February 29th, 2012 at 6:48 pm (survival skills, urban survival, primitive living, the human path, texas outdoor education, wild food sources, outdoor survival, self sufficiency farming, long-term food storage, disaster preparedness, readiness, power shortage, survival scenario, survival gear, weapons, self sustainability, prepping)
In today’s podcast, Sam Coffman reviews last night’s “Doomsday Preppers” show (National Geographic channel) –
http://channel.nationalgeographic.com/channel/doomsday-preppers/
Sam gives his own feedback on the preppers that were featured in this show, as well as some of the concepts involved in their method of prepping. Aside from talking about the details of each individual prepper and some various feedback on their plans, he also talks about:
- bird alarms as a method of early warning in a rural environment
- lifestyle adjustments for the first family of primitive skills enthusiasts for prepping
- over-population as a possible disaster scenario and why it works well
- firearms' role in survival
- living off the 'fat of the land'
- surviving in a bunker: what happens when they have to inevitably emerge from the bunker?
- changing a culture of 'distraction' to ensure a positive survival of the species
- security: humans vs. machinery
- prepping for martial law: what this means
- water: what is the bare minimum per person needed, and how much for comfort?
- what is to be gained through sniper tactics in a survival situation?
- the difference between these prepper's everyday lifestyle compared to what they are prepping for
There are two survival courses coming up that deal specifically with survival in all types of situations.
See the online schedule for:
The Primitive Core Basic: 5-Day Intensive, March 12 - 16th, online registration
The Urban Core Basic: Part one, May 4 - 6th, online registration
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February 20th, 2012 at 2:16 pm (Uncategorized, the human path, texas outdoor education, green homesteading, self sufficiency farming, self sustainability, eco building, homesteading)
Sam Coffman continues his discussion on eco-building with Kelly Hart of
greenhomebuilding.com, discussing the creative and novel use of unexpected salvage items to build environmentally smart homes. These materials are both environmentally friendly, re-use existing materials to cut down on waste and are very affordable and simple to construct.
Sam and Kelly go over:
- using grain bins, railroad box cars and school buses as alternative house structures and how well they work
- how living in a smaller home makes a person more eco-conscious and less consumer-oriented
- using passive solar cooling, heating and lighting by utilizing a sensitive design
- building underground to use less energy
- green rooftops and earth berms to create the same effect
- methods of renewable energy
- benefits of using natural and local building materials
- growing and storing food in naturally cooled environments
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Kelly Hart is the founder and host of www.greenhomebuilding.com , www.dreamgreenhomes.com and www.earthbagbuilding.com, and has been involved with green building concepts for much of his life. Kelly spent many years as a professional remodeler, during which time he became acquainted with many of the pitfalls of conventional construction. |
| Kelly is knowledgeable about both simple design concepts and more complex technological aspects of home building that enhance sustainable living. He has even designed and built a solar-electric car that he drove around his neighborhood. Kelly, and his wife Zana, lived for many years in an earthbag/papercrete home that he designed and built. |
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February 16th, 2012 at 3:22 pm (urban survival, the human path, texas outdoor education, green homesteading, eco building, homesteading)
What if you could build an entire home from things you found? Well, if you know where to look, there are plenty of salvaged materials that can be re-purposed into an eco-based structure that you can leave in, for practically pennies. Today, Sam Coffman talks with Kelly Hart of greenhomebuilding.com on ways that eco and budget-minded people can construct their own homes out of either salvaged or re-purposed materials that work with the local environment instead of against it.
Sam and Kelly discuss:
- what are some materials that can be re-used from other projects
- the best places you never thought of to find salvaged supplies for free or practically nothing
- why should you look locally for your supplies instead of a big box store?
- earthships vs. earthbag structures
- a little bit about the construction process behind earthbags
- inventive re-purposing ideas for plastic and glass bottles
- dealing with county inspectors and codes when building in this fashion
Don't miss tomorrow's second part to this podcast when Kelly talks about some really different approaches to eco-building!
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Kelly Hart is the founder and host of www.greenhomebuilding.com , www.dreamgreenhomes.com and www.earthbagbuilding.com, and has been involved with green building concepts for much of his life. Kelly spent many years as a professional remodeler, during which time he became acquainted with many of the pitfalls of conventional construction. |
| Kelly is knowledgeable about both simple design concepts and more complex technological aspects of home building that enhance sustainable living. He has even designed and built a solar-electric car that he drove around his neighborhood. Kelly, and his wife Zana, lived for many years in an earthbag/papercrete home that he designed and built. |
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February 15th, 2012 at 12:38 pm (survival skills, urban survival, the human path, texas outdoor education, self sufficiency farming, long-term food storage, disaster preparedness, readiness, economic collapse, power shortage, survival scenario, survival gear, weapons, self sustainability, prepping)
In today’s podcast, Sam Coffman reviews last night’s “Doomsday Preppers” show (National Geographic channel) –
http://channel.nationalgeographic.com/channel/doomsday-preppers/
Sam gives his own feedback on the preppers that were featured in this show, as well as some of the concepts involved in their method of prepping. Aside from talking about the details of each individual prepper and some various feedback on their plans, he also talks about:
- The general 2 main types of preppers
- Gear vs. Skills
- Prepping in a huge urban area like NYC, and bugging in
- Security vs. Food
- The “stereotypical” prepper and where that idea will lead us
- The concepts behind “prepping” at The Human Path
There are still a few slots open in the Urban Core Basic, where you can learn, practice and apply preparedness concepts in hands-on and scenario-based environments - Online calendar and registration
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February 14th, 2012 at 1:58 pm (survival skills, urban survival, the human path, texas outdoor education, the combat medic, martial arts, Outdoor Fitness and Self Defense, outdoor survival, readiness, weapons)
In part 2 of the discussion between Tony Blauer and Sam Coffman, they talk about:
- How do you teach the body and brain to react to panic?
- What is the primal flinch or survival reflex, and how can that help us?
- What is Hick’s Law and how do we get the most out of our hard-wired survival mechanism during training for a violent street encounter?
- What is “stress inoculation” and how does that play a role in our response mechanism in a fight?
- How do you practice fighting in a way that forces your body to always know intuitively where its balance point is?
- Why should you avoid hitting someone with your fists?
- Where does ground-fighting and grappling figure into a street fight?
- Why is it important to learn to fight in small, claustrophobic spaces?
Learn more about Tony Blauer’s training programs, calendar of classes, unique training gear and more at his website:
Tony Blauer is founder and CEO of BLAUER TACTICAL CONFRONTATION MANAGEMENT SYSTEMS©. Mr. Blauer has pioneered research and training methodologies that have influenced and inspired martial art & combative systems around the world.
His company, BLAUER TACTICAL SYSTEMS (BTS) is now one of the world's leading consulting firms specializing in research & development of combative training & equipment for the military, law enforcement and self-defense communities. BTS has taught key performance enhancement, fear management, and combatives based on S.P.E.A.R. System research to military, law enforcement and civilian personnel since 1988.
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February 13th, 2012 at 1:10 pm (survival skills, urban survival, the human path, texas outdoor education, martial arts, Outdoor Fitness and Self Defense, readiness)
In today’s podcast, Sam Coffman welcomes Tony Blauer of the highly acclaimed “Blauer Tactical Systems”
Tony and Sam talk about:
- How long Tony has been teaching hand-to-hand combatives, how he started in martial arts and what the route was that took him to his no-nonsense, adrenaline-based form of street self-defense today
- What is the difference between training for street/realistic scenarios and studying a traditional martial art?
- Can you learn to fight by moving from style to style in your own martial arts training?
- What is the difference between a “Subject Matter Expert” and a “Substance Matter Expert”
- What is “experiential learning” and how can it help your training? How does this relate to a violent encounter?
- Why is hand-to-hand combat the most important fight situation to train for? Why is it the one situation you can have control over the outcome the highest percentage of the time?
- How does hand-to-hand fighting relate to preparedness?
- How does stress-inoculation and attitude training relate to who will win a real fight or violent encounter?
- When does it make sense to protect more than just your life (property, etc) and defend yourself?
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Learn more about Tony Blauer’s training programs, calendar of classes, unique training gear and more at his website:
Tony Blauer is founder and CEO of BLAUER TACTICAL CONFRONTATION MANAGEMENT SYSTEMS©. Mr. Blauer has pioneered research and training methodologies that have influenced and inspired martial art & combative systems around the world.
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His company, BLAUER TACTICAL SYSTEMS (BTS) is now one of the world's leading consulting firms specializing in research & development of combative training & equipment for the military, law enforcement and self-defense communities. BTS has taught key performance enhancement, fear management, and combatives based on S.P.E.A.R. System research to military, law enforcement and civilian personnel since 1988.
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February 10th, 2012 at 2:00 pm (survival skills, urban survival, the human path, texas outdoor education, wild food sources, green homesteading, self sufficiency farming, long-term food storage, readiness, health and nutrition, self sustainability, homestead livestock)
Today is our 100th podcast! Sam talks with rabbit breeder/homesteader Rick Worden of Rise and Shine Rabbitry about raising rabbits as a food source. Until recently, rabbitry was an under-publicized source of excellent meat and compost material. With rabbits' quick reproductive turnaround, rabbits are being recognized as an efficient and cost-effective source of food.
Sam and Rick discuss:
- Rabbits as a meat source
- How to get started
- What a beginner might need
- Why are rabbits a good option compared to other livestock?
- Breeds of rabbits
- Wild vs. domestic
- Rabbit manure as compost
- Keeping bucks separate from females
Rick has an excellent Facebook page and online blog resource at www.riseandshinerabbitry.wordpress.com.
Rick Worden of Rise and Shine Rabbitry: I have been raising rabbits for 30 + years. My passion is promoting rabbits for homestead use: meat, fur, manure and all that goes with those 3. I grow as much of our own food as possibly canning , drying, and freezing it, and buying local what I can not produce.
Additional Reading Resources
Raising Rabbits the Modern Way
by Ann Kanable
Storey's Guide to Raising Rabbits, 4th Edition
by Bob Bennett
Rabbit Production
by Peter R Cheeke
Related Rabbitry Podcasts:
Episode #116: The Rabbit and The Herb
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February 9th, 2012 at 11:45 am (survival skills, urban survival, the human path, texas outdoor education, outdoor survival, green homesteading, self sufficiency farming, long-term food storage, disaster preparedness, readiness, economic collapse, power shortage, survival scenario, survival gear, self sustainability)
In today’s podcast, Sam Coffman reviews the first episode of the National Geographic channel’s “Doomsday Preppers” 2 hour premiere on 2/7/12. He talks about:
- The idea behind this series and how it can be educational – even if it is also “Hollywood”
- The best and the worst of this series
- The importance of learning to “live like you prep”
- Why you are only as strong as your weakest, figurative “link” when you prep
- How an illusion of what you might think will happen in a disaster situation can leave you unprepared
The National Geographic channel is airing the Doomsday Preppers series weekly:
http://channel.nationalgeographic.com/channel/doomsday-preppers/
Learn urban and wilderness survival skills at The Human Path Wilderness Survival - online registration
Urban Survival – online calendar of classes
Herbology & Plant Medicine: online calendar of classes
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February 7th, 2012 at 1:42 pm (survival skills, urban survival, the human path, permaculture, texas outdoor education, green homesteading, self sufficiency farming, self sustainability, eco building)
In today's podcast, Sam Coffman continues the discussion about building an 'intentional community' with Tim Bennett, a man who has gone off the grid for his family's home.
Sam and Tim discuss:
- how to turn a crisis situation around into a positive change
- urban sustainability solutions
- life on the homestead: working with a generator for larger energy needs
- plans for a DC refrigerator out of a top-door freezer
- the winter garden and permaculture setup as part of the homestead
- how dividing the labor and working together is the missing element to success for many
- how many people Tim envisions is about right to meet the needs of an intentional community
- security concerns in a post-disaster situation on a homestead
- how being far off the beaten path helped to protect their supplies while the building process was in progress
Listen to the first part of this podcast: Episode 097: The Intentional Homestead
Tim Bennett and Rebecca Nantz and their three children were headed for success as house flippers. Then the bubble popped. They became a paycheck to paycheck family. They knew they could push themselves, continue treading the stress of the monthly bills, and make it another 20 years. But they decided "Instead of struggling, Let's have an adventure!" So they sold or gave away most of their material "stuff" and set up a camp in the North Georgia mountains where they began to build an off grid, reciprocal roof, earth bermed home. They used round wood timbers, cob, local stone, recycled materials, and alternative building techniques.
Their EarthinMind website
The EarthinMind Facebook page
Recommended reading resources:
The Fifty Dollar and Up Underground House Book
by Mike Ohler
Gaia's Garden, Second Edition: A Guide To Home-Scale Permaculture
by Toby Hemingway
The Self-sufficient Life and How to Live It
by John Seymour
Back to Basics: How to Learn and Enjoy Traditional American Skills (Second Edition)
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February 6th, 2012 at 2:48 pm (the human path, texas outdoor education, green homesteading, self sufficiency farming, self sustainability, eco building)
Today, Sam Coffman talks with Tim Bennett, a man who has gone off the grid for his family's home, creating a totally self-sustained home within an intentional community experiment. After Tim and his family experienced an economic downturn in 2007, they made the decision to create a home environment that could sustain them even if society could not. They have spent the last 3 years working on this home using green building techniques.
Sam and Tim discuss:
- what inspired Tim and where he got some of his off-the-grid building ideas
- the friend that encouraged Tim's family to build the home as part of an intentional community
- what does this community have built so far and what are they planning?
- what is a recipricol roof
- challenges to working with the cob method of green building
- how the family needed to change their energy usage after installing the solar energy system
- which appliances drain the most energy
- the cost of doing a home like this and the time involved
- how Tim learned to balance family, job, time and other resources to make this project happen
- some valuable skills and lessons his kids got out of this experience
- how to integrate children and family into a project like this and have it give long-lasting benefits
We will continue the 2nd part of this podcast tomorrow!
Tim Bennett and Rebecca Nantz and their three children were headed for success as house flippers. Then the bubble popped. They became a paycheck to paycheck family. They knew they could push themselves, continue treading the stress of the monthly bills, and make it another 20 years. But they decided "Instead of struggling, Let's have an adventure!" So they sold or gave away most of their material "stuff" and set up a camp in the North Georgia mountains where they began to build an off grid, reciprocal roof, earth bermed home. They used round wood timbers, cob, local stone, recycled materials, and alternative building techniques.
Their EarthinMind website
The EarthinMind Facebook page
Recommended reading resources:
The Fifty Dollar and Up Underground House Book by Mike Ohler
Gaia's Garden, Second Edition: A Guide To Home-Scale Permaculture by Toby Hemingway
The Self-sufficient Life and How to Live It by John Seymour
Back to Basics: How to Learn and Enjoy Traditional American Skills (Second Edition)
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