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Jeff Williams will be on a podcast today. You can call in and talk to him. Jeff isn't only a great prospector and general expert on gold; he's also a real survivalist. Has anyone here besides me tried any of his wilderness fire making techniques? I thought not.
Get out of the garden and think about financial survival as well as physical survival. while I fully agree with Nor's thread on the normalcy bias, I suggest that we avoid what I call the uniqueness bias as well. Ninety-nine percent of survival is financial survival whether it's supporting yourself if you lose your job or making money on bizarre events. Gold is not going to cease being the currency of last resort. It's been the most sought after store of value for at least six thousand years.
Here's the link to the podcast as well as Jeff's website and his Youtube channel. So c'mon,let's go.
Here's another question for you. Has anyone besides me ever made something or done something treated in any of the dozens of excellent videos I've posted on this forum?
Get out of the garden and think about financial survival as well as physical survival.... Gold is not going to cease being the currency of last resort. It's been the most sought after store of value for at least six thousand years.
Here's another question for you. Has anyone besides me ever made something or done something treated in any of the dozens of excellent videos I've posted on this forum?
At this particular time, I think that most people should stay IN the garden and work on getting some of their debt paid off! You and I, both of an age where we don't buy "stuff" on credit, would be flabbergasted at the amount of debt being carried by the young and middle-aged. Sure, they all claim that they use credit cards just for the points/miles/whatever, and pay it off every month...sure...
I think that becoming debt-free, including mortgage debt, is probably THE most important financial thing that most people can do right now. If staying in the garden helps with that, then I say, "stay!"
If they are already out of debt - totally - then yes, a little insurance gold is a good thing to have.
I can't recall the subject matter of all of your posted videos, except that I enjoy/agree with most of them. Just this past year, I have: built a cabin, developed a spring, learned to butcher and dress a 30-lb turkey by myself, built 2 ATV-like farm vehicles by modifying old lawn tractors, built specialized trailers for them, rigged up a smoker from an old armoire and an 80-gallon pressure tank with a burst bladder, changed shocks and struts on both daughters' cars, coached a grandson to get his amateur radio license, installed a septic tank
(in TN), and trained 2 Shepard pups to begin their obedience titles. Oh - and caught a few hundred pounds of freshwater and saltwater fish. Anybody else would be worn out. I apologize to no one!
At this particular time, I think that most people should stay IN the garden and work on getting some of their debt paid off! You and I, both of an age where we don't buy "stuff" on credit, would be flabbergasted at the amount of debt being carried by the young and middle-aged. Sure, they all claim that they use credit cards just for the points/miles/whatever, and pay it off every month...sure...
I think that becoming debt-free, including mortgage debt, is probably THE most important financial thing that most people can do right now. If staying in the garden helps with that, then I say, "stay!"
If they are already out of debt - totally - then yes, a little insurance gold is a good thing to have.
I can't recall the subject matter of all of your posted videos, except that I enjoy/agree with most of them. Just this past year, I have: built a cabin, developed a spring, learned to butcher and dress a 30-lb turkey by myself, built 2 ATV-like farm vehicles by modifying old lawn tractors, built specialized trailers for them, rigged up a smoker from an old armoire and an 80-gallon pressure tank with a burst bladder, changed shocks and struts on both daughters' cars, coached a grandson to get his amateur radio license, installed a septic tank
(in TN), and trained 2 Shepard pups to begin their obedience titles. Oh - and caught a few hundred pounds of freshwater and saltwater fish. Anybody else would be worn out. I apologize to no one!
I use credit cards for virtually everything. I do pay them off every month. :
I catch trout every summer. I could ice fish in the winter, but I'd rather stay someplace warm. I get my winter exercise going out with my dog several times each day for a few minutes.
Having a mortgage may or may not be a good idea.
I grow herbs and tomatoes inside. I have four chickens who provide me with eggs and entertainment. If I bought eggs, herbs, and tomatoes only in the store I'd save money. I do buy eggs in the winter sometimes. if I had another chicken or two I'd have more to preserve for winter. I preserve eggs without the need for electricity.
I could make more money gold washing than I could gardening if I really worked at it. I could sell flakes and fines to a refinery and nuggets on ebay. Gold doesn't spoil. It doesn't need water, fertilizer, or light. It has an infinite shelf life. But most important, it's what I wish to do.
I am a worn out old man. That's OK. I've had a good life. I'm still greedy and looking for investment opportunities; I apologize to no one.
You and I are both in what I call the 30-30 years. No one would be terribly surprised if either of us dropped dead in the next thirty seconds, but they wouldn't be terribly surprised either if one of us lasted another thirty years.
Gold doesn't spoil. It doesn't need water, fertilizer, or light. It has an infinite shelf life.
Yep, but ya can't eat it, wear it, or live in it! (For you...who likes to stay warm! )
Quote:
Originally Posted by Happy in Wyoming
I am a worn out old man. That's OK. I've had a good life. I'm still greedy and looking for investment opportunities; I apologize to no one.
You and I are both in what I call the 30-30 years. No one would be terribly surprised if either of us dropped dead in the next thirty seconds, but they wouldn't be terribly surprised either if one of us lasted another thirty years.
I like gold for the sole reason that throughout human history, people have placed importance and value on it. The human brain has not changed fundamentally, so I suspect many will always covet it.
It's no substitute for water, food, other basics and skills, but it can't hurt either.
I like silver too. I like what early Americans did with it. When they had an excess of silver coin, they took it to the local silversmith to be fashioned into fancy utilitarian objects.
It was partly to show off their good fortune but the objects almost always had a utilitarian purpose so they could use and enjoy it too. They couldn't drag out a chest full of coins to show off but it was doing them no good shut away in the back room either. If times got hard again, those objects were the first to go and it was back to using the cheaper ones.
Last edited by SimplySagacious; 01-10-2016 at 10:37 AM..
Jeff Williams will be on a podcast today. You can call in and talk to him. Jeff isn't only a great prospector and general expert on gold; he's also a real survivalist. Has anyone here besides me tried any of his wilderness fire making techniques? I thought not.
Get out of the garden and think about financial survival as well as physical survival. while I fully agree with Nor's thread on the normalcy bias, I suggest that we avoid what I call the uniqueness bias as well. Ninety-nine percent of survival is financial survival whether it's supporting yourself if you lose your job or making money on bizarre events. Gold is not going to cease being the currency of last resort. It's been the most sought after store of value for at least six thousand years.
Here's the link to the podcast as well as Jeff's website and his Youtube channel. So c'mon,let's go.
Here's another question for you. Has anyone besides me ever made something or done something treated in any of the dozens of excellent videos I've posted on this forum?
LOL!!
Think again. I've been using bow drills for starting fires since I was a kid, as well as hand drills, fire plows, and fire cords.
Parbolics are just a version of the magnifying glass or lens. I put a parabolic reflector made from polished aluminum in the survival kits I sell.
As for the gum wrapper, any conductive material that will short out a battery will work which is why most people that plan on using that technique use steel wool because it will burn and burn hot.
There are innumerable ways to start a fire through friction, concentrated light, chemical or electrical heat generators, mecanical like flint and steel, and several others including one of my favorites, the fire piston where a piece of punk is ignited by rapid compression of air similar to how a diesel engine works.
Experimenting with different fire starting techniques, then being able to use them isn't only practical, by fun!!
I will say that this Jeff Williams does have a lot of energy, and his information is accurate.
I also have watched several of the you-tube links you've posted. I especially like your steam power links.
As to the gold, if I need it, I know where to find it. It's not too hard to do in a state that was founded on gold mining. It just isn't something I worry about, and as I said, if I need it, I know where it is, but until I do, it's pretty safe where it is in the ground.
My uncles back in the 1920s would pack one old miner way back into the wilderness each spring, then bring him out in the fall. He kept his claim a deep secret, but my uncles knew, and I know through them.
It isn't a bonanza strike, but more than enough to keep you in beef and beans. It's located deep in what is now a locked down wilderness area, so off limits, and pretty hard to find anyway as its about 40 miles from the nearest trailhead in really rough country.
I call it my reserve bank, and if I never need it, I'll show it to my nephews in case they ever do.
Yep, but ya can't eat it, wear it, or live in it! (For you...who likes to stay warm!
I eat it, wear it, and live in it every day. Since the Neolithic, sometimes earlier, humans have had widespread specialization and trade, It allows me to eat gold, another to eat amber, another to eat a poem, another to eat an obsidian knife as certain surgeons still do today, and still another to live in a turnip.
Quote:
Originally Posted by SimplySagacious
I like gold for the sole reason that throughout human history, people have placed importance and value on it. The human brain has not changed fundamentally, so I suspect many will always covet it.
It's no substitute for water, food, other basics and skills, but it can't hurt either.
I like silver too. I like what early Americans did with it. When they had an excess of silver coin, they took it to the local silversmith to be fashioned into fancy utilitarian objects.
It was partly to show off their good fortune but the objects almost always had a utilitarian purpose so they could use and enjoy it too. They couldn't drag out a chest full of coins to show off but it was doing them no good shut away in the back room either. If times got hard again, those objects were the first to go and it was back to using the cheaper ones.
Gold and silver buy those basic skills as well as more complicated skills. However, the problem with bimetallism is establishing a ratio. In the early US silver had too high a value. Consequently, merchants took gold coins to Shanghai where they traded them for silver coins, then brought the silver coins back to the US, took them to the mint where they were turned into US silver coins, then traded the silver coins for gold coins which they took back to China. This is the reason that early US gold coins are so scarce.
Early Americans experienced a constant shortage of silver and other minor coins to the point that until 1857 many foreign coins were legal tender. People as well as merchants and banks did keep silver coins as reserves. Silver dollars weren't minted for almost fifty years in the early nineteenth century so the half dollar was the reserve coin of choice. This is why there are so many high condition Capped Bust half dollars available today.
Silversmiths commonly melted old pieces of silver that were no longer fashionable in order to obtain a good bit of silver for recasting. Coins were used as well for pieces cast in .900 fine. It's known as coin silver. The bulk of these coins were Mexican. Mexico exported shiploads of silver pesos.
Now remember, folks. Jeff Williams is on at 7:30 P.M. EST.
Here's an item for the antiquarians on this forum. In the early nineteenth century it was common to hear prices expressed in pounds sterling as well as reales. Eight reales equaled one dollar. People used the term bit for a real. we stil use the terms two bits, four bits, and six bits today.
Jeff Williams will be on a podcast today. You can call in and talk to him. Jeff isn't only a great prospector and general expert on gold; he's also a real survivalist. Has anyone here besides me tried any of his wilderness fire making techniques? I thought not.
Hmm
Using a magnifying glass [bottle of water]; check
'Fire from nothing' [actually flint and bow-drill]; check
fire from battery sparks; check
Yes, I must say that I have made fire, many times using each of those methods.
Quote:
... Get out of the garden and think about financial survival as well as physical survival.
While producing food, I have financial survival.
Quote:
... Ninety-nine percent of survival is financial survival whether it's supporting yourself if you lose your job or making money on bizarre events. Gold is not going to cease being the currency of last resort. It's been the most sought after store of value for at least six thousand years.
That is routinely debated.
Gold can be among fairly good trade-goods, though there are many good trade goods. Like food for example.
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at the amount of debt being carried by the young and middle-aged. Sure, they all claim that they use credit cards just for the points/miles/whatever, and pay it off every month...sure... 
