Homemade Contrivances and How to Make Them

Book Review: Homemade Contrivances and How to Make Them
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The traditional American devices contained in this intriguing compilation date from an era long before milking machines, pesticide sprayers, and industrial hay bailers.

Yet the simple inventions described for doing everything from managing young bulls to protecting drain outlets can be just as useful for today’s farmer as they were for the homesteaders of over a century ago.

Discover how to make such items as a movable nest for hens, a ribless boat, a contraption to extricate a mired animal, a farm cart with adjustable racks for larger loads, a wire fence tightener, a fruit picker, a grindstone set and frame, and much more.

Homemade Contrivances and How to Make Them is a boon for the rancher, farmer, or anyone who loves the rural life.  I like using this book to do research on homestead solutions from the past.  I then use this information and combine it with modern techniques and materials to create something even better.

This is a pretty great book, the fence tightener works with electric fence, and the movable chicken coop is something I really need to make.

Nowdays a single plan for one of the things in this book can cost more than the entire document.  Its well worth the price.

The Soldier’s Load and the Mobility of a Nation

The Soldier's Load and the Mobility of a Nation
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The Soldier’s Load and the Mobility of a Nation is one of those foundational works in a profession.

“This is a must read book for all Military”.This historical book presents a lucid case against overloading the infantryman which commanders and staff officers have repeatedly done throughout history. Continuing its mission to develop Marines, The Marine Corps Association and Foundation has made this enduring classic available to support our Corps.

Gear weights keep rising, when I was in the service in the 1990’s it was common for a soldier in full gear to weigh enough to set off an anti-tank mine.  weights with gear over 350 pounds were not uncommon.

It is no surprise that bad knees and backs plague our former soldiers as the re-enter society.

More than disability, overloading the soldier has crippling impacts on rediness and combat effectiveness.  In this Classic work, the author investigates The Soldier’s Load and how it impacts the Mobility of a Nation

Weight robs the fighter of both mobility and momentum and the technology that should be helping the American infantryman is crippling them.  Everything has a battery now.  Extra batteries are killer in the realm of dead weight.

This book is required reading for today’s military leaders, even with vehicles, infantry needs to be able to carry their own gear – equipment is changing as technology changes, but what can be humped on a soldiers back doesn’t change.  Line gear helps, but knowing what a soldier can carry is vital.

Warrior Mindset

Book Review: Warrior Mindset
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A Warrior Mindset is essential for elite human performance and especially in high stress situations.

While mental toughness is a singular value in both military and law enforcement training and missions, too often, there is a disconnect between talking about and actually training it.

A Warrior Mind is defined by mental toughness and describes its critical need and function in the face of the performance degrading effects of combat, mission or response stress. Warrior MindSet provides the psychological skills that comprise mental toughness to optimize performance, success, safety and survival in the field.

This information in this book is vital to those that are interested in self defense, performance, or surviving disasters.  The information is centered around law enforcement and our military men that deal with lethal force encounters.  However, that information is also valid for other issues that involve lethal threats and extreme stress.

 

Book Review: How to Cook Everything

How to Cook Everything

Book Review: How to Cook Everything
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Great Food Made Simple

Here’s the breakthrough one-stop cooking reference for today’s generation of cooks!

Nationally known cooking authority Mark Bittman shows you how to prepare great food for all occasions using simple techniques, fresh ingredients, and basic kitchen equipment. Just as important, How to Cook Everything takes a relaxed, straightforward approach to cooking, so you can enjoy yourself in the kitchen and still achieve outstanding results.

Praise for How to Cook Everything by Mark Bittman:

“In his introduction to How to Cook Everything, Mark Bittman says, ‘Anyone can cook, and most everyone should.’ Now, hopefully everyone will — this work is a rare achievement. Mark is in that pantheon of a few gifted cook/writers who make very, very good food simple and accessible. I read his recipes and my mouth waters. I read his directions and head for the kitchen. Bravo, Mark, for taking us away from take-out and back to the fun of food.”

— Lynne Rossetto Kasper, host of the international public radio show “The Splendid Table with Lynne Rossetto Kasper”

“Mark Bittman is the best home cook I know, and How to Cook Everything is the best basic cookbook I’ve seen.”
— Jean-Georges Vongerichten, award-winning chef/owner of Jean-Georges

“Useful to the novice cook or the professional chef, How to Cook Everything is a tour de force cookbook by Mark Bittman. Mark lends his considerable knowledge and clear, concise writing style to explanations of techniques and quick, classic recipes. This is a complete, reliable cookbook.”
— Jacques Pepin, chef, cookbook author, and host of his own PBS television series

“Sometimes all the things that a particular person does best come together in a burst of synergy, and the result is truly marvelous. This book is just such an instance. Mark Bittman is not only the best home cook we know, he is also a born teacher, a gifted writer, and a canny kitchen tactician who combines great taste with eminent practicality. Put it all together and you have How to Cook Everything, a cookbook that will inspire American home cooks not only today but for years to come.”
— John Willoughby and Chris Schlesinger, coauthors of License to Grill.

Canned Bologna Review

 

Gear Review: Canned Bologna
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Canned Bologna is something that I saw on a Facebook video and thought “no, it can’t be” and then forgot about it until I was coming back from the land and had an impulse to run into the dollar tree and see if such a thing really existed.

Once I got it home I stuck it in the food storage pantry until I had a urge to try it out.

Yes Canned Bologna does exist, and yes, it is not as good as regular bologna, but it is edible, it is cheap, and it does store well so  think it has a place in a food storage plan.

It is not sliced, is pretty salty, and is made of mechanically separated chicken, which means the left over chicken carcass was ground into a paste and shot through a fine metal sieve to catch all the solid bone bits – which is not appetizing but it is how bologna is made…

At least the ingredient list for Canned Bologna is short and rather simple.

It is better cooked, but not easily sliced equally.  I think sliding it out upside down and using the can as a spacer to slide the knife may get you equal slices – or not – I didn’t want to waste time trying.