Self-reliance Archives - Page 14 of 15 - Backwoods Home Magazine

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...

A survival key ring — Your everyday tool for emergency preparedness

By Jeffrey Yago, P.E., CEM Issue #117 • May/June, 2009 If you saw the movie, "Castaway" starring Tom Hanks, you might remember that his character always carried a small pen knife with him. Early in the...

Storing dry foods

By Jackie Clay-Atkinson More and more folks are starting to buy bulk foods to ensure if stores run out of foods — as they did at the onset of this epidemic — their families will...

Call me plumber

By Emily Chadwick Issue #121 • January/February, 2010 Sometimes life requires you to climb in the toilet, and elbow deep in the bowl, you discover the path to self-reliance. When I heard the flush, I knew I...

Storm survivors

By Anita Evangelista Issue #71 • September/October, 2001 First couple days of June, 1998, weather pretty good, a bit wetter than it is now. Clear day, clouds moving in during the afternoon. By suppertime, the sky...

Power Up

By Jeffrey R. Yago, P. E., C.E.M. Spring, 2019 During any emergency or related power outage, the most important electronic device you need to keep operating is your cell phone, at least as long as cellular...

Dealing with heat stress

By Joseph Alton, M.D. Issue #154 • July/August, 2015 In the wilderness, there may not be shelter to protect you from the elements. Even on a working homestead, physical exertion in hot weather can easily lead...

Learning to love the high desert

By Claire Wolfe Issue #120 • November/December, 2009 Earlier this year, the dogs and I got taxed out of Cabin Sweet Cabin. With a little help from our friends, we packed a small trailer with our...

Start a post-construction cleaning business

By Dorothy Ainsworth Issue #76 • July/August, 2002 Wherever construction is going on, there will be a big mess left in its wake that somebody has to clean up. That somebody can be you, and you...

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...

Harvest your own firewood

By Pete Earl Issue #83 • September/October, 2003 Harvesting firewood has many rewards: exercise, satisfaction, saving money, and the security of having your own fuel supply for winter warmth. Here are some pointers in the art...

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...

The cholesterol in your stovepipe can be fatal

By D.B. Frandsen Issue #36 • November/December, 1995 The season is arriving. The garden is ready for its final turning, the apples are picked, and it's supposed to freeze by the end of the week. So,...

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...

Food security 101

By Rowena Aldridge Issue #138 • November/December, 2012 These days a lot of people are concerned, and rightly so, about their family's economic stability and security. Recently I've become aware of the ways in which I,...

The Trigger Line

By Len McDougall Issue #108 • November/December, 2007 With most of our planet underwater, fish have been a part of the human diet since before recorded history. Almost any permanent body of water can be presumed...