A guide to buying silver and gold
By Thomas M. Buckley
Photos By Steve Lindh
Issue #126 • November/December, 2010
The standard measure of weight used for precious metals is the troy ounce. A troy ounce (31.1 grams) is just a bit heavier than...
The coffee mug knife sharpener
By Michael Cantrell
Issue #105 • May/June, 2007
Not too long ago, I watched a man open his pocket knife by pulling it partway open to a wide L-shape with his hands, and then push it...
Start a fire in any weather
By Charles Sanders
Issue #161 • September/October, 2016
Most of us living in the backwoods are comfortable with utilizing fire as a tool. We use fire to heat our homes, burn brush, power our forges, help...
Choosing a chain saw
By Steven Gregersen
Issue #119 •September/October, 2009
Winter will be here soon and along with winter comes cold weather and high heating bills. Obviously there's nothing new about any of this but with the current economic...
35 country jobs — How folks make a living near my hometown
By Charles Sanders
Issue #89 • September/October, 2004
If you're relocating to the backwoods, you will very likely have to give some thought to generating some income, that is, making a living. Hopefully, the topic is...
Make a quilt out of Levis
By Dorothy Ainsworth
Issue #77 • September/October, 2002
Back in the 80s I worked as a waitress in a busy little café where our mandatory uniform was a pair of Levis and a T-shirt. The only...
Your kitchen pharmacy — How common culinary herbs and spices can help you feel...
By Rebekah L. Cowell
Issue #122 • March/April, 2010
In a perfect world, we would get all the nutrients and medication we needed from the food we ate. However, our diets and the foods available to...
Homestead Helpers
By Charles Sanders
Issue #65 • September/October, 2000
Every day around the home place brings with it many new experiences. The number of projects, chores, repairs, and other tasks often seem endless. With those jobs come...
Dehydrating eggs at home
By Patrice Lewis
Issue #156 • November/December, 2015
Here's a trivia question for you: What do you do when your chickens are laying gangbusters and you have no less than 10 dozen eggs in the fridge,...
Raising kids simply
By Patrice Lewis
Issue #131 • September/October, 2011
Have you ever wondered what it would be like to live simply? When asked what constitutes a simple life, nine out of ten people will answer something along...
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...
Easy-to-make reusable coffee filters
By Angeline Hawkes
Issue #153 • May/June, 2015
With two professional fiction writers in my household, we drink a lot of coffee. Keeping it hot and ready meant going through a lot of paper filters. In...
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...
Dollar Store to the Rescue
By Jeffrey R. Yago, P.E.
Summer 2019, Self-Reliance
I have talked with emergency responders who have traveled all over the country to volunteer their rescue efforts at disasters like the recent flooding in Texas. While much...
Self-reliance for women — Surviving a biochemical attack
By Kelly McCarthy
Issue #94 • July/August, 2005
Three and a half years ago, on the morning of September 11th to be exact, I was just ending a White House tour with my husband, children, and...
Stay clear of young wild animals
By Tom and Joanne O’Toole
Issue #86 • March/April, 2004
This spring and summer millions of wild animals and birds will be born. This is the new generation of wildlife, and their survival depends a great...
