The Silvercore Podcast with Travis Bader

This was supposed to be a hot wing challenge.
It turned into something else.
We sat down to take on a melt your face off hot wing challenge and ended up in a real conversation about food, marriage, work, ambition, comfort, and the choices that shape a life over time.
The heat ramps up fast. Talking becomes harder. Filters disappear.
We talk about building something from scratch, walking away from paths that look good on paper, raising kids with intention, food as memory, food as connection, and why comfort has a way of slowly pulling people off course.
This episode also introduces The Wild Kitchen Podcast, a show about food, authors, hunters, foragers, and people who still know how to make things with their hands and feed the people they love.
Nothing here was planned. Nothing was cleaned up to make it tidy.
If you’re into honest conversations, good food, and doing things the hard way on purpose, this one will land.

Apple - https://podcasts.apple.com/ca/podcast/the-wild-kitchen/id1871562316

Spotify - https://open.spotify.com/show/7IVrTjpZePPuoKprNkgZx6?si=afb700ee09994cf4

Instagram - https://www.instagram.com/thewildkitchenpodcast/

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Silvercore Club - https://bit.ly/2RiREb4
Online Training - https://bit.ly/3nJKx7U
Other Training & Services - https://bit.ly/3vw6kSU
Merchandise - https://bit.ly/3ecyvk9
Blog Page - https://bit.ly/3nEHs8W 
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 We commit to the hot wing challenge
01:45 Why the first attempt failed
04:10 What The Wild Kitchen is really about
07:30 Starting something and sticking with it
10:50 Food, memory, and why meals matter
14:40 The meals that never leave you
18:20 Heat kicks in and thinking gets harder
21:45 Comfort food and emotional attachment
24:50 Death row meals and what they reveal
30:15 What we wanted to be as kids
35:05 Leaving the path you were expected to follow
39:40 Work that feels honest
45:30 Food, family, and presence
50:00 Heat level check and regret
53:10 Old skills in a modern world
58:20 Belief, curiosity, and asking better questions
01:03:45 Pushing through discomfort
01:07:40 Failure, momentum, and self trust
01:12:20 Dealing with criticism
01:16:10 Grandparents, food, and inherited habits
01:20:40 Preservation, fermentation, and patience
01:24:10 Processing animals and community
01:28:10 What the future actually looks like
01:32:30 Final wing and closing thoughts

What looks obvious on video often tells the least important part of the story.
Chris Butler has spent decades inside high consequence decision making, as a search and rescue technician, a police inspector, a force science instructor, and an expert witness called into hundreds of use of force cases. In this conversation, we dig into how stress bends perception, why traditional training often fails under pressure, and how video evidence can mislead investigators, leaders, and the public.
We explore the difference between performance and learning, why mistakes are essential for real skill acquisition, how decision making degrades under stress, and what trainers, coaches, and leaders across any field can learn from force science.
This episode is for anyone responsible for training others, leading teams, or forming opinions based on partial information.
Key themes and takeaways
Why performance during training is not the same as learning
How retention and transfer actually work under stress
The danger of linear, checkbox driven training models
Decision training vs technique training
Why video evidence feels convincing but can be wrong
Frame rates, fisheye distortion, and perceptual gaps
Leadership responsibility when public emotion is high
Moral courage and restraint in the age of instant judgment
Who this episode is for
Law enforcement and military trainers
Coaches and instructors in any high pressure domain
Leaders responsible for public trust
Civilians who want better frameworks for evaluating viral footage
Links to Chris Butler’s work
Trainer’s Bullpen Podcast - https://www.trainersbullpen.com
Trainer’s Bullpen on Apple Podcasts - https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/trainers-bullpen/id1661836359
Trainer’s Bullpen on Spotify - https://open.spotify.com/show/2xxGiZkTlRlNh9NYl4AdGT
Chris Butler, Force Science Instructor - https://www.forcescience.com/author/chris/
Linkedin - https://ca.linkedin.com/in/chris-butler-b330943a
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Silvercore Club - https://bit.ly/2RiREb4
Online Training - https://bit.ly/3nJKx7U
Other Training & Services - https://bit.ly/3vw6kSU
Merchandise - https://bit.ly/3ecyvk9
Blog Page - https://bit.ly/3nEHs8W 
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 Pressure bends perception and memory
01:10 Meeting Chris Butler before COVID shut everything down
03:00 From search and rescue to policing
05:10 When training mistakes nearly got people killed
07:30 Why personal skill does not equal teaching skill
09:45 The failure of linear, technique based training
12:10 Why law enforcement training ignores learning science
14:20 Performance vs learning explained
16:45 Retention and transfer, what actually matters
19:20 Why firearms qualification is meaningless
22:00 How force on force training changes outcomes
24:30 RCMP research and evidence based qualification changes
26:40 Decision training vs technique training
29:50 Why mistakes are essential for learning
33:10 The danger of spoonfeeding solutions
36:30 Why training under pressure works
39:10 Can this apply outside law enforcement
41:40 How experts analyze use of force incidents
44:10 Why video never tells the full story
46:50 Frame rates, missed actions, and false conclusions
49:30 Body cameras distort distance and threat perception
52:30 Leadership failure under public pressure
55:10 Moral courage and protecting your people
57:50 Final thoughts on training, leadership, and restraint

Violence arrives fast and leaves a long shadow.
Former British SBS Special Forces veteran Sonny Smith returns to the Silvercore Podcast for a grounded conversation on awareness, personal safety, and the realities of physical confrontation.
Drawing from experience in UK Special Forces, executive protection, surveillance work, and professional bare knuckle boxing, Sonny talks through how people are selected as targets, how situations escalate, and where confidence drifts ahead of capability. We discuss awareness as a practiced discipline, avoidance as a measure of competence, and the responsibility that comes with force.
As the conversation deepens, it turns inward. We explore life after high risk work, mental health, identity, and the weight carried once the external danger fades. Sonny speaks openly about his personal experiences with ayahuasca as part of a broader reflection on trauma, accountability, and integration, without instruction or advocacy.
This episode is a clear-eyed look at judgment, restraint, and what survival demands, both in moments of danger and across a lifetime.

Buy Man Protect Here - https://a.co/d/2C4SVkx
Follow Sonny - https://www.instagram.com/sixsightco/
Six Sight Training Wing - https://www.instagram.com/sixsight.co
Six Sight Youtube - https://www.youtube.com/@SixSight

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Silvercore Club - https://bit.ly/2RiREb4
Online Training - https://bit.ly/3nJKx7U
Other Training & Services - https://bit.ly/3vw6kSU
Merchandise - https://bit.ly/3ecyvk9
Blog Page - https://bit.ly/3nEHs8W 
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 most people misunderstand violence
03:45 – Bare knuckle boxing and reality versus fantasy
08:55 – Confidence, competence, and dangerous gaps
13:40 – Awareness without paranoia
18:25 – How predators actually select targets
23:10 – Situational awareness beyond buzzwords
28:00 – Subtle cues people miss before violence starts
33:15 – Why most self protection training fails
38:05 – Avoidance as a trained skill
43:20 – When violence becomes unavoidable
48:10 – Knives, firearms, and uncomfortable truths
54:30 – The psychological cost of physical confrontation
Mental Health and Psychedelics
01:00:05 – Life after violence and high risk careers
01:04:30 – Trauma, identity, and suppressed damage
01:10:15 – Why some people turn to ayahuasca
01:16:40 – Expectations versus reality
01:22:30 – Integration, responsibility, and accountability
01:28:10 – Mental health without shortcuts
01:33:40 – What survival actually means long term

As the year comes to a close, I reached out to a small group of past guests and asked them one question.
What do you want to be remembered for?
Their answers, and my own, are shared here.
This episode is chaptered. Listen straight through, or move to the voices that resonate most with you.
Take your time with it.
This is the final episode of the Silvercore Podcast for 2025
This Year End project is Silvercore Podcast Ep. 176
### Thank you to the guests who took part in this project
If you’d like to learn more about the people who shared their reflections, you can find them here.
Kyle Lamb
Viking Tactics
Website: https://www.vikingtactics.com
Instagram (Viking Tactics): https://www.instagram.com/vikingtactics
Amie Battams
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/amie.flyfish/
Colin Dowler
Colin keeps a low public profile. His story was first shared here:
Silvercore Podcast – https://www.silvercore.ca/podcast/ep-09-now-youre-bleeding-too-bear
April Vokey
Anchored Outdoors
Website: https://anchoredoutdoors.com
Podcast: https://www.anchoredoutdoors.com/podcast
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/aprilvokey
Jason Budd
Tantalus Mountain Guides
Website: https://tantalusmtnguides.ca
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/tantalusmtnguides/
Seb Lavoie
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/slavccmdr/
Kevin Kossowan
From the Wild
Website: https://www.fromthewild.ca
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/kevinkossowan/
Kelsi Sheren
Podcast, speaking, and writing
Website: https://www.kelsisheren.com
Instagram Podcast: https://www.instagram.com/thekelsisherenperspective/
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/kelsie_sheren/
Shaun Taylor
The Collective Podcast
Website: https://the-collective.ca
Instagram (podcast): https://www.instagram.com/the_collective_ig/
Instagram (personal): https://www.instagram.com/shauntaylors1/
Chance Burrells
The Collective Podcast
Website: https://the-collective.ca
https://www.instagram.com/chance_burles
Tiffany Bader
Silvercore Outdoors
Website: https://silvercore.ca
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/bader.tiffany/

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Silvercore Club - https://bit.ly/2RiREb4
Online Training - https://bit.ly/3nJKx7U
Other Training & Services - https://bit.ly/3vw6kSU
Merchandise - https://bit.ly/3ecyvk9
Blog Page - https://bit.ly/3nEHs8W 
Host Instagram - @Bader.Trav https://www.instagram.com/bader.trav
Silvercore Instagram - @SilvercoreOutdoors https://www.instagram.com/silvercoreoutdoors
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Matt Barnett grew up dreaming about explosives. At fourteen he blew up his hand, looked death in the face, and kept going. Today he is one of the most fascinating figures in the world of high explosives, working with everything from avalanche control to government agencies and major media productions.
This conversation goes far beyond blowing things up. Matt opens up about the accident that reshaped him, the philosophy that guides his life, the power of visualization, raising strong kids, and why danger and purpose are tied together for anyone who wants to live a real life.
If you have ever wondered what drives someone to chase a childhood obsession into a career most people would never dare to try, this episode will pull you in. Explosives, chemistry, freedom, leadership, self reliance, personal growth, and the fire it takes to build something meaningful. It is all here.
What you will hear in this episode:
• How a kid with a chemistry set became an explosives expert
• The accident that nearly took Matt’s life and what he learned from it
• Why humans are wired to crave controlled danger
• The mindset that separates dreamers from builders
• Raising kids in a world that fears risk
• What freedom, responsibility, and legacy really look like
• Why modern society is starving for men who refuse to live small lives

If you love conversations about resilience, purpose, freedom, and the people who shape their own world instead of waiting for permission, this one will hit home.
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/mattexplodesstuff
Website / Leadership Camp: https://www.impresariocamp.com/
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Silvercore Club - https://bit.ly/2RiREb4
Online Training - https://bit.ly/3nJKx7U
Other Training & Services - https://bit.ly/3vw6kSU
Merchandise - https://bit.ly/3ecyvk9
Blog Page - https://bit.ly/3nEHs8W 
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 The spark that starts a life in explosives
00:41 Travis welcomes Matt Barnett
01:00 Why humans are drawn to things that go boom
01:51 Order, chaos, and the intoxication of controlled destruction
02:42 Childhood experiments with fireworks and gunpowder
04:18 Matt learns to make black powder at seven
05:00 The obsession with creating without limits
06:07 Chemistry, invention, and the ADHD mind
07:27 Growing up with explosive hobbies
08:57 Talking openly about dangerous knowledge
10:41 Where the line sits between education and harm
11:49 Using explosives to make the world safer
13:01 Childhood accidents and lessons learned
16:04 Matt’s near fatal blast at fourteen
17:50 Seeing the reality of destruction up close
19:14 How the accident changed his view of war and life
20:00 Parents, dynamite, and early experiments
22:00 Raising kids around explosives and responsibility
24:00 How business in the energetics world really works
25:16 The surprising truth about social media and notoriety
26:00 What it is like to film explosive content
27:32 The camera confidence Matt learned as a kid
28:36 What Matt would tell his younger self
29:00 Building a business inside a maze of regulation
30:15 Travis compares the Canadian system
33:00 The cultural divide in how nations regulate freedom
36:00 Why local control matters
38:06 The challenges of trying to build in Canada
40:41 A firearms case that shaped Travis view of the system
43:18 Matt’s drive through Canada and observations
45:00 Understanding different legal cultures
46:27 The origin of Benetti
46:44 What impresario means to Matt
48:00 Why Matt teaches leadership
50:15 When leadership pushes people to leave the status quo
51:00 The clients who can afford it, and those who truly need it
52:00 What legacy really means
53:16 Why his children are his real contribution
54:00 Raising kids like frontier families
55:56 The human experience is not meant to be safe
57:00 Why some of us need risk to feel alive
58:00 Matt’s time in the hospital and what it taught him
59:37 The turtle that changed everything
01:00:20 The power of visualization
01:01:20 What Matt sees for his future
01:03:00 Why the world still needs wild men
01:06:00 Final thoughts on compassion, responsibility, and becoming better humans
01:08:45 Closing