Category: Traditional Skills/Fieldcraft

Mingo Firewood Marker, by Thomas Christianson

The Mingo Ultimate Firewood Marker enables someone who is processing firewood to buck logs into rounds of remarkably uniform length. It does this by placing a spot of inverting marking spray at precise intervals onto a log that is being prepared for bucking. This precision is especially helpful for those who heat with smaller wood stoves. The fireboxes of smaller stoves have less margin for error than the fireboxes of larger stoves. A piece of cordwood even one inch too long can make it impossible to shut the door on the firebox of a smaller stove. Variations of the Marker …


Constructing an Off-Grid Shower, by Ozark Redneck

My wife and I were sitting in the living room last winter, our fireplace insert was cranking out the heat, our spark screen was on, and the Eco-Fan was blowing a mile a minute. She had a glass of wine in her hand, and we were enjoying the moment. We were discussing our preparedness. (Like all couples do — right?) The sun was very active that week, with plenty of solar wind and a moderate CME. She asked, “if the power grid goes down, how are we going to take a shower?” I kind of sputtered, “I have at least …


Prepping on a Dime, by Michael X.

When we started prepping, we did not have the money to buy an old missile silo…or an old mine…or a ready-to-use retreat. We were “stuck” in the city where our jobs were. Then we retired. We could sell our house and move to the middle of nowhere… From a city near the Twin Cities in Minnesota of over 100,000, my loving wife and I have relocated to a lakeside cottage in northern Wisconsin, a few miles outside a village of about 400 people. Wisconsin has its own problems. Mostly Madison and Milwaukee. And to a lesser extent, Eau Claire. Those …


The Prepared Homeowner’s Workshop, by Richard T.

A lot of mundane people have workshops, and a lot of preparedness-minded people have workshops, but not all of those preppers have a workshop that is properly prepared for many of the scenarios that they are concerned about. Perhaps this is because they do not see the role a workshop plays in preparedness. What distinguishes the prepared workshop from others is that the owner has: Learned key skills Acquired apropos tools, and has, Stocked hardware on a “just in case” footing. This approach differs from the ordinary workshop that is inadequately prepared and hopefully will never going to be needed …


Gardening and the Struggles – Part 2, by SaraSue

(Continued from Part 1. This concludes the article.) I decided to try raised garden beds, and I’m three years into it!  When people purchase and store seeds for their apocalypse garden should they need it one day, I laugh.  You could starve before you ever get a good garden going.  Unless, you happen to be sitting on perfect and fertile soil. Raised garden beds    In my case, I had to hire the help to build all the beds, transport barn compost from another area of the farm to the beds, and pay for composted “top soil” to be delivered.  …


Gardening and the Struggles – Part 1, by SaraSue

I am going into my fifth year trying to garden here on my farm.  I have ranching and farming neighbors who have been at it for generations, and their gardens are amazing.  Mine?  Not so much.  There also exists a large Amish and Mennonite presence here in this area.  They have large and productive gardens.  I could just buy from all the neighbors!  But, I wanted to have my own garden, which gives one a sense of security and food system control.  It has been a several year struggle. The 2025 gardening season was a positive change from previous years, …


Making Repairs, by Big John

So you are living in a societal collapse and something breaks. Let’s say that your generator dies. You’ve gotta fix it. The following describes what have I learned about fixing things: I used to go through the repair process in my mind a few hundred times. I would pull the cover by loosening two screws, then unbolt the coil with a socket wrench. Then pull the coil and inspect for a broken winding. But first of all, I must borrow my friend’s socket set. I have learned over the years that the most efficient route is often to just tear …


Necessity is the Mother of Improvisation – Part 2, by 3AD Scout

(Continued from Part 1. This concludes the article.) At one auction, I found some very odd tools for some type of woodwork.  Upon research they were used by wheelwrights to make wooden wagon wheels.  I have an interest in several old trades but wheel making is not one of them.  On a trip to Holmes County, Ohio (in Amish country) I took those old wheelwright tools and traded them for some other tools (blacksmithing and chisels) that I did want at the Colonial Homestead Store, in Millersburg.  This store offers old but usable tools from many old trades.  Just walking …


Necessity is the Mother of Improvisation – Part 1, by 3AD Scout

We have all seen the post-apocalyptic movies where improvise armored vehicles with machine guns roam the landscape.  These Hollywood creations make for great entertainment but are such cobbled together machines just fantasy?  The civil war in Somalia introduced the world to “Technicals”, or utilizing civilian vehicles, like decades old Datsun and Totota Hilux pickup trucks, as a platform to mount heavy machine guns, like the Soviet era DShK 12.7mm.  Thirty years later and such vehicles are now being used on the battlefields of Ukraine.  Not only has Ukraine made improvised war wagons out of civilian pickup trucks but they have …


Your “Gray Man” Camouflage, by A.C.

Background I travel for work, often traveling all over the word into some not-so-friendly environments where I don’t want to be a target but I still need to remain capable. I’ve interviewed behaviorists about the science behind being memorable and I’ve also spoken with members of certain 3-letter-agencies about what they’ve learned about traveling in austere environments. This short essay is an aggregate of that information that is easily consumable and understandable. In the world of tactical preparation and survivalism, there is a pervasive image of the “operator”, that is; someone decked out in multicam patterns, sporting morale patches, and …


Raising, Hunting, and Harvesting Animals – Part 1, by Lodge Pole

In late 1929, when the stock market crashed and the Great Depression began, the population of the United States was around 121.7 million people. All through the Great Depression, it was unheard of to leave roadkill on the side of the road left to rot. With high unemployment,  the hunting pressure was heavy. Small game, like rabbits and squirrels, nearly went extinct in large parts of the United States from being over-hunted, to feed desperate families. Today, in 2026, the estimated population of the US is 348.3 million. If animals were being hunted to near extinction when the population was …


Some Extreme Cold Weather Advice, by Hollyberry

We have all seen the media drama these past few weeks regarding the weather. Until about 10 years ago, I never even heard the term “polar vortex”, it was just winter. Living in Maine for the past 20 + years and making through the harsh winters has been a humbling and rewarding experience. Every spring you can hear people sigh in relief. I feel sorry for the lower portion of the country that has been experiencing the extreme cold, ice and snow. It’s something that takes getting used to and it helps to have the proper clothing and gear to …


Going Off Grid In The Tropics – Part 2, by Conan Stevens

(Continued from Part 1.  This concludes the article.) To give a vivid image of what it is still like here, the next smaller village over where my girl grew up still has a single electrical wire held up by bamboo poles with a 3W LED bulb dangling off every 100m (330 ft) or so for street lights, and house wiring running off that same single wire. But the sand roads were concreted over a few years ago, so there is improvement happening. As you can imagine in the tropics solar power works great, in dry season we have full batteries …


Going Off Grid In The Tropics – Part 1, by Conan Stevens

Have you ever thought about going off-grid in the tropics?  No? Well, me neither, yet that’s where I find myself. First up, though I have had food stores and access to water as a habit for over a decade I have only been living (mostly) off-grid for a year. So I’m not very experienced and still learning the ropes. But I thought my experiences here might be a curiosity and possibly be interesting reading for others. I originally moved to Thailand to work in the action film industry, 21 years ago.  Since then I saw that the country started modernising, …


Balancing Farm Life for Success, by SaraSue

2025 was a difficult year to get through.  By the end of the year, I was not enjoying any of it.  In fact, I wanted to quit (do I feel this way at the end of every year?).  You have to laugh and find your sense of humor or you won’t make it through anything that is slightly difficult.  There were so many things that went wrong, so I had to sit down and list accomplishments to remind myself that a lot of things went right.  And once reminded of all the good, I can face the next year in …