Author Arthur Bradley drops by to share with us how and why he made The Survivalist series for you.
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Arthur Bradley is a NASA engineer by day and a prepper author by night. (A real NASA engineer, not like the sort of nonsense Jonathan Jason and myself used to tell women.)
This isn't just a cool side-note. His vocation shapes the fiction he writes: Facts and realism play a key role.
And there's a much deeper reason Bradley has all the potential to be a great prepper author. But we'll get into that in the episode.
Beyond NASA and the fiction books, he's also written a several non-fiction survival related book. And he's something of an expert on EMPs.
From his bio:
His "Handbook to Practical Disaster Preparedness for the Family" has been featured in the New York Times, Money magazine, the Toronto Sun, Popular Mechanics, Men's Journal, the Costco Connection. The handbook is widely recognized as the gold standard of family preparedness manuals.
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We discuss whether or not arming teachers with guns is the best answer to stopping school shootings. The question is more complex than it appears. And, so is the answer.
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Michael Bazzel drops in to discuss Open Source Intelligence. He shares with some extremely creepy things people can find out about you from the internet. And we’ll discuss how to cleans them.
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Open Source Intelligence, or OSINT as it is often referred to, is anything information openly obtainable. Now, this doesn't sound very sexy. But this might be because you haven't heard just how much personal information about you can be pulled off the internet.
It's downright creepy and terrifying in some cases!
Imagine using deadly force to defend your life. Then, after, by the time you get home, the media is camped out on your lawn and won't go away.
And image someone wanted to track you, your spouse, or even your children down. Everything they need to know to plan and execute something bad may be already floating in cyberspace without you knowing. Are you so sure you're safe?
We'll cover what's out there and what you can do about it in this episode...
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Rhodes of Iron Edison drops back in. He shares with us the fundamentals of an off-grid solar system. You'll get the basics of what you need to know to start planning solar power for your bug out location or "vacation cabin".
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Retrofitting or building an off-grid home can be very confusing, especially when it comes to how to get electricity. (And don't we have enough to fool with preparing for whatever comes next?)
There's so much to consider preppers often threw up their hands in frustration. And they then put the entire topic off for another day. This then holds them back from they're goal of getting a bug out location or bug out vacation home.
And done incorrectly, whether to large or too small, can be a budget killer. Building a battery-powered home with solar or other alternative energies is already a big expense. The project requires care and careful planning.
But the fundaments of an off-grid solar system are relatively easy to grasp. It just takes someone with in-depth knowledge to break it down into bite-sized easy to understand parts. And they need to be someone who can keep us out of the necessary weeks.
Fortunately, we know a guy.
So Rhodes is back to give us just that: An easy to understand fundamentals episode.
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Jill Powell of Remanent Canine 360 drops back by to share with how to take care of your SHTF Dog should the world go mad. You learn all about seldom discussed food storage and medicine for dogs.
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Your SHTF dog could be one of your top assets in a world gone off the rails. Their senses are way better than ours for finding and warning you about a danger. Many will fight to the death to protect you and your family. And, let's face it, they're more loyal than anyone in your prepper group.
Preppers spend endless hours and dollars putting things away for themselves. And we've discussed training your prepper SHTF Dog to be an asset in the past.
But what about storing food and medicine for them?
Our lack of preparation for them could turn an asset into a liability. So let's dive into our companion's needs a bit more to ensure they're survival too.
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Jonathan Hollerman stops back by to discuss his book series Equipping Modern Patriots. We cover everything from him as an author to his biggest prepper fiction pet peeve.
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From the episode 237, you know Jonathan as the former Air-force SERE instructor turned survival retreat consultant. He takes a hard look at preparedness and judges strategies and techniques against his experience seeing some of the worse human traits in action.
And he's made it his personal mission to teach others how to prepare for the worst-case scenarios. As we covered previously, he's written a nonfiction manual.
But he's also written a fiction series titled Equipping Modern Patriots. In his book series, he takes you on a journey in order to teach readers survival lessons. These are the aspects of survival he feels are most important and overlooked. Most notably is human desperation and how good people can do horrible atrocities.
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Justin Carrol drops by to discuss several tinfoil hat ways to protect your identity and make you safer for 2018. We cover buying and setting up anonymous phones, cars, mailboxes, and land. And that's just the start.
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We often speak of becoming a hard target. There are past episodes on guns, martial arts, mindsets, physical security, homes, and bug out locations.
In addition, we've also spoken a length about hardening your life against the black swan events. These include everything from your financial life to life after a societal collapse.
But what about marking your data a hard target to protect your identity?
Did you know you're leaving a trail everywhere you go?
Identity protection isn't just for the paranoid. But remember the old expression: Just because your paranoid doesn't mean no one is watching you.
If you're new, Justin is a privacy and security expert with a long history of government service. As a result, he's made it his life's mission to become, as he says, impenetrable and anonymous.
Some of these will seem right out of a Jason Bourne movie. And they will all be just as much fun. So it's time to dig in and erase yourself from the system.
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Rhodes Carter of Iron Edison stops by to discuss the basics of solar power. We cover everything you need to know to start your journey and one big scam you should avoid.
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Alternative energy is all the rage these days. Buring the liquified or charred remains of dead dinosaurs is so last century.
Preppers have wished upon a star to give them energy production for a long time now. The reason was simple: We want energy independence and self-sufficiency! And it's just about the only way we're going to power our BOL when the zombies march, right? (OK... there's that cold fusion reactor, but that's not happening tomorrow.)
Solar power simply wasn't realistically a viable option for the last few decades, sadly. The equipment to build a system to juice up our power hungry lives was too expensive. The efficiency didn't make sense. And it didn't produce enough electricity to meet the demands of most people.
However, things are rapidly changing in the world of solar power. And we may be at the point where this type of alternative energy production verges on what most people hoped it would grow into.
But figuring out the different types of systems and what you need is as confusing as a football bat. You'll need to figure out your loads, wire sizes, volts, watts, amp hours, batteries, battery chemistry, panel sizes, and on, and on.
The worst part is most of the information reads like drunk engineers hastily wrote it. (English may also be a second language just to make things more exciting.)
Fortunately, Rhodes joins us to give us a primer and promise to take us all the way...
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James Price drops by the studio to whip you into shape for the new year. We discuss what the habits that the best shooters and professional chefs both share.
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Many people watch in awe and wonder as the best shooters in the world work. These top performers seem to glide through courses of fire with ease. Long time listeners will often hear us refer to this as tactical ballet.
And if you ever watch the best chefs in the world, you'll notice they seem to dance around a kitchen. All their movements are fluid, efficient, and purposeful.
But there's more than a surface-deep correlation between the best shooters 'dumping mags in fools' and chefs baking a perfect soufflé.
The commonality is this: They attain unconscious competence by turning skills into habits. And it all starts with a mastery of the basics.
James explains in more depth with some great takeaways for you in this episode...
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We sit down with voice-over artist Kevin Pierce aka the "Voice of the Apocalypse." He shares with us how he got started in the business of book narration and eventually became the voice reading most of our favorite post-apocalyptic prepper fiction books to you.
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Hiding deep in the bowls of dystopian fiction is something special, terrifying, titling, and even insightful: Prepper fiction. Some say this all started with the book Alas, Babylon. Others say it goes further back to the book Earth Abides. Then the genre slumbered for nearly 60-years only stirring occasionally as the decades rolled on.
But then the money vanished, and the hordes roved in Patriots in 1998. Next, the lights went out, and the hordes roved once more in the book One Second After on March 17th, 2009.
And finally, the match was lit; prepper fiction exploded. Rather than waiting for a decade or two between great stories, we're now on to the next book as soon as we finish the last.
Sometimes we're attacked by Zombies. Other times we're stricken with a sweeping pandemic. Often, we're taken back to the stone age by an EMP.
Whatever your prepper jam, there seems to be one voice tickling your eardrums in most of the audiobook versions of these books. Its a voice so ubiquitous in the genre your mind is immediately transported as though you've just heard some deeply embedded NLP command.
You might know this voice by the name Kevin Pierce, or you might know him as the Voice of the Apocalypse. You know the sound of his voice well, either way.
But most of us do not know the man behind the voice. Who is he? How did he get his start? And how did he come to be the Voice of the Apocalypse?
Let's find out...
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In this episode, we’re joined by Jonathan Hollerman of Grid Down Consulting. We discuss the basics of survival retreats and bug out locations that may save your life in TEOTWAWKI.
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Bug Out Locations (aka BOLs) is a tough subject to tackle. And for this reason, it's not something we've covered too often.
First, there's the expense. Researching, planning, purchasing, and stocking a survival retreat adds up quickly. Very quickly!
Then there are areas most preppers just can't be sure of about their survival retreats. The how far away from a major city question comes up constantly.
And the amount of research to come up with answers is staggering. It's easy to spend months reading about all the topics that go into building a remote place to take yourself and your family when the unthinkable happens.
But there are a few professionals in the industry who commit themselves to helping others plan, find, and develop a bug out location for the worst case scenarios. And today, we sit down with one to answer many, if not most, of your questions.
Concealed handgun instructor Salvatore DeGennaro joins us to discuss practical gun training. He’s going to share his thoughts on handguns vs. long-guns and must have [EDC] items.
We've all heard the adage, "You use your handgun to fight to your long-gun." It makes sense: long-guns are more powerful, easier to make accurate hits with, do more damage to the intended target, and tend to be immediate "fight stoppers."
And long-guns posses a greater effective range. With a weekend's worth of instruction, it is possible to for someone to achieve a high degree of consistent precision out to 400 yards. By high degree, I mean the ability to hold a 4-MOA group, over the course of 40 rounds, at varying distances, while changing positions and magazines, engaging multiple targets, and under a time constraint.
Good luck achieving that with a pistol in a weekend with a newer shooter. The newer shooter should be able to become effective out to 25-yards with a pistol. However, that is typically the limit.
But what is realistic and practical often getting tossed to the side and ignored. And there are case studies like the financial collapse of Argentina provided by FerFal. They demonstrate the real world problems involved in relying primarily on a long-gun in a grid-down or near collapse situation.
So today, Salvatore helps break it all down for us...
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Best-selling author Steven Konkoly joins us. We discuss how he crafts his prepper fiction books just for you. And we learn about his latest book: KILL BOX: A Post-Apocalyptic Pandemic Thriller.
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Pandemics don't get enough love in the prepper fiction niche. Often, we focus on EMPs and terrorist attacks. EPMs, like Zombies, are fun thought experiment: How would people survive in a total grid scenario.
But when it comes to the most likely major disaster, pandemics are a ticking time bomb. Many say we are long overdue for a pandemic, in fact.
And here's where Konkoly takes to ball and runs with it. What if we took the idea of a pandemic and brought it into the modern world were man's hands meddle with things. Do we see zombies?
Who writes these kinds of terrifying nightmares of prepper fiction? We get to know the man behind the words in this episode with author Steven Konkoly.
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Joey King drops by to share news from the war front. The cryptocurrency war that is. He’s going to share with us some basics, history, news, and what to do with your BitCoin Cash.
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The cryptocurrency world is on fire. Some would even say war is ranging. Digital currencies are seeing crazy high prices.
And there's a lot of confusion about what these cryptocurrencies are. The uninformed and uninitiated often ask, "What's the new BitCoin?" There's also a lot of misunderstandings about whether or not it's too late to get into BitCoin or if you should buy an altcoin do to cost.
But people are using the wrong paradigms to think about and invest in cryptocurrencies. This has lead to some scams, confusion, and kept people out of the market altogether.
So we've got a bit of work to do to bring people up to speed. There's a need for a shift in thinking and a bit of backstory. Not to mention the need for some basic, straightforward, and simple information how to acquire and now to store it.
And then there's wrapping our heads around what may be the worlds first true hard currency.
Joey clears most of this up in this episode...
~ Cryptocurrency topics Discussed ~
* What is digital scarcity
* How cryptocurrency attempts to solve scarcity in a digital age
* The historical and sociological implications of a decentralized digital currency
* What altcoins like Etherium and Lightcoin are and if you should pay attention to them
* Why Segwit2x was canceled and what it means for BitCoin Cash
* How to buy and sell
* Best wallets to keep your money in
* Scams to avoid
* What's real and what's marketing
* The future outlook
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In this episode, Joshua Sheats of Radical Personal Finance stops by. He’s going to share with us some fundamental truths of how to increase wealth and how to survive the most likely disaster to impact your life.
Money doesn't come up often enough in the preparedness community. Sometimes there's talk of having cash on hand for emergencies. Other times there's talk of gold and silver investing, bitcoins, and other more unconventional stores of wealth.
And there's sometimes talk of being debt free.
But what does it take to be financially secure, resilient, and having a life you love. After all, if you've got lots of money and hate your life, what's the point? Plus, if you don't know what you're working towards besides retirement do you know retirement is going to be successful?
Today's guest helps us start on the road to taking a long hard look and action to get you closer to increasing your wealth so you can survive personal disasters. And it helps you live a better more fulfilled life today.
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In this episode, Josh drops by to discuss building up the best prepper gun battery on a small budget.
Many preppers obsess over their gun battery. There's a good reason: they are among the best tools to help keep us safe and defend our lives with.
And, let's face it, most of us like guns a whole lot. They're fun to play with and many find shooting to be a relaxing hobby. (I often call it yoga with loud noises and a little more smoke.)
But building a full prepper battery of guns is expensive; especially if you are just starting out. And guns can be the most expensive part of a preppers overall kit. It’s easy to drop $5,000 just on guns and glass. Five bills or more is a big bite to take for a lot of people.
Buying a full gun battery eats into what many long-time preppers feel is as important to nail down quickly: Food, medical supplies, and training. Then there's more training.
So Josh and I discuss the best guns and strategies for starting out your prepper gun battery on a small budget.
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In this episode, we’re joined by Author RE McDermott. He shares with us who he is, his book Under a Tell Tale Sky, and how life after a coronal mass eject might go off the rails.
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Dystopian fiction books in the prepper niche often focus on EMPs. It's a seemingly easy target -- especially these days. North Korea and other bad actors are suspected of either being capable of or working diligently to produce a weapon that can destroy our grid.
But it's not often we get a book based on a coronal mass ejection; CME for short. Under a Tell Tale Sky paints a picture of what life might look like immediately after a CME. And author RE McDermott uses this scenario to demonstrate some of the benefits of being on a boat if a CME it.
A coronal mass ejection is an electromagnetic pulse caused by a solar flare, in simple terms. So it's a naturally occurring phenomenon. And there are such events in recent recorded history. Most famous and largest among them is the Carrington Event - also known as the solar storm of 1859.
In this episode, we sit down with Jay. He’s going to share with us how power grids are restored and put back together after a catastrophe. Plus, we'll discuss basic safety tips for during and after a power outage to keep you safe.
Preppers like us are acutely aware of how delicate society is. And when it comes to the electric grid, we’re all at least a little freaked out. (Some a lot freaked out.)
EMPs, Coronal Mass Ejection, Cyber Attacks, physical attacks on plans and substations are on a lot of prepper minds. Then there's simply the mundane weather event. This massively complex thing we depend on for modern society seems to be attacking threats from all over.
But often, gaining a deeper understanding of something we worry about moves us closer to the sound part of staying safe and sound. To know a thing is to have some control over it. Maybe not a lot, but some. And it can put your mind at ease simple to understand what's happening and why.
And knowing some simple tips of what to do and what not to do when power grids go down and when it comes back up can keep you safe.
So listen in as we discuss power grids and safety...
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Justin Carroll drops back by to talk about the 1911 pistol. The US government paid a LOT of money teaching him to depend on one. And he shares real-world use lessons learned.
For those who don’t know, he’s a former Marine Recon, Marine special operations, and former government alphabet soup guy who ran a 1911 and many other guns for a living.
So Justin has just a wee bit of experience with what works and what doesn't. And today he’s going to share with us some basics about the reality of depending on one and must have options for neophytes.
The 1911 pistol is a deep part American lore. If you're a child of the 70's and 80's, you probably have at least one grandfather who used one in war. And your dad might have used one in a "conflict" and most likely had a 1911 as his one go-to handgun for home defense. For this reason, many of us lust after them even though we're converts to the Tupperware warrior guns like the Glock.
But there's still that lust begging to be satiated. So today we talk all things 1911 so you can decide if it's right for you and what to look for.
[itunes]
In this episode, Daisy Luther drops back by. We discuss starting and stocking your prepper pantry, cutting the grocery bills, and being a food in the apocalypse.
Let's face it, building out and stocking a good pantry isn't sexy for most of us. It's meticulous work requiring a lot of thought and care -- especially for new preppers. Stocking food and water doesn't go bang, isn't shiny, won't word off zombies, and isn't something we can brag to our friends about. (Well you could, but it's not advisable.)
And it can require a lot of planning ahead. You must know what your family will and won't' eat. There's no point in stocking and squirreling away food items if it's going to go uneaten. You may be thinking, "they can just eat it or go hungry" or you may be thinking, "if they're hungry enough they will eat it". But this creates unnecessary stress for everyone. Why bother?
But with a bit of thought, planning, observation, and smart buying you can put together a great pantry. Then it's just a matter of maintenance; that's the easy part.
There are many considerations, obviously. Fortunately, Daisy did most of the thinking for you and shares her great tips and strategies with you in this episode...
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We sit down with author Sara Hathaway; the creator of Day After Disaster and The Changing Earth series. She shares with us her writing story and thoughts on female preppers.
Female preppers tend to be greatly outnumbered by their male counter parts. Most informal reports put the percentages at 30% female and 70% male.
The disparity between sexes is also evident in prepper fiction. It is dominated by male characters -- often overly stylized super soldier types. And this get's boring after a while. So when something, anything, different comes along, we tend to take notice.
Author Sara Hathaway is herself a female prepper. And she's damn proud of it -- as she should be. So her crafting a series of prepper fiction books featuring a strong female character is no surprise.
But some women's reactions to Sara's works are rather surprising. Listen in to hear this and many other topics...
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In this episode, we're joined by author Glen Martin to discuss navigation skills for preppers and survivalists.
Navigation skills are an often overlooked skill. Partly this is due to the perception of it being a non-sexy skill. And this may also be due to the perceived difficulting in learning and practicing the skill.
But it turns out, it’s easier than you might think. And there are some fun tricks. This includes one where your dog tries to tell you which way is north in an exceptionally odd way.
~ Navigation Skills for Preppers Topics Discussed:
* His backstory
* Why Martin wrote <em>Prepper's Survival Navigation</em>
* The case for learning how to navigate overland
* Teaching kids about how to navigate overland
* Talent vs pure skill
* Simple exercises for learning and retaining the skill
* Why not simply use a GPS and forget about learning the skill
* Wilderness survival tips for in case you get lost
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We sit down with Daisy Luther from the Organic Prepper. She’s going to tell us how canning can make a huge impact in our lives.
Canning is a topic we've not given much love to, unfortunately. In fact, there's never been an ITRH episode dedicated to it. And this is a large oversight on our part. The skill of canning is important. It can play a large part in getting your pantry stocked, preserving the food you grow, and even saving you money.
The truth is this: It intimidated us a bit because you hear all sorts of warnings about things exploding and people dying from botulism. And it's not a sexy activity like shooting. So we consistently put off engaging in or talking about it.
But as it turns out, this isn't as hard or as dangerous as some might think. Daisy tells us all about it
~ Canning for Preppers Topics Discussed:
* Daisy's story
* The biggest obstacle people experience
* Why we should invest the time and energy
* Advantages of doing it yourself vs. buying canned goods at the store
* The typical cost to start
* Supplies list
* Kids and canned foods
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Financial prognosticator John Pugliano drops by to warn us of the robot revolution and Skynet taking your job. And, he’ll offer advice on how to be the John Connor of your own financial future.
Automation is quickly becoming the new boogie man in the media. This isn't without good reason: the robot revolution is on and many are killing off old steadfast jobs. Most often, we hear about this in
Most often, we hear about this in fast-food chains like McDonald's. And its rise is wrongly attributed to minimum wage hikes. These robots were coming regardless or raising the minimum wage, truth be told.
These robots were coming regardless or raising the minimum wage, truth be told. Employees have always been the number one liability and expense any business has. Robots, on the other hand, do not complain, call in "sick" (aka hung over), or do any number of other things employers and managers grind their teeth over. Not to say all employees do this, but it is a daily issue.
So this raises a few questions:
Will the robots free us or destroy civilization?
Which jobs will survive?
How will be the real winners and who will be the big losers in the coming wave of robot automation in the workplace?
Tune in to find out...
~ Robot Revolution and Automation Topics Discussed:~
* BitCoin and Crypto Currency Futures
* Historical examples of automation
* Creative destruction
* Luddites of days gone by and present times
* Entrepreneurial thinking that may save you
* The Gold and Silver outlook you might not expect to hear
* The likely hood of a welfare state and Universal Basic Income
* Why John believes the future is bright for entrepreneurs
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