Storey’s Basic Country Skills: A Practical Guide to Self-Reliance

Book Review: Storey's Basic Country Skills: A Practical Guide to Self-Reliance
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I am partial to Storey’s books, they are great all around reference books.  While it is not as complete as a book dedicated to a single topic, Basic Country Skills gives basic information on a variety of topics.  Which is great if either your knowledge is limited, and you need to know basics, or you space is limited.  Either way, this is a great book to have in your prepper library.

Inside Storey’s Basic Country Skills: A Practical Guide to Self-Reliance you will find illustrated instructions on topics such as:

  • Finding country land
  • Buying, building, and renovating a home
  • Developing water sources and systems
  • Understanding wiring, plumbing, and heating
  • Using alternative heating and energy sources
  • Vegetable, flower, and herb gardening
  • Traditional cooking skills such as baking bread and making maple syrup
  • Preparing and preserving meat, fruits, and vegetables
  • Building and maintaining barns, sheds, and outbuildings
  • Caring for common farm and ranch animals, and pets

As I said, I really like the Storey books, and I have several of them.  This one and the guide to rabbits are two that I use most often though.  I would recommend any prepper or homesteader look at Storey publishing as their titles are perfect for you.

The Complete Modern Blacksmith

Book Review: The Complete Modern Blacksmith
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If your a diy’er, prepper, aspiring blacksmith, or just interested in cool books, then this is a deal. The Complete Modern Blacksmith is actually a collection of three books. (The Modern Blacksmith, The Recycling, Use, and Repair of Tools, and The Making of Tools).

I had already purchased the out of print The Making of Tools, and was impressed with the quality of the book. This book covers everything you need to know to make basic tools – chisels, pliers, screwdrivers, tempering of metals, forges, how to set up a workshop.

If you are the least bit interested in blacksmithing or working with metal you owe it to yourself to purchase this book.  I have used this book quite extensively as I attempt to learn how to make and repair my own tools, set up my shop, and learn to blacksmith.

You will be hard pressed to find a more information of this caliber at the price.

This book is a go to source of information, it covers all sorts of good information needed to both set up a shop, equip it, and use it.  I love the making of tools part of the book.  I used it to mash together the foundry tongs I made.

Clean Dish Indicator: The Perfect Romantic Gift

 

I got this as the perfect valentine gift for my wife.  It is a quality kitchen gadget so that we never mix clean and dirty dishes.  Yes for the 2018 valentines I bought my wife a magnetic clean & dirty dishwasher indicator.

We constantly get confused about if we had ran the dishwasher or not, and I hate waste, so after looking for solutions I found this one.  This not a sponsored review, I bought this myself and have had no contact with the sellers.

Actually, with the way my wife responded to her gift I may not have contact with very many people again….

However, even though I had to make up for this “gift” she does admit that it is neat (and no this is not the only thing I gave her).

From Amazon, here is a list of reasons to buy this specific dishwasher indicator:

 

  • MADE FROM HIGH QUALITY ALUMINUM not cheap plastic like the rest. This elegant indicator has a 100% waterproof finish that will suit any kitchen.
  • WON’T SCRATCH YOUR DISHWASHER – inbuilt industrial magnets are covered by soft silica to protect your dish washer. Magnetic and adhesive tabs option. Color & word guide. Solutions to Inspire designed clear letters to read GREEN is Clean & RED for Dirty.
  • MAGNETIC AND ADHESIVE STICKER OPTION. Works on all dishwashers, stainless steel, white, black, wood, cabinet doors. Looks great in designer kitchens. Solutions to Inspire makes this shutter small and sturdy. You will love it.
  • UNIQUE GIFT – Perfect for New Homes, Bridal Shower, Housewarming, Mother’s Day, Valentine’s Day and Wedding. Cool gifts for organizing Dad, Mom, Teens, Children, Husband, Wife, Nanny and Christmas Stuffers. Presented in a small, deluxe giftbox.
  • HOME AND OFFICE ORGANIZER – now your home and business kitchen is finally organized. Funny tools and accessories from Solutions to Inspire will remove your frustrations. LIFETIME GUARANTEE your satisfaction is everything.

If you like this product, remember I am an “amazon influencer” and have a page of other great items on Amazon that I use to make these videos, or just like having around.  Please visit my influencer page on amazon, it won’t cost you any more to purchase those items, and the revenue I get helps me run this website

 

USB Rechargeable AA Battery Review

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I bought this on a whim when I was searching through amazon.  I was trying to find something cheap to allow me to buy an add on item I needed.

This product is a USB Rechargeable AA Battery.  It uses a USB port to recharge so there are not cords to keep up with.

I like rechargeable batteries, because they are easier to store than hundreds of batteries, and I have several solar setups to recharge these batteries.

Here is some basic information about this battery:

  • Rechargeable——500 guaranteed recharges,applicable to all device with AA battery such as wireless. mouse, keyboards, clock, game controllers, electric shaver, remote control, household products.
  • High capacity——1450 mAh each battery and 1.2V nickel performance, suitable for any device which are using AA battery. Due to the high capacity it needs over 5 hours to full charge.
  • Easy to use and Charge from any USB Port——Recharge hundreds of times, at home, in the office. As long as there is an USB port, and then you can charge it.
  • USB Rechargeable Battery——Charging via USB interface, while they are charging, they are a red light flashes and get a little warm. When they are fully charged, the light goes blue and will get cool immediately.
  • Green & environmental——Long life, which can be charged 500+ times, a great substitute of traditional batteries.

If you like this product, remember I am an “amazon influencer” and have a page of other great items on Amazon that I use to make these videos, or just like having around.  Please visit my influencer page on amazon, it won’t cost you any more to purchase those items, and the revenue I get helps me run this website

 

Home Workshop Explosives

Book Review: Home Workshop Explosives
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I like to joke (not really a joke, but more of gallows humor) that I am on several “lists” due to my eclectic and controversial book purchases.*

However, as I used to tell my college kids (in intro to terrorism) if you don’t know the bad guy tactics then you can never hope to catch them. you will hear more about that when I get around to reviewing The Monkey Wrench Gang, The Mini-manual of the Urban Guerrilla, and Turner Diaries,

The author claims to be a chemical engineer, but I cannot verify that due to his use of an alias, I do know that the majority of his books are written toward clandestine drug labs, and are unofficial “required” reading within the DEA. I don’t know anything about drugs, but I can say that this book is a lot better than the majority of available explosive books.

In my experience, if someone mentions the “anarchist cookbook” in a discussion about energetic materials, you need to stop talking to that person because A. He is a moron, B. He doesn’t know anything, but thinks he does, C. Even the author of the “cookbook” admitted pretty much every thing in the book will get you killed (he wrote it in high school and later realized how stupid he was as).

As “Uncle Fester” admits in his book, making some explosive compounds is easy, it was “common” to make nitroglycerine on a kitchen stove in the late 1800’s, but if you don’t totally understand the chemistry, you can blow yourself up. What I like about this book is the “how not to blow yourself up” tips.
I do not have personal first hand knowledge from following the procedures in this book because without proper licensing it is highly illegal to do so. BUT, from my training and research I believe that the procedures would work, and that they are as safe as can be outside of a lab, using chemicals illicitly procured – which means – if you buy this book and try to make this stuff you will probably get arrested or blow yourself up (or both).

However, from a first amendment perspective, having this knowledge available is priceless.

*having mentioned explosives, terrorism, the first amendment, and the turner diaries together on one page has probably put me on another damn list…

not to mention the words, illicit, chemical, DEA, drug manufacture, and clandestine lab…. Crap, I did it again…