The Silvercore Podcast with Travis Bader

BC's Firearm Violence Prevention Act took effect October 1, 2026, and Blair Hagen of Canada's National Firearms Association warns that most licensed owners have not read it. Under the act, paying a ticket for a minor infraction, such as an expired licence or a trigger lock that came off, counts as a guilty plea, and that plea can support a firearms prohibition and forfeiture of what was seized. On this Silvercore Podcast episode, Hagen returns to break it down, explain why he calls the SKS the Winchester 94 of today and believes it is the next target, and lay out what gun owners can do before the October 24 provincial election.

Travis Bader walks through how federal, provincial and municipal rules stack, and where air guns and airsoft fit.

Hagen gives his assessment of where BC's parties stand on firearms (every party leader was invited onto the show), breaks down the Supreme Court of Canada challenge to the 2020 Orders in Council, and explains why he thinks a win in court will take years to play out.

The second half turns to what one person can do. Travis makes the case that courts and politics only go so far, and that lasting change comes from culture: gun clubs, range days, a Canadian Schützenfest, and ordinary people using AI tools to research an issue and write to their MLA and MP with consistency. Hagen makes the case for joining whichever political party fits you and changing it from the inside.

Topics covered:
- What BC's Firearm Violence Prevention Act could mean for a licensed owner who pays a fine
- How federal, provincial and municipal firearms rules stack
- Two armed robberies behind a gun counter, and whether banning one make and model would have changed anything
- Where BC's parties stand on firearms, in Hagen's view
- Saskatchewan's answer to central storage: your own house
- Steel manning the case for gun bans, and firearms as a symbol of competency
- Why the SKS has become the next symbol in the debate
- The Supreme Court challenge to the 2020 Orders in Council
- Joining a political party and changing it from the inside
- Using AI to research an issue and write to your representatives
- Courts, politics and culture, and a Schützenfest for Canada

One rifle, one new law, and what one person can do about either.

Blair first joined the show on episode 188.

What BC's Firearm Violence Prevention Act actually changes:
https://www.silvercore.ca/blog/bc-firearm-violence-prevention-act

Learn more about Canada's National Firearms Association:
Website: https://nfa.ca

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The Silvercore Club keeps you sharp and has your back. $5M excess liability insurance for hunting, fishing, and shooting across Canada and the US, member discounts, and a community that gets outside. $59/year.
Join the Club - https://www.silvercore.ca/club

Firearms & hunting courses - https://www.silvercore.ca/course/category
Merchandise - https://www.silvercore.ca/collections/all-merchandise

Host Instagram - @Bader.Trav https://www.instagram.com/bader.trav
Silvercore Instagram - @SilvercoreOutdoors https://www.instagram.com/silvercoreoutdoors

This content is for information and entertainment only. Nothing here is professional, legal, or safety advice. Firearms, hunting, and outdoor activities carry real risk. Know and follow the laws that apply to you, use safe practices, and get proper training from qualified professionals before acting on anything discussed. Silvercore accepts no liability for how this information is used.

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00:00 Intro, and a magazine publisher runs for council
03:14 BC's new Firearm Violence Prevention Act
05:39 Why licensed owners feel targeted
10:51 Two armed robberies and the make and model question
12:57 Small infractions under the new act
14:31 Federal, provincial and municipal rules, and air guns
18:56 Why property rights matter to people who don't own guns
21:48 Fear sells
28:48 The provincial election and every leader invited
32:33 Where the parties stand, in Hagen's view
40:03 Central storage, and Saskatchewan's answer
45:46 The debate reopens
48:19 The SKS as a symbol
49:25 Saturday night specials and banning what is registered
52:38 Steel manning the case for bans
56:29 Firearms and the fear of competency
59:40 Grandfathered, yet called too dangerous
1:00:54 A new SKS order, and the Winchester 94 of today
1:04:11 The Supreme Court challenge to the 2020 orders
1:07:55 What happens if gun owners win
1:12:05 What gun owners can do now
1:13:44 Join a party and change it from inside
1:17:20 One voice, and using AI to be heard
1:20:17 The NFA needs people on the legal side
1:22:15 Gun clubs, range days and normalcy
1:26:40 Personal agency
1:29:57 Courts, politics and culture
1:32:56 A Schützenfest for Canada
1:38:05 Acceptable reasons to own a firearm
1:40:55 Self-defence in Canada

OneBC leader Dallas Brodie sits down with Travis Bader for the first conversation in the Silvercore Podcast's BC Election 2026 series.

The conversation runs in three parts: the person, the party and the platform. Brodie traces her path from corporate lawyer, youth defence counsel, broadcast journalist and Residential Tenancy Branch arbitrator to her election as MLA for Vancouver-Quilchena in 2024. She talks about getting her PAL in 2021 and her expulsion from the BC Conservative caucus in March 2025.

On the platform, Travis puts questions from the Silvercore community to her on OneBC's proposed 25% cut to personal and corporate income tax and two-point PST cut, a 10% savings target for every ministry, the party's position on the federal firearms buyback, a provincial storage program and a provincially appointed chief firearms officer, hunting licence revenue, moose and caribou declines, Crown land access, Aboriginal title and the Cowichan decision, SOGI 123 in schools, public safety and addiction, and her first 100 days.

ABOUT THIS SERIES
On September 25, 2026, Travis invited the leaders of all five parties with seats in the BC legislature to the same long-form conversation, with the same format and the same community questions, and followed up on September 28. At the time of recording, OneBC accepted, the BC NDP declined, Centre BC was arranging a date, and the BC Conservatives and BC Greens had not responded. Any leader who accepts before the October 24 election gets the same opportunity. The views expressed are the guest's own. Silvercore does not endorse any party or candidate.

During the conversation, Ms. Brodie names Silvercore as an example of a contractor for a provincial firearms storage program. Silvercore has no storage plan and no arrangement with OneBC or any other party.

CHAPTERS
00:00 About this series: who was invited and who answered
01:37 Welcome, Dallas Brodie
02:47 Law, broadcasting, business and the road to the legislature
07:21 Fishing, a PAL and learning to shoot
12:29 A public decision with a personal cost
19:48 Federal influence, labels and political debate
26:23 The strongest argument against her platform
28:15 SOGI 123 and what is taught in schools
37:11 The 25% tax cut and how it is costed
40:24 A 10% savings target, including health and education
41:17 The federal gun buyback and a provincial storage program
46:37 Hunters, conservation and listening to the experts
51:38 AI and decision-making in government
58:17 The RCMP, the buyback and a provincial chief firearms officer
1:02:47 Where hunting licence money goes
1:04:44 Debt, deficit and the snap election
1:06:41 Moose, caribou and predator management
1:10:25 Crown land access and Aboriginal title
1:14:58 Affordability: what changes for a young family
1:17:40 Repeat offenders and open drug use
1:20:53 The Cowichan decision and private property
1:28:21 Improving life for Indigenous people
1:30:09 Intergenerational trauma and policy
1:36:39 Polarization and leadership
1:42:33 Her first 100 days
1:44:12 Her pitch to voters who have never voted OneBC
1:45:29 Closing thoughts

FIND OneBC
https://1bc.ca

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The Silvercore Club keeps you sharp and has your back. $5M excess liability insurance for hunting, fishing, and shooting across Canada and the US, member discounts, and a community that gets outside. $59/year.
Join the Club - https://www.silvercore.ca/club

Firearms & hunting courses - https://www.silvercore.ca/course/category
Merchandise - https://www.silvercore.ca/collections/all-merchandise

Host Instagram - @Bader.Trav https://www.instagram.com/bader.trav
Silvercore Instagram - @SilvercoreOutdoors https://www.instagram.com/silvercoreoutdoors

This content is for information and entertainment only. Nothing here is professional, legal, or safety advice. Firearms, hunting, and outdoor activities carry real risk. Know and follow the laws that apply to you, use safe practices, and get proper training from qualified professionals before acting on anything discussed. Silvercore accepts no liability for how this information is used.

Jay Nichol spends around 140 days a year in the mountains. He guides black bear, mule deer, mountain goat and coues deer across British Columbia, Alberta and Mexico, and runs The Mindful Hunter, an unsponsored gear-review and podcast platform that has grown into Mindful Hunter Outfitting, the Forged in the Backcountry apparel line, and Mindful Munitions, a new Canadian store for the gear he trusts.

In this conversation with Travis Bader, Jay explains what he changed after too many clients missed their shot in spring bear camp, how 18 years of sobriety shaped the way he leaves home for a hunt, and what sends hunters out of the backcountry early.

From Jay:
The Truth About Training for Mountain Hunting (free downloadable plan): https://youtu.be/wAugmpvZrtc
Free downloads and tools: https://www.mindfulhunter.com/tools
Kowa TSN-88A Sweepstakes: https://forgedinthebackcountry.com/blogs/resources/kowa-tsn-88a-sweepstakes

Find Jay Nichol:
The Mindful Hunter: https://www.mindfulhunter.com
The Mindful Hunter Podcast: https://mindfulhunter.podbean.com
YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/c/MindfulHunter
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/mindful_hunter
Mindful Munitions: https://mindfulmunitions.com
Forged in the Backcountry: https://forgedinthebackcountry.com
Forged in the Backcountry on Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/forgedinthebackcountry
Mindful Reviews: https://www.mindful-reviews.com

_____
The Silvercore Club keeps you sharp and has your back. $5M excess liability insurance for hunting, fishing, and shooting across Canada and the US, member discounts, and a community that gets outside. $59/year.
Join the Club - https://www.silvercore.ca/club

Firearms & hunting courses - https://www.silvercore.ca/course/category
Merchandise - https://www.silvercore.ca/collections/all-merchandise

Host Instagram - @Bader.Trav https://www.instagram.com/bader.trav
Silvercore Instagram - @SilvercoreOutdoors https://www.instagram.com/silvercoreoutdoors

This content is for information and entertainment only. Nothing here is professional, legal, or safety advice. Firearms, hunting, and outdoor activities carry real risk. Know and follow the laws that apply to you, use safe practices, and get proper training from qualified professionals before acting on anything discussed. Silvercore accepts no liability for how this information is used.

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00:00 Introducing Jay Nichol
03:00 Leaving home at 15
04:00 Only as sick as our secrets
08:00 Stolen CDs and the start of addiction
14:00 Addiction as a sense of purpose
18:00 The rite of passage nobody gave him
24:00 Letting people help you
26:00 Two mistakes: no mentor, no community
32:00 The annealing hot take
35:00 University with no high school diploma
40:00 Proving something to his father
43:00 Ego death and moments of clarity
49:00 Clean your house before you leave
52:00 The dark years, 2023 and 2024
56:00 Tapping out versus breaking
1:01:00 Why men talk shoulder to shoulder
1:09:00 Hours per day doing what you love
1:12:00 Anger as fuel, and compartmentalizing
1:17:00 Telling his daughter no
1:19:00 1,200 rounds in five days
1:22:00 The kneeling logging road shot
1:24:00 Buy a 223, shoot 1,000 rounds
1:27:00 Kill the weak parts
1:30:00 Zone two and the StairMaster
1:36:00 Travis on going into AFib
1:42:00 The illusion of learning
1:45:00 Nothing died, so you failed
1:47:00 36 deer in 105 minutes
1:50:00 Spend it on field days, not a spotter
1:52:00 Forged in the Backcountry
1:56:00 Outfitting in BC, Alberta and Mexico
2:00:00 Launching Mindful Munitions
2:04:00 Why the focus is men

Mark Twight joins Travis Bader on the Silvercore Podcast for a conversation about alpinism, Gym Jones, the training behind 300, and life after peak performance. The booking took five years and one condition: in person only.

Twight climbed in the Alps, Alaska and the Canadian Rockies, including The Reality Bath, a route that went unrepeated for 37 years. He climbed the Slovak Direct on Denali in 60 hours with Steve House and Scott Backes. His books Extreme Alpinism and Kiss or Kill were picked up well outside climbing, including by military units who found the chapter on attitude and character applied to their work. He later worked on nine feature films, most of them with director Zack Snyder, building physical transformations against production deadlines.

In this conversation, recorded in person in Montana, Twight talks about what separated him from better technical climbers, why he keeps walking away from things at the top, and what he has found in the valley since.

Topics covered:
- Growing up the son of a National Park Service law enforcement ranger
- Taking up shooting in 1995, and mentors including Brian Enos and Pat Rogers
- Getting disqualified before firing a shot in his first match in 21 years
- Self image, permission to fail, and why some competitors stall
- Mount Hunter in 39 hours nonstop, and the arithmetic of pack weight
- Writing while drinking, and the decision to stop
- Building the cast of 300, and why fast results do not hold
- Leaving the Aquaman job when the paycheque became the only reason to stay
- Declining physical capacity, and purpose after achievement

A conversation about total commitment, and the bill that comes due for it.

Learn more about Mark Twight:
Website: https://www.marktwight.com
Substack: https://marktwight.substack.com
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/wfmft

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The Silvercore Club keeps you sharp and has your back. $5M excess liability insurance for hunting, fishing, and shooting across Canada and the US, member discounts, and a community that gets outside. $59/year.
Join the Club - https://www.silvercore.ca/club

Firearms & hunting courses - https://www.silvercore.ca/course/category
Merchandise - https://www.silvercore.ca/collections/all-merchandise

Host Instagram - @Bader.Trav https://www.instagram.com/bader.trav
Silvercore Instagram - @SilvercoreOutdoors https://www.instagram.com/silvercoreoutdoors

This content is for information and entertainment only. Nothing here is professional, legal, or safety advice. Firearms, hunting, and outdoor activities carry real risk. Know and follow the laws that apply to you, use safe practices, and get proper training from qualified professionals before acting on anything discussed. Silvercore accepts no liability for how this information is used.

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00:00 Five years and a one word reply
06:20 A ranger father, an anti-authority son
12:50 Nine films, mostly with Zack Snyder
17:20 Forty pounds and a changed life
20:00 Extreme Alpinism reaches Special Forces
26:50 The mountains are not clever, men are
28:40 Guns are stupid, then a range day
31:30 Brian Enos, Gunsite and mentors
41:50 Back to competition, DQ'd first match
49:40 You never outperform your self image
51:20 Permission to fail
57:20 Seven lives in one lifetime
1:01:00 Mount Hunter, 39 hours nonstop
1:04:50 The Slovak Direct in 60 hours
1:11:00 Why he stopped climbing
1:16:30 Writing drunk, and what it cost
1:29:00 Coming down to the valley
1:38:40 Borrowed beliefs and in-group politics
1:44:40 Hunters, conservation, common ground
1:47:20 Paragliding before anyone knew how
1:56:40 Something to rebel against
2:00:20 The first gym, and what it taught him
2:06:40 Invitation only, everyone on parole
2:12:30 300 and the website that crashed
2:16:30 Fear, rationalization, walking away
2:23:20 Walking off Aquaman
2:31:50 Fast results are unstable results
2:46:20 Why dangerous things matter
2:51:40 Risk tolerance over technical skill
3:03:40 No off-ramp for veterans and athletes
3:08:00 Intent instead of intensity
3:17:30 Saying goodbye to Daryl Miller
3:23:20 What success means at 65

Ian Sim spent nearly three decades in the RCMP. In December, alone in his apartment, the strokes came. He saved the wine, booked an Uber to emergency because it was faster than an ambulance, and days later faced a decision about a clot-busting drug with minutes on the clock and nobody to call.
The man who returns to the Silvercore Podcast is in what he calls the afterglow. Colours are brighter. Food tastes better. Any familiar face is an old friend.
Ian cold-called the SAS out of directory assistance and got a yes. He policed Wreck Beach by getting out of the car and learning names. He wrote a counterterrorism paper that got him summoned to the principal's office, and he has rebuilt his off-duty carry proposal into something a province could adopt on its own. And he answers the question an RCMP recruiter asked him at 19: do you have a healthy or an unhealthy interest in firearms?
His answer got the room to go quiet.
Ian speaks as a private citizen. His views are his own, not those of the RCMP.

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The Silvercore Club keeps you sharp and has your back. $5M excess liability insurance for hunting, fishing, and shooting across Canada and the US, member discounts, and a community that gets outside. $59/year.
Join the Club - https://www.silvercore.ca/club

Firearms & hunting courses - https://www.silvercore.ca/course/category
Merchandise - https://www.silvercore.ca/collections/all-merchandise

Host Instagram - @Bader.Trav https://www.instagram.com/bader.trav
Silvercore Instagram - @SilvercoreOutdoors https://www.instagram.com/silvercoreoutdoors

This content is for information and entertainment only. Nothing here is professional, legal, or safety advice. Firearms, hunting, and outdoor activities carry real risk. Know and follow the laws that apply to you, use safe practices, and get proper training from qualified professionals before acting on anything discussed. Silvercore accepts no liability for how this information is used.

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00:00:00 Welcome back
00:01:00 The warning shots
00:12:00 The big one
00:18:00 The clot buster decision
00:29:00 A song and a $5 bill
00:43:00 Is there any such thing as a coincidence?
00:53:00 A Reaper in the desert
00:56:00 Cold-calling the SAS
01:04:00 The afterglow
01:12:00 They don't look like supermen
01:19:00 Radio, Wreck Beach and who works for whom
01:32:00 Smart on crime
01:35:00 Off-shift carry, the proposal rebuilt
01:48:00 Define the problem first
01:55:00 The paper and the principal's office
02:10:00 A Liberal beat him to it
02:14:00 "I wanted to live my life armed"
02:26:00 The next sidearm
02:36:00 Courts and credibility
02:38:00 Until next time

Retired Delta Force Sergeant Major Kyle Lamb returns to the Silvercore Podcast to talk about his new book, The Next Mission, co-authored with his wife Melynda. Kyle spent 21 years in the US Army, 15 of them in Delta Force, and fought in the Battle of Mogadishu in 1993.

The day episode 124 finished recording, Kyle got a phone call telling him he had bladder cancer. He had just told Travis, on tape, that he was living as though he had six months left. What happened next changed how he and Melynda live.

In this conversation:

The phone call after the last podcast, and the lung finding that followed for his wife
Why The Next Mission reads the Bible through a special operations lens, and why Bible scholars are not the audience
Ehud the left-handed assassin, and how researching a bronze dagger led to Herodotus and tin from ancient Britain
The Apostle Paul chained to a Roman soldier, and the two words that would have stopped his beating
Why Melynda's name is on the cover, and the five chapters she red-X'd out of Leadership in the Shadows
Two poems read aloud that have never been published anywhere
Twelve years without a drink, and the conversation in Hawaii that changed how he saw it
Why the Christian who did the most for his faith in two years is a Muslim friend
What tribe actually means, and why it has nothing to do with skin, geography, or religion
The redactions left visible in the book, and the note inside the cover confirming no AI was used

The Next Mission is 432 pages, published June 6, 2026. Signed and personalized copies are available direct from Viking Tactics. It is priced at $27.17, a reference to Proverbs 27:17, iron sharpens iron.

Kyle Lamb and Viking Tactics
Signed copies: https://www.vikingtactics.com/shop/the-next-mission/
Stay in the Fight Foundation: https://www.vikingtactics.com/stay-in-the-fight-foundation/
Team VTAC Podcast: https://kylelamb.libsyn.com/
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/vikingtactics

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Silvercore Club - https://www.silvercore.ca/club

Online Training - https://www.silvercore.ca/course/canadian-firearms-safety-course-online
Other Training & Services - https://www.silvercore.ca/course/category
Merchandise - https://www.silvercore.ca/collections/all-merchandise
Blog Page - https://www.silvercore.ca/blog

Host Instagram - @Bader.Trav https://www.instagram.com/bader.trav
Silvercore Instagram - @SilvercoreOutdoors https://www.instagram.com/silvercoreoutdoors

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00:00 The best conversations happen off the record
01:41 Welcome back, Kyle Lamb
02:19 The year-end question, and what happened that same day
03:40 "Mr. Lamb, you've got bladder cancer"
04:50 Then it was his wife
06:20 What he said to God in the truck
11:20 Time is the gift
13:30 Nims Purja and purpose after achievement
16:20 What's the mission today?
23:00 How the book started: Ehud and the bronze dagger
26:10 The Apostle Paul, chained to a Roman soldier
30:15 Battlefield reflections and the audiobook
31:15 Why Melynda's name is on the cover
33:50 Speaking, elk season, and his grandson's first hunt
36:10 The attention span of a squirrel
39:40 The Kyle pile
45:40 The guns he'd never get rid of
50:20 Commander's intent: reach the unreachable
51:30 Don't wear your faith as a badge
55:20 The Muslim friend who sent him a Bible verse
1:04:20 What tribe actually means
1:08:30 How his prayers changed
1:11:50 Twelve years without a drink
1:14:30 What an answer to prayer looks like
1:21:00 The farther from the flagpole
1:26:20 "If I shoot guns, I get paid"
1:29:20 The path of Musashi
1:34:40 Two poems, never released anywhere
1:46:10 What the public doesn't see
1:47:20 The five chapters his wife red-X'd
1:50:50 Putting the light on evil
1:51:50 Meek is not weak
1:56:40 Cutting twenty percent
2:00:40 Why he writes at a sixth grade level
2:15:20 Do you feel guilt?
2:22:20 The motorcycle in the classroom
2:26:30 Where to get the book, and why it costs $27.17
2:28:20 The redactions and the unit approval

John Barklow spent 26 years in the U.S. Navy, most of it teaching Naval Special Warfare how to survive the coldest, most unforgiving mountains on earth. After 9/11 the military needed mountain warfare experts and almost none were left. They picked a diver from Cleveland, Ohio, and his work went on to reshape cold weather survival training for a generation of special operators.

In this conversation, Travis Bader and John go far past gear. They get into the mindset that keeps you alive when things go wrong, the difference between chasing happiness and building satisfaction, and why the hunting and firearms communities are so quick to turn on their own. John breaks down his famous rewarming drill in full: what to do if you fall in cold water in the backcountry, why you keep your wet clothes on instead of stripping them off, and how your own body heat dries your system from the inside. He explains how to train it safely in your own backyard before your life depends on it.

He also tells the story of a British Columbia horseback hunt that nearly ended under 1,400 pounds of falling horse in the dark, opens up about two hip replacements and refusing to let the old man in, and shares, for the first time publicly, who wrote the foreword to his new book.

Some of the best survival lessons of your life are the ones John learned the hard way, so you don't have to.

John's first book, Knowledge from Storms, is available for pre-order now. This episode includes a giveaway. Details are in the show and on our channels.

Learn more about John Barklow:
Book: Knowledge from Storms (St. Martin's Press)
Website: knowledgefromstorms.com
Instagram: @jbarklow
Courses: outdoorclass.com
Free videos: Montana Knife Company YouTube, MKC Survival Guide series

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Silvercore Club - https://www.silvercore.ca/club

Online Training - https://www.silvercore.ca/course/canadian-firearms-safety-course-online
Other Training & Services - https://www.silvercore.ca/course/category
Merchandise - https://www.silvercore.ca/collections/all-merchandise
Blog Page - https://www.silvercore.ca/blog

Host Instagram - @Bader.Trav https://www.instagram.com/bader.trav
Silvercore Instagram - @SilvercoreOutdoors https://www.instagram.com/silvercoreoutdoors

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Timestamps

00:00  Cold open: they picked a diver
01:00  The best introduction he's ever had
02:00  Cleveland, Ohio does not grow mountain men
05:00  Enlisting in the Navy at 19
07:00  The cardinal direction: a heading he couldn't name
08:00  Breaking the script he was handed
10:00  Happiness versus satisfaction
17:00  The harder you work, the luckier you get
18:00  When it goes wrong in the mountains, who does he call?
21:00  COVID, and the birth of Knowledge From Storms
23:00  The inciting incident: his drill in a competitor's marketing
27:00  Why the hunting and firearms communities eat their own
28:00  The camo wars, and refusing to fight in public
31:00  Trust is slow to earn and fast to lose
34:00  Travis at 16: the station wagon, the cabin, and hypothermia
38:00  Where he learned cold: diving, the Sierras, and Mark Twight
41:00  After 9/11: rebuilding a lost cold weather capability
42:00  Making the soldier durable
45:00  The rewarming drill on camera, and Adam Foss
47:00  The static rewarming drill: clothing is shelter
48:00  Why building a fire can be the wrong first move
49:00  Trap the heat, then move
51:00  An hour in: the shivering stops
54:00  Do it in your backyard, not in the middle of nowhere
57:00  Granddad in denim, and what modern gear actually changed
59:00  The active rewarming drill: one bucket, any trailhead
1:02:00  Mark Twight wrote the foreword, announced here first
1:05:00  Extreme Alpinism: the book that prepared men for war
1:06:00  Going light without getting forced out: the margin of safety
1:09:00  Three days pinned in a Mount Rainier blizzard
1:11:00  Planning builds confidence, confidence builds decisions
1:13:00  Keeping your world small when the float plane leaves
1:16:00  We romanticize the mountains. Here is the rest of it.
1:19:00  The PPCLI research miss
1:20:00  The BC horseback hunt that went wrong
1:22:00  1,400 pounds of horse in the dark
1:24:00  Giardia, and the unforced error he owns
1:28:00  Two hip replacements, and not letting the old man in
1:32:00  Who the book is for
1:35:00  OutdoorClass and Montana Knife Company
1:38:00  Start higher on the mountain, but climb it yourself
1:39:00  Student of the game: enjoy where you are

Get the free bear guide Casey Braam and Travis Bader made, and enter to win an SAI Optics red dot, at : Silvercore.ca/bear

Every download is a contest entry. Silvercore Club members are entered for free automatically, and can earn a second entry by downloading the guide.

Wildlife artist Casey Braam hikes into wild places, paints what he finds, posts clues online, and gives the painting to the first person who figures out where he is and hikes out to meet him. He calls it the Art Outside Project. In his second time on the Silvercore Podcast, 101 episodes after his first, Casey explains why he is doing it. The reason is bigger than art. It comes down to getting people outside and teaching them to actually see the world they live in.

Casey and Travis also go deep on spring bear hunting: reading sign, judging and selecting bears, why patience and selectivity make the whole thing richer, and the hard-earned rule that can save your hunt, shoot a bear until it is down and done. From there it opens up into what makes any outdoor experience richer over time, the value of risk and the "question mark," raising kids who get dirty in a world full of cameras, and why there is no fence between us and the natural world.

If you have ever felt like you walk through the woods on autopilot, this episode is about switching that off.

Free bear guide and SAI red dot giveaway: Silvercore.ca/bear

Gear and partners mentioned:

-IBI Precision rifles and barrels. - https://ibiprecision.com/
**Silvercore Club members get 10 percent off through the member portal.

- Norma Bondstrike ammunition-  https://www.norma-ammunition.com

- SAI Optics - https://armament.com/collections/sai-optics-riflescopes

Find Casey Braam and the Art Outside Project:
Website: https://www.artbycaseybraam.com
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/cabraam/

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Silvercore Club - https://www.silvercore.ca/club

Online Training - https://www.silvercore.ca/course/canadian-firearms-safety-course-online
Other Training & Services - https://www.silvercore.ca/course/category
Merchandise - https://www.silvercore.ca/collections/all-merchandise
Blog Page - https://www.silvercore.ca/blog

Host Instagram - @Bader.Trav https://www.instagram.com/bader.trav
Silvercore Instagram - @SilvercoreOutdoors https://www.instagram.com/silvercoreoutdoors

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Timestamps

00:00 Why he gives his paintings away
01:53 The bear skulls, the invitation, and two styles of hunting
05:09 Hunting for the experience, not just the kill
07:35 Eleven bears in a day, and the animal he knows best
14:09 The free bear guide, and why every bear looks 400 pounds
16:20 A mama and cub at fifteen yards
18:28 "It's not the one": passing on a taker
21:00 The propeller-sound bear and a tactical retreat
25:00 Tiffany's shot, and the bear that got back up
28:44 Shoot it till it's down: tracking, anatomy, and lost bears
33:00 Why cranked magnification gets you killed up close
38:45 The Art Outside Project, and what sparked it
40:50 Why getting people outside changes them
45:24 Teaching your lazy brain how to actually see
52:38 Two hours on a shoreline he'd seen a hundred times
55:29 What makes a painting, or a meal, worth more
1:00:09 How any business can steal this playbook
1:04:07 The ingredients of a richer adventure
1:07:02 Closer to death, more alive: the question mark
1:17:12 Who's standing next to you when it happens
1:18:33 Raising kids who get dirty in a panopticon world
1:25:10 No fence between us and nature
1:29:41 The giveaway, the guide, and the gear

Get your FREE Authorization to Carry guide: https://www.silvercore.ca/authorization-to-carry

Blair Hagen has spent 30 years fighting Canada's firearms laws, and now, days after the National Firearms Association lost its president Rick Igercich, he is the one holding it together.
In this episode of the Silvercore Podcast, Travis Bader sits down with Hagen, executive vice president and now acting president of the NFA, for a clear-eyed look at where Canada's gun fight actually stands in 2026: the assault-style firearm confiscation, the Order in Council (OIC) bans, the handgun freeze, and the amnesty that keeps getting extended because almost no one is complying.
Hagen survived two armed robberies behind the counter of a Vancouver gun store, then was refused a permit to protect himself. He explains why firearms in Canada get banned for how they look rather than what they do, why a serious gun charge is the first thing a prosecutor drops, why the numbers behind the confiscation do not add up, and the one thing every gun owner can actually do that works.
What we get into:

Why "assault-style firearm" is a political marketing term, not a legal one
The "comply or become a criminal" trap inside the current buyback
Estates, the handgun freeze, and how a widow loses a collection's value
The NFA Save Firearms program and storing prohibited firearms legally
Whether you can still buy and transfer a handgun in Canada, and where an Authorization to Carry fits in

Whether you have owned firearms your whole life or have never touched one, this is a conversation about property, rights, and who decides what is yours.

Find the NFA: https://nfa.ca

NFA on Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/national_firearms_association/

NFA on Facebook: https://facebook.com/NFACANADA

NFA on X: https://x.com/CanadasNFA

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Silvercore Club - https://www.silvercore.ca/club

Online Training - https://www.silvercore.ca/course/canadian-firearms-safety-course-online
Other Training & Services - https://www.silvercore.ca/course/category
Merchandise - https://www.silvercore.ca/collections/all-merchandise
Blog Page - https://www.silvercore.ca/blog

Host Instagram - @Bader.Trav https://www.instagram.com/bader.trav
Silvercore Instagram - @SilvercoreOutdoors https://www.instagram.com/silvercoreoutdoors

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Timestamps:

00:00 Cold open
00:46 Remembering NFA president Rick Igercich
02:28 How Blair got into the fight: the registry and David Tomlinson
08:38 Canada's gun culture, and a global audience listening
12:49 Two armed robberies behind the counter
17:00 Denied a carry permit in a store full of guns
20:19 "What can I do?" and the early '90s political wasteland
26:00 Property rights and the slippery slope
30:35 The amnesty extension and the courtroom no-win
34:32 Why gun charges get dropped first, and "assault-style" spin
40:49 Estates, the widow problem, and the caliber ban
48:24 "We do not make mistakes": the inheritance test case
50:44 Magazines, deactivation, and rules you can't comply with
57:03 OIC chaos and the meaningless word "variant"
1:03:15 Aesthetics over ballistics: why guns really get banned
1:09:41 Talking guns with someone who fears them
1:13:22 The handgun freeze and the Save Firearms program
1:22:00 The toll of 30 years on the line
1:24:45 Cooking the numbers: only 4,000 Mini-14s?
1:29:00 The quiet plan to put gun stores out of business
1:33:31 The Conservative Outdoors Committee and revolving-door courts
1:37:57 Which org to support, and what you can actually do
1:45:08 Closing, and Blair's goodbye to Rick

Jeff Evely served 20 years in the Canadian Armed Forces, with deployments to Afghanistan and Iraq. He came home, retired to his hometown in Cape Breton, and within months found himself arrested at a war memorial he was trying to guard, then later fined nearly $29,000 for walking in the woods during a Nova Scotia fire ban.

He fought back. And he won.

In this conversation, Travis sits down with Jeff to unpack the $29,000 ticket, the court win against the Nova Scotia government, the trucker convoy and Rolling Thunder arrests, and what it actually takes for one person to push back against institutions that have stopped listening. They also get into the Fourth Turning, stoicism, Carl Sagan and skepticism, the limits of the courts, why politics is downstream from culture, and the deepest personal cost Jeff has paid for standing on principle.
A conversation about courage, consequences, and what it costs to hold the line.

Find Jeff Evely:
Twitter / X: @JeffEvely

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Silvercore Club - https://www.silvercore.ca/club

Online Training - https://www.silvercore.ca/course/canadian-firearms-safety-course-online
Other Training & Services - https://www.silvercore.ca/course/category
Merchandise - https://www.silvercore.ca/collections/all-merchandise
Blog Page - https://www.silvercore.ca/blog

Host Instagram - @Bader.Trav https://www.instagram.com/bader.trav
Silvercore Instagram - @SilvercoreOutdoors https://www.instagram.com/silvercoreoutdoors

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Timestamps 

00:00 Cold open
00:42 Twenty years in, vaccine mandates out
02:00 Refused at the Legion, the lone protest begins
04:09 Trucker Convoy, taking down the fence
05:00 Arrested walking to the war memorial in his medals
07:00 Rolling Thunder and the limits of standing on your rights
10:10 The Fourth Turning and why institutions are collapsing
18:17 Anything currently going right
20:51 Portapique, gun policy, and the firearms debate
23:51 Wildfires, arson, and the climate narrative shift
25:28 How the Silvercore Club came to exist
35:42 The $29,000 fine and the court win
46:00 Why courts alone won't change the culture
48:15 Carl Sagan, skepticism, and a logical framework
52:20 COVID, the fog, and the totalitarian impulse
59:41 Anarcho-tyranny and the strategy to destabilize
01:03:00 Shame, accountability, and bringing consequences back
01:14:00 May Day Kids in Crisis and confronting Poilievre
01:22:32 Victimhood, cultural Marxism, and the trans question
01:28:40 The greatest price: his daughter
01:31:09 Raising kids on logic, what could change his mind
01:35:00 Hard times, strong men, and how we raise the next generation
01:37:13 Close