Here are some recommendations sent to us by SurvivalBlog reader “Bear” on some smaller businesses to patronize, to help Starve The Amazon Beast [1]. They include:
The Darn Tough brand [2] socks are great. Pricey but made in the USA by a family-owned company and come with a literal lifetime guarantee. I have a scientist relative who purchased a couple of pairs a decade-plus ago for field work, and only recently has she had to return them for an exchange. I live in mine (these and my Carhartts), and I recently purchased another 30 pair for my children to wear now and to grow into later. Plus, the company gives a TWENTY percent discount to active duty, veterans, first responders, medical personnel, and teachers!
Culture of Life [3] clothing promotes and supports the pro-life mission. I have not personally purchased from them, because I wouldn’t know “fashion” if it hit me upside the head with a Chanel handbag, and I prefer practical over decorative. But others may wish to check them out, for themselves or for gift-giving.
City Threads [4] kids’ clothes, made in the USA. The company is based in LA and seems a bit mask-obsessed (which is lucrative right now I guess), but they make a solid product. We have some items from them and they are soft and sturdy. I’ll probably purchase more, especially for the child who has trouble manipulating most fasteners due to his CP.
Carhartt workwear [5], most made in the USA. I recently purchased a bunch of different socks and some double-front work pants (and a phone holster as a gift for my husband, but he hasn’t used it yet). The socks are very sturdy and comfortable and I liked the pants so much I went back and ordered two additional pair. I would caution to check the details on EACH specific product page though, and maybe be cautious if a product is listed as “imported”: when all of my socks arrived, I saw that the steel-toed boot ones were made in China. Bummer.
USALovelist.com [6] — A collection of lists of companies and their products, made in the USA.
Lehman’s [7] has been mentioned in SurvivalBlog (an blog comments) before, which is how I found out about it. Many items made in the USA. Recently made a purchase and was very satisfied with their service. (Have not yet assembled and used the washing machine so cannot comment specifically on that yet, although the reviews on the site are excellent.) Of particular note, in their books section, are the little Storey Country Wisdom Bulletins, which are a mere $2.95 apiece if 5 or more are purchased. Full of invaluable information, especially for us newbies, that is clear and direct to read. I have only looked at some of mine so far because I can’t pry them away from the 7yo’s fascinated eyeballs!
Pleasant Hill Grain [8] — storage food, endless kitchen gear and tools for processing food of all kinds, seeds, emergency supplies, books. I have received one of my buckets so far (the rest are on back order), and two fascinating cookbooks (Flour Water Salt Yeast and Bean by Bean). Before ordering, I asked the Homesteading group I belong to about people’s experiences with them, and everyone who had purchased there was pleased. The site notes, “All of Pleasant Hill Grain’s grain products are natural (non-GMO). Also, PHG does not sell any grains, beans, lentils, pulses or seeds sourced from China.” For example: https://pleasanthillgrain.com/buy-organic-pearl-barley-grain-for-sale-bulk [9]
FreezeDryingSupplies.com [10] — A family-owned company. Recently purchased tray corner stackers, an anti-siphon kit for the drain hose, and some oxygen absorbers, and was pleased. Also has a YouTube channel where I have learned about things such as how to use the “test” feature of the freeze dryer to vacuum seal Ball jars!
Solar Low Tech Magazine [11] — Fascinating site, lots of “low-tech” solutions and completely self-hosted on solar power! (Not sure where exactly I first heard about it so my apologies for the duplication if it was already a recent link from SB.)
HymnSite.com [12] — for spiritual encouragement. I think this is a great ministry for musicians and music-lovers. The site host has gone through the old Methodist hymnal, selected the ones that are no longer subject to copyright, and personally arranged them to make both audio and printed versions available in many different formats, completely free! I have been using them several times a month, when I prepare my music for the worship service that I accompany.
One anti-recommendation:
Sadly, Home Depot appears to have gone full woke [13].
I also clicked through to the “resource hub” to see for myself and it wasn’t long before my eyes were bleeding. Good grief, great googly-wokespeak-moogly Batman.
And, just for fun…
1) I first learned from Claire Wolfe about a satire news site out of Colorado called Rocky Mountain Oyster. You might already know it. The articles are longer and decidedly…umm, sharper…than the Babylon Bee. For example:
Denver Dog Mom Regrets Voting for Wolf Reintroduction [14]
and,
Confusion Over Drag Race at Bandimere Speedway [15]
2) If I had been of a mind to play an April Fool’s prank on your readers, you could have linked to this utter ridiculousness: 18 best face mask accessories of 2021 [16]. A faux-pearl “mask chain” — are they kidding me?! The only item on here worth “adding to [my] arsenal” is the 3M command hooks, but NOT to hold my face mask accessories! – Bear