How long should your gun’s barrel length be?

By Massad Ayoob Issue #136 • July/August, 2012 The person new to guns is like the person new to timepieces. "How many of these things are there?" "In how many configurations?" "And they've been around for...

Design calculations for no-head, low-head waterwheels

By Rudy Behrens Issue #17 • September/October, 1992 (This is the second of our three-part series on waterwheels. The third installation (Issue No. 18) will deal with overshot wheels. -- Editor.) For those of you who are...

Breakfast Cereal

Recipe of the Week  Breakfast Cereal  Courtesy of C.L. Fitzmaurice   You'll find this recipe and over 400 more in Backwoods Home Cooking.Click Here Ingredients 5 cups quick-cook oatmeal 1 cup brown sugar 2/3 cup light corn syrup 1 cup wheat germ or cracked...

Tips for finding your affordable home

By Dave Cournoyer Website Exclusive • February, 2008 If you haven't yet made the move to the country, here is helpful information about the cost and availability of land in the U.S. One factor that is important...

Crispy onion rings

Recipe of the Week  Crispy onion rings  Courtesy of Jo Mason   You'll find this recipe and over 400 more in Backwoods Home Cooking.Click Here Ingredients 4 or 5 medium-sized yellow onions 1-1/2 cups flat beer 1-1/4 cups flour 1/4 cup corn meal shortening for...

A vast cultural divide exists between environmentalists and gun owners

By Dave Duffy Issue #113 • September/October, 2008 Backwoods Home Magazine has had an exhibitor's booth at the MREA Fair in Wisconsin almost every year since its founding by Mick Sagrillo in 1989, which is the...

Guns, suicide prevention, and backwoods lifestyles

By Massad Ayoob Issue #153 • May/June, 2015 Note to readers: I've served for going on twenty years as firearms editor of Backwoods Home Magazine. The following article is going to be somewhat different from what...

A healthy heart starts in the kitchen

By Richard Blunt <!----> Issue #100 • July/August, 2006 The Surgeon General of the United States recently referred to obesity as "the terror within." But who is the enemy? When we finally started paying attention to what...

Teach speed reading to your children even if you can’t speed read yourself

By George Stancliffe Issue #59 • September/October, 1999 For over two years, I have had the hobby of teaching speed reading to people in the community where I live. So far I have taught over 300...

The wonderful world of axes

By R.E. Rawlinson Issue #171 • May/June, 2018 In 1845, Henry David Thoreau began his now-classic experiment in self-reliance at Walden Pond. He soon realized that if he was going to make a go of it...

Once a day milking

By Patrice Lewis Issue #99 • May/June, 2006 It sounds bucolic, doesn't it? The simple joys of milking your own cow. Fresh milk, fresh cream, homemade cheese, butter, yogurt. What can get better than that? But when...

Science and truth. Are they related?

By John Silveira Issue #46 • July/August, 1997 It was an argument about science. Dave and I were on one side, Dave's friends Tom and Bill, though curiously nonallied, were on the other. I say nonallied...

How environmental ideology hurts the solar energy industry

By Dave Duffy Issue #69 • May/June, 2001 Starting with our first issue 11 years ago, Backwoods Home Magazine has promoted renewable energies, especially solar energy, and for the past two years we have carried a...

These salads are hearty dishes

By Jennifer Stein Barker Issue #43 • January/February, 1997 When most people think of a salad, they first think of lettuce or fruit, but a salad may also be made of vegetables or fruit, combined with...

Growing Productive Strawberries

By Edna Manning Issue #86 • March/April, 2004 Here on the Canadian prairies, I have found strawberries to be perhaps one of the most delicious, least-demanding and productive fruits I can grow in our Zone 2...

Breaking Ice on Hard Water Fishing — A Cool Introduction to a Fun Sport

By Linda Gabris Issue #91 • January/February, 2005 Only thing hard about hard water fishing is the ice. Once you've broken through that obstacle, the rest is easy gliding. Ice fishing is great sport for the...