimal batteries so I have less maintenance and ongoing cost.

    Thanks again for answering my question and I’ll be placing a book order this week.
    ***********************
    If anyone else is interested I tested my panel using 2 50watt car headlight globes and an amp meter. The (170 watt max output) Day4Energy panel is 24 volts is actually made from 2 12 volt cell arrays (with 24 cells in each). So I used the light globes to draw current on each array and got around 80 watts per array – 160 watts in total.

    • One additional bit of info. My panel is covered in toughened glass (I though all solar panels were) however I have just seen a panel that isn’t. So just so you understand the glass is shattered throughout. (micro cracks all though the glass) . I don’t know if that makes any difference I think it could still be splash proof. I suppose my main worry is that although $30 is really cheap for a 170w solar panel it is expensive if the panel corrodes and dies after 6 months.

  30. Another option for gun storage that works well short term is to pawn it. I used to work in a pawn shop and several people who came to work in the summer and camp out would pawn a couple guns for $20 and pay the $5 a month interest as storage.
    Having to do background checks on pawn redemption slowed that down a bit and I don’t know the current laws on that.
    If anyone does this it’s very important to understand the exact terms of the pawn agreement! You don’t want to come to get your stuff back and find that you had the dates wrong and your stuff if already sold.

  31. Awesome show Jack!

    Please think about putting your “If I wanted to Save America…” as a video response to the “….America to fail” and make it a downloadable mp3 so we can pass it on.

    Thanks, Jack.

  33. Hey… they don’t produce more land anymore… I’d say “f” it and get the land… used now or later don’t matter… land IS land

  34. Jack-Thank you so much for this show. Your segment on “If I Wanted to Save America” had me crying. I was listening as I mowed the lawn and had to pull to a stop. I’m definitely sharing this one with friends and family. All of the shows are good and have a ton to offer, but this one was especially great and moving. Thanks for all you do!

  35. I wanted to add something to the traveller’s survival kit. You should have the contact information and location of any US embassy or consulate in the country. It mighalso be agooide tomatk it and the other important locations mentioned in the show on the map that was recommended.

  36. A great show once again. I called my local home depot and they said a chipper/shredder rented for $200 per day. I have a 6 foot tall pile of small limbs to burn and thought I would chip them like Jack said. I was shocked at the rental price of the chipper. Must have gone up in the last couple of years. Matches are much cheaper, or maybe I will let them dry out a little more and use them in a hugulkultr bed.

    • Hi Doug;
      Do a search of your area for Chipper Rental and you will likely find other options which are cheaper. Remember, a lot of rental places have smaller rental increments than daily. The one I found in my area has 2 and 4 hours rentals also. Depending on the size of your pile and how fast you can go through it, that might be worth it.
      Also, while a match is cheaper, would it cost you anything to purchase that much great mulch material? Just a thought.
      Finally, for those who already have their homestead tractor, there are chipper/shredders designed to hook to a PTO. Just thought I’d throw that idea out there.

↑