The Prepper Broadcasting Network - Week 2 Review - Ration or Ruin w/ IC, FD & Bankster Breaker

Episode Date: May 17, 2025

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Transcript
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Starting point is 00:00:00 the head the head table seat so I appreciate that. I am hosting tonight I already made a mistake and hit live late so we literally just went live before a recap everybody this is the week two ration or ruin review as you can tell my mental clarity is falling apart now I'm doing okay we will go through I have a spreadsheet we'll review but but we're gonna review Mountain House. We're gonna review how a couple stories from the week. So we got feature Dan, we got Intrepid Commander, we got myself. Back to you, Intrepid Commander. I already started off wrong, but we're back. This is live radio, baby. Don't worry about it. Yeah, we had, you know, we've had a lot of experience in our household with Mountain House food, so I was pretty excited. Somehow, I only came away with two bags. I don't know what happened, but no big deal. I'm in the cultivator class, so substitution wasn't that big a deal for me.
Starting point is 00:01:04 wasn't that big a deal for me. Mountain House is, I think, and those style packages where you can cook the food within the mylar are just, you know, they're clearly a superior product from a preparation standpoint and a superior product from a, you know, something you're going gonna take on the go I will say though I will say that and I talked about this before we got started the ease of the ease of Production compared to the 20 minutes simmering of ready hour did have me on the fence about Cooking up some of the ready hour that I had Leftover from week one because I did have some leftovers. I
Starting point is 00:01:49 Had the what I have the the beef lasagna Which by the time I had the beef lasagna, which was Wednesday. Was it Wednesday? Yesterday was when what day is it Friday? Yeah, Wednesday had the beef lasagna Wednesday and You know because it was coming off a Tuesday it was wonderful You know what I mean? Like it was wonderful. So I Had no qualms with it whatsoever. I The problem with Mountain House for me and for my family is we don't store a bunch of it because expensive as hell
Starting point is 00:02:26 And that you know, that's that's kind of my rating on on the deal like the taste is is about the best you're gonna get I think for this kind of freeze-dried food that's rehydrated and you know the Like cooking the food up Being able to just pour hot for those of you out there who've never had a mountain house that fundamental difference is you're simmering Survival rations from places like ready wise ready our legacy food storage, you know emergency essentials all these guys You got to cook literally cook the food
Starting point is 00:03:00 Which becomes a big consideration if you're low on fuel out of electricity Whatever the situation is trying to run a fire especially if you don't have experience, you know with a fire whereas You know, I've had mountain house food on the side of a mountain like with a jet boil and a metal steel cup You know what? I mean just water in the steel cup bring it to a boil drop it in the mountain house pouch and wait 15 minutes and you're eating. So the only tip I'd give is the key with the good mountain houses and subsequent meals like it is you got to get that first stir. That first stir has to be like neurotic. If you can be neurotic on that initial stir, you'll really enjoy it. If you're lazy on that first stir, you're going to wind up getting into some globs of stuff at the bottom.
Starting point is 00:03:51 Yeah, don't be lazy. I'm not a man. That happened. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. That's one of those mountain house tips. But I got lucky. I got really lucky. My dogs wind up tearing into a poor raccoon in the back of the chicken coop. And that guy had no chance in hell. So I was in the rain getting eaten by mosquitoes in the rain. I guess that was Wednesday night, yeah. Getting eaten by mosquitoes in the rain Wednesday night butchering this raccoon. It was the first
Starting point is 00:04:26 raccoon I've ever butchered but for those of you who butcher you know the deal. We're all kind of the same so it doesn't it's not really that different no matter what it is if it's mammalian. And yeah we got him in there and I salted that thing overnight because I don't know I just felt like if there's anything wacky going on with it, the salt will kill it. So I salted the whole carcass overnight. I removed the front arms completely and just left the back legs and the tenderloin.
Starting point is 00:04:58 And then kind of slow cooked it. I think I cooked it a little too long and turned it into kind of this seasoned up Raccoon jerky which was actually really good and I probably could have hung it and left it outside and it probably would have been Fine to eat the next day, but you know between me and the dog. I felt the dogs deserve the ration for their hard work and I did a bit of mushroom. Well, I did a bit of mushroom, well I did a bit of mushroom looking, but the foraging aspect was not happening.
Starting point is 00:05:31 I didn't find anything edible. I found some weird stuff, but nothing I could eat. I did think, I thought possibly I found like a young wine cap mushroom, which is pretty easy to discern, except because the wine cap has like this weird spiky skirt around it For those of you out there who bought the go forth and forage book all the hosts got to go forth and forage books so you guys can double check it but It has like this spiny skirt this weird spiky kind of skirt underneath the main Head of the mushroom and this one had like a big frilly skirt so I didn't I didn't mess with I figured better to stay
Starting point is 00:06:09 hungry better to go back to the mulberry tree the mulberry tree has been the the the big hit for me I mean I've eaten more mulberries than anything in this whole foraging expedition but that's pretty much been my week, man. I am noticing in a, it's bad. The only thing that's bad is my mental situation. Like my kids are telling me that they said things to me that I have no recollection of them saying. Weird stuff like that, You know what I mean? Yeah. So that's a little concerning, but other than that. And oh, and you know what else has happened a lot? After about, I'd say probably 430, this week I took like two naps, which is a weird time for me to even lay down, let alone nap, but like just legitimately like I
Starting point is 00:07:06 got to go lay down type of thing. Yeah. Yeah. That's rare for me. So this could be the, just the amount of days being under nourished. You know what I mean? Cause I don't even know, to be honest with you, I don't even know if the eating days with the cultivator
Starting point is 00:07:25 privilege if I'm eating. I know I'm not eating what I normally eat. You know what I mean, right? Right. I think it's it's just under nourished altogether but yeah, that's been my week pretty much not bad. adds up over time. That's one of the big
Starting point is 00:07:42 things here. It's not just a week. It's an entire month. Shout out to Jay Ferg and Fire Wolf Forge. Oh man, a crew in chat. Welcome guys. Alright, Jay Ferg says, I definitely brine it with regard to raccoon or probably any of that type of
Starting point is 00:08:02 game. Kill off anything inside Fire Wolf Forge down to half a jar of peanut butter left. Fire the There you go. Future Dan, you got the scoring for Mountain House here. Run us through the different categories. We've of course talked about the categories themselves at length, but a little refresher on those categories, but more importantly, Mountain House scores from one to 10.
Starting point is 00:08:40 Go for it. So I think longevity matches, Ready Hour, I've given it an eight on the nutrition dimension. It's higher. It's getting a seven from me. It's got a lot of protein that ready house did not have on taste. Better. It is better.
Starting point is 00:09:02 I I'm giving it a six variety. I didn't have to, you know, I think that the variety in the largest kits we didn't procure one for rational ruin, but it looks about the same so It's high from for me for what I can You know tolerate for eating foods repetitively. I'm not too worried about food fatigue But I think among emergency kits out there the varieties high I give it an eight preparation James talked about detail I agree. I'm giving it a six James mentioned the cost yeah, it's scoring low for me. I think it's a three on a ten-point scale
Starting point is 00:09:42 It's expensive. This is Clearly a case of you get you're getting what you're paying for Packaging it very good. You know it aids in the preparation as James said it's a it's an eight The portioning I like it. I like it a lot. I'm giving it a nine. Most of these are individual Possibly a two person serving to one or two persons per serving. So there's a convenience factor for that. And it you know, from a rationing point of view, it's easier when the products in individual or maybe maybe double individual servings. So portioning, I'm
Starting point is 00:10:22 giving a nine storage, it was just was just you know the the box that came in You know not the packaging of the food right, but the the storage box was just a cardboard crate so nothing you know Carton nothing special given in a six not bad. They would stack up you can keep them away from moisture They'd be they'd be fine for that longevity. And additives, a little bit lower score, you know, in so far as I could taste additives. But I gotta say, you know, some of these meals have had a, you know, that just that good for 30 years aftertaste to them, right? They're not, they're not normal food, right? You know, normal food can't last 30 years. So something's there. So that just was not as powerful a
Starting point is 00:11:14 taste as as ready our but it's still there. So that's my ratings on Mountain House. Next week we can do an XMRA. So it's been be interesting to see how it matches up. What's your perspective on those, Ben? Alright, for Mountain House, very similar to you, but I did identify a couple differences. So let's see. The nutrition, I still will not, I think you gave a nutrition of seven. I would still give it like a five because you'll get by with it for a long time even months but the actual healthy fats and a lot of other
Starting point is 00:11:57 nutrition is not great and something that Jay Fer points out is what's the sodium and sugar on those in particular sodium's huge. So nutrition I'm not sure if it's a good it's a six or lower but compared to other storeable food, it's gotta be as high as possible. There's a ceiling almost. The one thing I would argue against a little bit is the portioning. You gave it a nine. I'd give it like a seven. Better than ready hour for the reasons you pointed out but a little bit small still like each package was 500 to 600 calories which I'm not sure if I pointed out I was just coming off of like 30 hours of fasting practically so and
Starting point is 00:13:06 So the portion I would give like a seven or maybe an eight So but otherwise pretty much what you said and I was I think about house versus exxon MRE will be Very interesting and matchup. We're gonna do and I kind of previewed this on Patriot Power Hour. I'll do a cost analysis, kind of cost per calorie of these three options, the Ready Hour versus the Mountain House versus the XMRE, which will be next week. Mountain House, you know, if Mountain House and Ready Hour were the exact same price, Mountain House wins easily, but Mountain House has got to be at least twice as expensive. But if you match up Mountain House versus XMRE, they're a little bit more in the same
Starting point is 00:13:53 weight class for lack of a better term in terms of cost. So next week I'm excited for the XMREs. They look good. Never thought I'd say like I'm super excited for for MREs, but I am because these look like high quality. But anyway, Mountain House. Great. I didn't have any problems with it. I just wanted a little bit more, I guess but that's just how it goes when you're rationing.
Starting point is 00:14:18 It's going to be nice to have that MRE variety in a meal. Yeah, that's a great point. one of the things that I notice is that something like a ration or ruin, some days it feels a lot like just a diet to me and one of the things that I notice is it prevents me from like going and grabbing things that make the day variety like give you that daily variety you know what I mean yeah so I'm definitely missing that variety I'm used to like open up the pantry grab this middle of the day type thing so I'm kind of looking forward to some cracker and some you know instead of just one thing in the meal right great. Great point. Not like it's going to be a five course meal,
Starting point is 00:15:05 but it won't be just beef stroganoff. For example, anybody else had anything else on mountain house want to cover otherwise? Uh, or go ahead, go ahead. Yeah. Well, just the second week of, of rational ruin for me, the, um, the, the calories of mountain House, the packages were smaller so there was less of it and as James mentioned he's in the cultivar class supplementing from the homestead but you and I aren't and I just went with less calories. I didn't even get close to 6,000 calories. I didn't even get close to 6,000 calories. I'm supplementing with protein shakes. Yes, I did add more of them, but they're not a lot of calories, 160 each. So I'm maybe, you know, four or 500.
Starting point is 00:15:55 But still, I was a big deficit from 6,000 calories as we had originally planned. And I just stuck with it. And I could tell you last night, laid down to go to bed. I've been sleeping more and I feel like the sleep is more restful as a matter of fact, but Had to lay there I was tired enough that I eventually fell asleep But my stomach was growling like serious like I have not experienced my stomach growling like that for that long Maybe not since I was a kid. Right. So definitely biological changes happen for me. Fire will force a forge is talking about losing 10 pounds. I think I'm,
Starting point is 00:16:34 I've lost 12 in two weeks. Wow. That's great, man. You said you lost 12 pounds in two weeks. I have. Yeah. Dude, yeah, dude. That's phenomenal now next week with XMREs, I think the form factor allows you to kind of You know eat a little bit at a time all day long So this rhythm that we've been in with right, you know feast or is literally feast or famine, right? Yeah, yeah is is gonna change up a little bit and that last week with Dave's
Starting point is 00:17:08 Freeze dried but you know things like raw eggs and other stews They're good. That's gonna take some cooking. So I'm just trying to project, you know, we're halfway there Right halfway through rational ruin this month 16th of May 2025 started on third running ending it on 31st and I Think I'm gonna make it on the same regime with the same You know schedule of not eating solid food But the hunger symptoms are growing stronger
Starting point is 00:17:45 But the hunger symptoms are growing stronger. Hasn't been an impairment in my daily life yet. But subconsciously, I know it's there. I was driving to or fro this evening and needed gasoline. So I went to a gas station. And I happened to be on the phone doing business. And as I was pulling into the gas station, distracted by the call, I drove right past the gas pump and up to the convenience store. It was like, I'm getting food. Damn it. It was like my subconscious was,
Starting point is 00:18:17 Oh yeah. I was in a habit that, you know, just last month, I probably would have had something to eat if I was hungry and today it was like, alright I'm gonna pick up a protein shake and get the gas I came here for so Under the surface of what I'm logically controlling There's a subconscious that is increasingly saying You're very hungry now Yeah, I think there is something to be said about the effect. That's having probably on you guys too on the sort of like fluffy happy go lucky man
Starting point is 00:18:54 that Is created by a life full of carbohydrates Do you know what I mean? Like i've like my wife and kids are already like just eat something Because you're being a dick, you know what I mean? I don't know if you guys are experiencing that at all But like, you know, it's typical like hangry behavior But I feel I feel it in in many different ways just thought and what's really what's what I've been really aware of lately is like Maybe a lot of the changes that men have experienced over these years have to do with literally being full.
Starting point is 00:19:28 You know, like instead of being such savages, it's sheer fact that we've made it to a point where we can fill our bellies every day because it does feel a little different. We're bred in circus every day. Exactly. We got some questions in the chat, Ben. Yeah, before I forget this thought, because I probably will. On Patriot Power Hour, we talked about the scale from zero to ten. And if you're too low or
Starting point is 00:19:58 too high on your energy levels, for example, but also temperament. Well, early this week when I had all the energy I was getting things done at least but I was just like almost savage. Yeah. Rude a few times but by the end of the week, I was on the other end of it more apathetic like oh my gosh, I don't care anymore. Do you want to go to the gym? I
Starting point is 00:20:23 don't care anymore. I don't care anymore. I don't care anymore. I don't care anymore. I don't care anymore. I don't Yeah. Rude a few times, but by the end of the week, I was on the other end of it, more apathetic. Like, oh my gosh, I don't care anymore. Do whatever you want. Like in my head now, I still powered through and got a lot of stuff done at work today, but I was just like almost the opposite of what I was on Monday. So my mental clarity is decent. It's not the greatest, but honestly, I don't usually don't do radio on Friday because by Friday I'm shot anyway.
Starting point is 00:20:48 So, I've had more tired Fridays with full calories than I did today, but today was, you know, one of the lower energy and motivation Fridays I've had in quite a while. So, that was just kinda of my my thoughts there on these questions. Let's see. Firewood Forge says it's kind of like a diet for him as well. Wife's
Starting point is 00:21:12 freaking out a bit. You know, on the mountain house prices at price well, is it worth it? I'm gonna do that analysis. Yeah. See if we can find out. I wanted to mention that, you know, I really appreciate you doing that and I wanna help you. So, let mention that, you know, I really appreciate you doing that. And I want to help you. So
Starting point is 00:21:25 let me know. Because you're going to be comparing apples to oranges across the board. You know, when you go to a grocery store or any kind of store that sells, you know, stuff by the pound, and you look at it, you know, none of the stickers allow you to do a proper crop, you know, comparison, the unit of measures are different. Yeah, it's, it's not made to be easy, right? You're doing, you're going to be doing that because I didn't see any total color or a yeah, there's some variables that are
Starting point is 00:21:59 going to be, you know, tricky. If you buy a bucket worth of ready, our how many actual calories are in it, you're not going to, you're going to add it you know, tricky. If you buy a bucket worth of ready are how many actual calories are in it? You're not going to, you're going to have to add it up or estimate because it's, it's, it's not advertised as such. But after we, so that's why just heads up this analysis might be, you know, parameters and not exact to answer preliminary answer. I think the firewall forges you said times two, I'm guessing it's more like three times the price Ben I Can see it that way I believe it yeah
Starting point is 00:22:35 I would say for the cost analysis I'm I'm remembering I think on the ready our website itself I'd say try do some research before you reinvent the wheel because I think on the ready our website itself they have a breakdown of calories and calories per calories and calories per or price per calorie, something along those lines. And it's kind of like their way of, you know, it's a marketing thing, but you can look at it. I want to say it's a four tier and there are three other companies listed that
Starting point is 00:23:18 they're putting their product up against. So you might be able to glean a lot of information from that and you may even plug, plug whatever your metric is going to be into Google and then put prepper So you might be able to glean a lot of information from that and you may even plug plug Whatever your metric is going to be into google and then put prepper in front of it or behind it And you might get it some crazy prepper who's done it already at least the data You know what I mean, or at least gets you halfway there You know because there's a lot of people who have written food storage review Articles and did food storage review articles and did food storage
Starting point is 00:23:47 review videos and that kind of stuff. Makes sense. It'll be kind of a range. So, it'll be a little bit of a a guesstimation but you know, that's one of my favorite things to do. I hate accounting because everything has to add up perfectly. I like
Starting point is 00:24:01 what numbers sort of kind of add up but you can kind of do some analysis on thoughts on that. Uh Firewall Forces, how much money are you all saving by not eating out? Well, I used to only eat out about once a week. like my favorite part. Yeah, I've uh
Starting point is 00:24:17 literally my favorite part right now. How how much you think? Well, so one of the things I've had to do a couple of times to take my kids out to grab food after dinner between sports, whatever the situation is. And I just really like not having to spend money on myself because nowadays if you do a Chick-fil-A or something like that, you're a $15 entity. So you take that out of the overall price and it's like yeah, I like my kids I'm sure they're probably enjoying it cuz I'm less less
Starting point is 00:24:48 Compelled to say no, you know like a lot of times. I'm like, ah, come on. I Don't feel like dropping $60 at the at the Q Doba or whatever But when it's just them two eating or them two in my wife See my wife won't eat when I don't eat so she then she's's getting pretty pissed about that too, and I don't blame her but I get it So if we go we go out and eat she's like, you know, but um Yeah, I love that part about it. That's nice the other thing that this is probably gonna wind up doing for me on that subject is I'll probably do a lot less fast food not that I won't
Starting point is 00:25:29 eat but I think I won't go like all right well we're going to you know McDonald's or whatever so I'll get a soda and a fry and a burger you know what I mean like probably be just fine when you're not eating at all it feels like what'd be really nice just to have a, just the burger. You know what I mean? So maybe that's the way to go. Save money, save calories, save whatever the hell, you know, else is going into your body with McDonald's,
Starting point is 00:25:54 that kind of stuff. The fries and the soda are definitely the worst part. So there you go. Are they really? They're my favorite. They gotta be the worst part. Well, they get a milkshake too. Future Dan, how much you think you're saving or what's your thoughts on going out to eat and when you end Rationer Rune, are you going to go
Starting point is 00:26:15 back to eating commune's food or is this going to be a new lifestyle? I'm actually, I'm going gonna make a purchase based upon this analysis. This this exercise this month has, you know, primary and secondary purposes. And one of my personal secondary purposes is to learn about these foods. And I'm not sure all of sampled enough products to make that decision. So I might continue with At least a rhythm a cadence of eating survival food on alternating days going forward and
Starting point is 00:26:59 Wow, it may be two or three more products. So there might be like a You know rational ruin, you know post post event kind of continuation for me Because I just want to make the best purchase possible I want I want the longevity And I don't want to overpay and I want to you know, I want to shop. That's what I'm doing. I'm shopping so pay and I want to you know I want to shop that's what I'm doing I'm shopping so but definitely I'm not keeping you know myself under 6 000 calories a week going into June it's gonna it's gonna go back and regain the energy like I said I haven't felt the energy loss yet but the subconscious is pulling hard in that direction
Starting point is 00:27:42 The subconscious is pulling hard in that direction. I'll tell you one thing, man. I think if you guys didn't do the if you guys didn't bring the protein shakes and the Supplements to the game. I would have been I might have been done already It's honestly I might have been like I think I'm I think I'm done It's honestly I might have been like I think I'm I think I'm done Because I think I would have been way way worse off already just because I work out You know what I mean, and I know that's like gotta be the worst right now for my body to recover So without that if it was legitimately like because you're not doing any of that stuff or you're doing supplements, right?
Starting point is 00:28:24 then I I'm not sure if you're doing anything specifically like because you're not doing any of that stuff or you're doing supplements, right? Um Ben. I am. I am supplementing some but some days I do a full on fast. This is actually probably a good time to look at my spreadsheet super quick. Yeah, let's take a look at
Starting point is 00:28:38 that. I think I got it all squared away. Let me know if you guys see it. if it's a negative or a calorie deficit and green if it's a positive calorie day. Get a positive calorie day. Well, because I do supplement a little bit, but when I was eating some of those ready hours and stuff, you know, those are 2000 plus calories. They were like four if you ate the whole thing. Yeah.
Starting point is 00:29:24 Yes. One of them was like 1900 calories for like eight servings. you're not supposed to eat it before if you ate the whole thing. Yeah. I mean, yes. One of them is like 1900 calories for like I got okay. Eight servings. If I have some and I can go through it too but I would have a couple protein
Starting point is 00:29:38 shakes. One or two. I have maybe some fish oil or a couple hundred calories worth of coconut oil just to get some fresh oil. So supplementation for sure. Uh that last one is actually today's. I haven't eaten it yet but I planned out already. So
Starting point is 00:29:54 I'm actually I ran out of Mountain House but I'm eating about 1500 calories or 1400 of mac and cheese ready hour as well as uh some uh some other supplementation. So anyway, a I'm gonna super excited for it but I am pretty hungry so I am on the other hand I am excited for it. So a big supplementation I've been doing is protein powder but from peanuts. So peanut butter powder or chocolate peanut butter powders. It stores for a couple years. I'm also I'm not gonna call it cheated but a couple packs of beef jerky I'm like beef jerky lasts a couple years like I had a pack on days that I went on a few mile hike So that little blue dotted line is the moving average of the last five days. So when you smooth it all out
Starting point is 00:30:57 I've been you know, currently I'm only at about a 500 to 600 calorie a day But I was below a thousand early on this weekend though tomorrow and Sunday. I'm not planning to go fish in about a 500 to 600 calorie a day but I was below 1000 early on this weekend though. tomorrow and Sunday, I'm going to have no calories and I'm not planning to supplement either day. Now, I'm going to go
Starting point is 00:31:17 fishing but it's easy. I could have two huge red bars and bring everything down. So, there we go. There's that. Well, maybe a little harder to see here but here's my weight. My check ins the orange dots again of moving average over time.
Starting point is 00:31:32 Smooth it out a little. That's my evening weight. So, I was at about like 226 on the average. Now, I'm down to about 223. So, a few pounds. You know, I don't want to lose more than a pound a week honestly. So, I'm okay with that and in a real prep situation, you don't want to lose more than a pound a week honestly. So I'm okay with that. And in a real prep situation, you don't want to lose any weight honestly.
Starting point is 00:31:48 Again though, I'm supplementing. So here's my energy. So let's just look at the, again, the dotted lines are the moving average and my energy is certainly gone down. I'll say at the very beginning on the left-hand side, it's cause I was, you know, I was eating great. side. It's because I was you know had was eating great I had some wine I had a great weekend and then so I was feeling top of my game and it's gone downhill
Starting point is 00:32:12 Slightly and look at today. I gave today some of the worst ratings So I don't know. Hopefully with no calories facing this weekend. I might fall off a cliff on energy I hope not but uh Yeah, we'll see Last one protein intake again. I've been supplementing more lately as you can see the black bar is the protein each day This one's a busy chart green is where I would normally aim for every single day when I was eating There's a few blank spots because I had zero grams of protein. So those blank've been, I'm not gonna say cheating the last few days but I've kind of been kicking my calories up. I'm
Starting point is 00:32:48 gonna really clamp down this weekend unless I catch some fish. So, that's my goal. I'm gonna be eating a lot of protein and I'm gonna be eating a lot of protein. So, I'm gonna be eating a lot of protein. So, I'm gonna be eating a lot of protein
Starting point is 00:33:01 and I'm gonna be eating a lot of protein. So, I'm gonna be eating a lot of protein. So, I'm gonna be eating a lot of protein. So, I'm not going to say cheating the last few days but I've kind of been kicking my calories up. I'm going to really clamp down this weekend unless I catch some fish. So, that's my goal. We'll see.
Starting point is 00:33:17 There you go, gentlemen. peanuts for the win says fire for James in the pre show. We talked about how to smoke some catfish you mind running that recipe past us one more time? Yeah, definitely. Like I said, if you're going to do anything with catfish, it would be a and this is for the listeners. I know I'm gonna have to your guy schedule but and I'm sure Jay Fergie with if she's in chat Phoenix will have some say so on this but it's uh I've always did at least you know a few hours eight hours sometimes even overnight in milk soaked in milk overnight typically I'm frying catfish not smoking it but um you said you're gonna be catching fish in the you know 12 to 18 inch range so I I imagine you're going to be left with some pretty small fillets in terms of like, it's not something you're going to be able
Starting point is 00:34:11 to throw on the grill. But the idea is to smoke them. So I think what you could do there, what I would do is get the hot smoker going. You have sort of a barrel style hot smoker. So get the hot smoker going. I'd either put them on a sheet pan or put them a thin sheet pan or put them on some kind of aluminum foil and move the whole thing in one piece. You know what I mean? So lay all your fillets out on there. Season them up salt and pepper. I wouldn't do much else other than salt and pepper unless you want to do some kind of like you know something goofy like Cajun seasoning or something like that but and I'd say probably 10-15 minutes on a nice hot smoker and those thin filets are going to be
Starting point is 00:35:01 pretty much good to go. Delicious. Now if you get into some big boys you might have to you know might have to smoke them a little longer, but you're just looking for the fit, the meat to start flaking, get all opaque and it'll be good eating man. Trust, especially since you know what you guys have been existing on thus far. I'm sure that smoked catfish will be amazing. I've had any meat fresh frozen. Oh, I mean, obviously the freeze dried meat. I don't really consider that even though that is kind of like beef and it has some protein. I haven't had actual meat in two weeks. So catfish meat sounds awesome to me. I K I all I had was the raccoon in terms of like something fresh cooked and uh, you know, by my hand and, and like, and like, it wasn't bad. It wasn't bad.
Starting point is 00:35:49 I would love a grill. I'll tell you one of the things that I would love most, probably something we should do each week too, right? There are two things that I would love and that's anything grilled. Even like a boring grilled chicken breast with garlic in it is something I want so bad. I'm not gonna say that. I'm not gonna say that. I'm not gonna say that. I'm not gonna say that. I'm not gonna say that. I'm not gonna say that. I'm not gonna say that. I'm not gonna say that. I'm not
Starting point is 00:36:11 gonna say that. I'm not gonna say that. I'm not gonna say that. I'm not gonna say that. I'm not gonna say that. I'm not gonna say that. I'm not gonna say that. I'm not gonna say that. I'm not gonna say that. I'm not gonna say that.
Starting point is 00:36:19 I'm not gonna say that. I'm not gonna say that. I'm not gonna say that. I'm not gonna say that. I'm not gonna say that. I'm not gonna say that. I'm not gonna say that. I'm not gonna say that. I'm not gonna say that. I'm not gonna say that. I'm not gonna say that. I'm not gonna say that. I wouldn't even use a fork. Nice. Nice. Oh, man. Now, you're making me real hungry. I got
Starting point is 00:36:30 some I want some real Italian food with some red wine but uh yeah, maybe in a couple of weeks, I guess in a couple of weeks, speaking of which, we're going to have a rational ruin kind of main event uh at the very end of two weeks from
Starting point is 00:36:44 tomorrow. I'm sure we'll be doing some content for that. Looking forward to it. Guys, anything else you wanted to really talk about either? Yeah, I've said my piece. I showed my really cool nerdy spreadsheet, but anything you guys wanted to hit on before we get out of here and I go make some mac and cheese? Well, weather and external factors depend it,
Starting point is 00:37:02 but tentatively, let's try to do a joint fishing adventure next Saturday. What do you guys say? the For you is asking I Coffee the whole time. Yeah. No, I I went cold turkey on the caffeine. That's impressive Headaches have eased up. Um, I know I'm not as alert as I would like to be but I'm not doing the caffeine this month and I Don't feel withdrawals. I just feel the absence of the alertness so physically I'm not having a negative reaction, but I Wish I would have it might my problem is I I would drink coffee But I don't like it without cream of sugar, so I'm not doing it
Starting point is 00:37:58 Okay. Oh, yeah, I've been doing black coffee I mean, that's the only way I drink coffee But I've been doing it midday as like between coffee and seltzer water that those two things are my treats in the middle of the day when you're like, you know, when you're usually reaching for the chips, just like, Oh, I'll take a bubbly water to get me through. Those are my go tos when I like my normal diet or when I'm trying not to gain a bunch of weight uh for ration or ruin for coffee. I've only been using instant coffee. So, I've
Starting point is 00:38:31 been using my coffee machine. So, powdered coffee but I got certain type that's black instant coffee and then uh actually to treat myself today, I used a couple packs included milk and creamer because I'm like, you know what? It's Friday. I deserve 50, I was a couple packs that included milk and creamer because I'm like, you know what? It's Friday. I deserve 50 calories of uh cream and sugar in my coffee which
Starting point is 00:38:51 I'm drinking literally right now. So, I was like, I had to for the show. Otherwise, though, it's only been black coffee, not much, and only essentially part of my preps is my point. I'm not using electricity except
Starting point is 00:39:25 I'm not going to drink green but I will say I have a lot of more green tea or like half coffee, half green tea through the day rather than all coffee like I used to do a year or two ago and my whole life before that. So, um maybe next uh Oz or Highland. I'll give up coffee and that'll be my only thing I do. That'll be tough enough for an entire challenge by itself. Now, we were thinking maybe next year. How about no power for an entire week? I'd have to take care of myself. Now, we were thinking maybe next year. How about no power for an entire week. I'd have to take the week
Starting point is 00:39:49 off work but that would be a hell of a challenge but honestly, this ration of ruin has been a real tough challenge because it's a marathon, not a sprint. Definitely a marathon. About halfway there but this next
Starting point is 00:40:00 half is going to be twice as hard as the first half I think or we're just going to adapt to it. It won't be that bad. I think it's going to be equal or worse than the first half, I think, or we're just gonna adapt to it. It won't be that bad. I think it's gonna be equal or worse than the first half, but what do you guys think? It's uphill. It's uphill in a bad way. I'm gonna go out on a limb and say it's gonna get better. I think it might get better.
Starting point is 00:40:16 I think we're gonna be able to, we're gonna be able to eat in a different way with the MREs than we have been able to. I think mentally that's going to do a lot for us. You know what I mean? In terms of being able to snack throughout the day rather than just be like, well, here's my lump sum of calories and then I'm done and I got to think about it all day. You can spread those foods out and that'll be big on morale.
Starting point is 00:40:42 The other thing is we don't really know exactly what the Dave Jones situation is in terms of calories. And I can tell you right now, it's going to be the most nutritionally dense food we've had in a week. So I think that's going to be a big bump also. I also think that you guys, if you get out and do some fishing a couple weeks, maybe you have fish. Maybe you have fish to take home. Who knows? It may be a risky one, but I think we might turn a little bit of a corner here with the MREs and the Dave Jones food. I'll be honest with you. I got ready our food that I didn't eat from week one.
Starting point is 00:41:31 And I thought for sure I'd eat it week two and I didn't. So that's where we were on week one in terms of what we were eating, you know, we definitely started with the one we thought would not be maybe the the best. That was a good move. I'm glad we didn't end with ready our make it tougher. the best. I would not be maybe the uh the best. That was a good move. I'm glad we didn't end with ready hour. make it
Starting point is 00:41:53 tougher. Future Dan, anything else you want to hit on? Yeah, great spreadsheet, Ben. Just I yeah, man. We're down to that level. I can't wait to see what it looks like next week. Yeah. Well, I gotta get uh updated version over to Firewolf Forge and I got a lightning wallet, by the way. Firewolf Forge. I don't want any donations right now, but maybe I'll send it. He's gonna come to your house if you don't give him that damn lightning wallet.
Starting point is 00:42:12 I got one! I got one, but I'm not gonna give it to him now. Maybe at Patriot Power Hour next week! Alright, I need to go make some mac and cheese. I'm starting to like get itchy, like I'm like feeding for a cigarette but it's just mac and cheese. Alright guys, anything else? Have a good weekend. Uh any other thoughts getting a lot more water. A lot more water. Good luck with the cat fish. I may call one of you
Starting point is 00:42:39 guys and uh talk about rig and bait and stuff to help you out with that if you if you want to help. Yeah. Yeah. That would be helpful. Thank you. No problem. Alright. Alright guys. Enjoy the weekend. We'll talk to you this time next week for week three review. See you.

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