The return of home emergency shelters takes on a dual-purpose approach
By Jeffrey Yago, P.E., CEM
Issue #74 • March/April, 2002
After September 11, 2001, all of us became much more concerned with protecting our families from biological, nuclear, and terrorist attacks. However, if you followed up...
With commonsense planning, you can survive hard times
By Jackie Clay
Issue #55 • January/February, 1999
Today, many people are afraid that hard times are about to descend upon us because of the Y2K computer date problem, also known as the Millennium Bug. Others...
Survival infection control
By Joseph Alton, M.D.
Issue #151 • January/February, 2015
For several months now, news regarding the devastation that the Ebola virus is causing in West Africa has been in the headlines. A disease once found only...
The 7 core areas of preparedness
By Patrice Lewis
Issue #133 • January/February, 2012
As I write this article, it's early September. And September, as you may or may not know, is National Preparedness Month, sponsored by the Federal Emergency Management Agency...
Battery-Powered Tools are Changing
By Jeffrey Yago, P.E., C.E.M.
April/May/June, 2019
Battery-powered tool technology is now undergoing some rapid changes in both the power of the tool motors and the batteries supplying the added power. For many years most battery-powered...
The fire wick fire starter
By Len McDougall
Issue #114 • November/December, 2008
When my hunting buddy Dar met me for lunch at our rendezvous point, he said he doubted we could make a small cookfire on the wet, snow-covered ground....
Bartering for bad times
By John Silveira
Issue #138 • November/December, 2012
Bartering may not be a part of your life, right now, but if there's a deepening of the recession, or it becomes a depression, or we enter a...
Emergency treatment for fire-related injuries
By Joe Alton, M.D.
If confronted by a fast-moving wildfire, your chances of avoiding death or injury depend on a plan of action that is easy to understand and quick to implement. Some form of...
Preparing for civil unrest
By Claire Wolfe
Issue #118 • July/August, 2009
The most remarkable thing about civil unrest is that there hasn't been more of it.
Politicians are making a hash of this country and much of the rest of...
Homestead security for women
By Donna Insco
Issue #143 • September/October, 2013
In these tough economic times, many women are finding themselves alone for long hours on the homestead. As local jobs disappear, the major breadwinner may take a job...
Gee-Whiz: From Paper to Canning
By John Silveira (aka O.E. MacDougal)
May/June 2017 Backwoods Home
The greatest inventions in history are the ones we now take for granted. Fire and the wheel-axle combination are among them. If we weren’t taught in...
Buying the right emergency radio
By Jeffrey Yago, P.E., CEM
Issue #98 • March/April, 2006
In our last issue I addressed how to select the best battery-powered lighting for your emergency needs. Recent examples of poor emergency response during the Katrina...
Changing the odds in home fire protection
By Don Lewis
From Jan. 1 to Nov. 15, 2018, there were 51,898 wildfires across the United States, burning over 8.5 million acres. Despite the commonly held belief that wildfires are predominately a western concern,...
No dentist? Oh, no!
By Gary F. Arnet, D.D.S.
Issue #75 • May/June, 2002
Enjoying lunch while looking out over the gorgeous view from your backcountry home, you bite down hard on a nut, hear a loud crack, and immediately...
Food security 101, part 3: Why I love my vacuum sealer (and more)
By Rowena Aldridge
Issue #140 • March/April, 2013
In parts one and two (Issues #138 and #139), we covered basics and homemade convenience foods. Now that you've become so proficient at making delicious, nutritious, and economical...
