Category: Traditional Skills/Fieldcraft

Coffee in a Post-Collapse Society, by T.R.

I have read many articles stating that if you have any addictions to nicotine, caffeine or alcohol that now is the time to change your habits so that your dependency on them in their absence are easier to tolerate. My coffee habit is less a habit-at least that’s what I tell myself-and more of an enjoyment of life. That being said, in moderation coffee actually has an anti-oxidant property- justification is always a sign of a habit I know – not to mention the benefit of assisting in staying alert during a night watch task. As a previous specialty coffee …


Letter Re: The Forest’s Sweetener–How to Make Maple Syrup

Mr. Rawles: I’m certainly not an expert and do not claim to be, but you can tap and produce syrup from a number of deciduous trees.  Anecdotally, I have a Métis friend who learned to tap poplars from her grandmother, and hickory syrup is now considered “gourmet”. Birch syrup, or rather the ‘tonic’ or straight spring sap, has been a spring tonic in northern Europe.  These resources are not to be overlooked by the people who want to be food independent, especially after a hard winter without any fresh vegetables.  So if you’ve got a big stand of poplar on …


Letter Re: Internet Resources on Preparedness and Self-Sufficiency

James: To follow up on the recent Letter Re: Internet Resources on Preparedness and Self-Sufficiency, I’d like to recommend some more great resource web sites with free, no-copyright files that would be of interest to those who are studying preparedness and self-sufficiency: CD3WD Colossal collection of freebies. Journey to Forever Lots of articles and e-books. S.S.R.S.I. Tons free stuff. Soil and Health Library Some rare, free e-books. P.F.A.F. Nice database of useful plants. The database itself can be downloaded for a small donation. Practical Action Many great free articles with innovative solutions. Appropedia Endless articles. Fun to browse. F.A.S.T. Has some good resources, though not as many as …


Letter Re: The Forest’s Sweetener–How to Make Maple Syrup

Jim: As a maple producer I want to comment and expand on a few things regarding The Forest’s Sweetener. The original poster instructs you how to find sugar maples which are the best for sugar content but any native maple tree will work (Japanese maple is not native), I even tap silver maples. When making a spile take special care to have clean hands. Trees heal ia a way similar to humans do (bacteria helps close the wound) and will end your season quickly. A better alternative to people in the Northeast ever considering making syrup is to buy some …


The Forest’s Sweetener–How to Make Maple Syrup, by Melissa T.

I am new to the survival mindset and I am a person that loves to make desserts for my family. My first reaction to some of the articles I have read was how would I continue to make the treats that they enjoy after TEOTWAWKI?  Then I realized there would be a way by making maple syrup. This is a family tradition that has continued in our family from two previous generations.  After taking a survey, my oldest son realized many people do not know how to make maple syrup and that is what has led me to write this …


Letter Re: Internet Resources on Preparedness and Self-Sufficiency

Sir: Let me start with, my #1 resource for information has been the Internet for over 15 years.  I learn just about everything from this seemingly endless source of ‘how to guides’, to history and nature.  I can literally download thousands of ‘text based’ with the 1,000 gigabyte external memory devices I own.  It is also easier to lug around than just a few hundred books.  My point is, I am not knowledgeable on ‘survival’ and ‘growing foods’.  When the Schumer hits the fan, I doubt I’ll have the Internet as an extremely valuable resource of information to help me …


Traditional Womanly Arts for Austere Times by Sue of Suburbia

Sometimes I ponder what it means to be a woman in our society of hyper-consumption.  If you watch television or read today’s women’s magazines, you are led to believe that the activities most preferred by a woman are shopping, poisoning her nails, getting her hair yanked around in a salon, zapping packaged foods in the microwave, and ingesting a concoction of prescription drugs to stay sane through it all. I tried some of these things in the past.  Each time, I was left with an utterly unfulfilled feeling and thinking, “There has to be more to being a woman than …


Letter Re: Sailboats as Alternative Bugout Vehicles

Sir: In response to Richard O., he may not need to build his own boat for a bugout vehicle, although more power to him if he does. He could instead convert a work boat into a sailboat. Having grown up along the Carolina coast, I am familiar with a type of boat we just call a “shrimper” or trawler. The basic design should be familiar to anyone who saw the movie Forrest Gump. Older ones can easily found for relatively low cost, in the range of 54 to72 feet long. The forward wheel house models usually already having a galley, …


My Ten Year Caching Experiment, by Joe C.

Metal work has always appealed to me, so I weld as a hobby and a creative release and it brings in extra income. In so doing over the years I have welded various projects for any number of people, known and unknown. Shortly after the 9/11 attacks, I was referred by a friend in a nearby city to a small group of people looking for some anonymous welding. These people struck me right off as ‘survivalists’ who took OPSEC fairly seriously, so I accepted their geo-caching explanation without questioning and proceeded to cut and weld various pipe and plate to …


Pack Rats and Keeping the Water Running, by Sunflower of Kansas

Background:  You might say to yourself, I have no farm, I have no pump house, and I surely have no rats. My response to this is, “yet.” If and when the Sunflowers hit the fan (SHTF), you surely may have a rodent problem. Rodents can impact whatever integrity you may still have in regard to your utilities. That utility may be communications, electric, or as discussed in this article, water. This is a true account about my dealings and responses to confronting troubles with Pack Rats. The purpose is to provide a few tips, not to dictate any exact method …


Two Letters Re: Build Your Own Wood Gas Generating Stove

JWR,   Just a brief note in relation to the recent post regarding gasification. In researching the issue further, I found on Wikipedia’s wood gas generator article that producer gas should not be compressed beyond 15 psi due to liquefaction of some of the compounds and the possibility of severe carbon monoxide (CO) poisoning in the event of a leak. I like the idea of storing the gas for future use, but care and caution should be used. My suggestion would be to store the gas in an outdoor location far removed from people and animals to prevent health issues if the storage container …


Lessons in Survival: Family Innovation and Industry in the U.S. Great Depression by W.J.

I have always been fascinated with history and might have become a history teacher if there had been any possibility of making substantial money at it.  Growing up in the 1950s and ‘1960s in rural Texas the lessons of the U.S. “Great Depression” were still fresh in the memories of my family, so our frequent family get gatherings produced many stories from those days, some of which were “not so good old days”.  I want to relate some of this story for the benefit of those preparing for possible future, harder times: There was no money.  For a few years …


Sailboats as Alternative Bugout Vehicles, by StudioMan

As we have all seen, the last few months has seen its share of really large natural disasters, on all of our major continents. Thru the Internet I was able to watch the hurricane that hit Australia via the numerous surf cameras available along the coast. It was amazing to see them drop out one at a time, while some of them that were on the edge of the storm never went down. A few of the web cams were attached to buildings overlooking breakwaters, or in marinas where you could see the sailboats and yachts being tossed around by …


Reloading On the Run, by David L.

Your house might be secured. In your basement or workshop you have your reloading outfit, your press, your scale and all of your dies. You can load thousands of rounds in a couple of days if you choose. So what if you have to leave your home in case of the proverbial excrement hitting the rotating circulating blades? How will you pack up your reloading outfit? How much ammunition can you possibly carry if the need arose? Ammunition runs out, especially if you can’t get to the store to replenish that supply and you are away from home.   In …


Using Lye Safely in Soap Making, by LadyDoc

Soap is arguably one of the greatest inventions, ever.  Most people do not need to be convinced of the advantages of soap, especially in terms of preventing infections.  Using soap for personal and property cleaning when medical care and antibiotics are not readily available will be a vital part of avoiding contagious diseases.  Elegant in its simplicity, soap is made from two ingredients, lye and fat, through a chemical process called saponification.  This process cannot occur without both ingredients in the proper proportion.  Making soap for household use post-TEOTWAWKI raises some challenges, two in particular that I believe warrant the …