The Rocket stove is based on an ingenious combination of principles:

The combustion chamber is insulated in order to keep the fire hot (above 1,100 F.) to burn the wood more completely, reducing smoke, which is uncombusted fuel. 

The cooking stoves are low-mass, robbing less heat from the pot. 

An insulated chimney creates a very strong draft, which helps the wood to burn fiercely. It also makes the stove easier to light and use. An insulated chimney has significantly more draft than an uninsulated chimney. 

The wood is burned at the tips and is shoved in towards the fire, which controls the rate of burn, reducing smoke. 

The air/fuel mixture is regulated. A small opening is provided for incoming air. Too much air just cools the fire. 

The incoming air is pre-heated, especially in a downdraft stove, which helps to keep the fire above 1,100 F. for complete combustion. 

This ebook covers several different designs of Rocket Stoves you can make at home with common materials.

Click Here to Download The eBook

I’ve been noticing somewhat of a “tiny house” movement going on and I think it’s pretty cool.  Lots of people are starting to reject the accepted notion (brainwashing) of becoming a slave to a mortgage, as they question the societal impetus to desire larger and larger homes.  I mean, do we really need all those square feet to live comfortably?

Over the past year or so, I’ve been checking out these “tiny homes” that are both efficient in terms of energy use as well as in how the space is utilized.  A lot of of the designs are pretty ingenious… and pretty small.  Some are even small enough to be put on a trailer that you can tow out wherever you want to plant it.  Since I’ve lived a primarily itinerant lifestyle for most of my adult life, a house like that has a lot of appeal to me.

I’ve also got this weird attraction to efficient, utilitarian living. Ever since I first saw the spartan cabin that Thoreau lived in at Walden Pond in Massachusetts, that kind of life has always symbolized freedom to me.  So yeah, I kind of get jazzed about stuff like this.

How to have a home with no house payments and no monthly utility bills!

This is an introduction to simple solar homesteading that provides information on how to find cheap land, build an inexpensive home, and use solar power to eliminate monthly utility bills.

What would you do if you had no house payment and no monthly utility bills ?

Well watch the video and I will show you how it is done easily and with very little money.

That quote above and the videos below are by a fellow who built a 400 sq. ft. cabin with a loft on 3/4 of an acre of land where he raises chickens,  grows his own food and lives like a free man on the land…  Just the way it was supposed to be!  The bottom video is a walk-through of the interior.  On his YouTube channel he has a bunch of other videos showing how it was built, how the solar system is set up, etc.  I recommend checking it out.

According to a recent survey this month conducted by the  Persuadable Research Corporation over half of survey respondents believe that they are unprepared for a disaster.

The problem is that the prime factor that motivates people to prepare for disasters is largely personal experience.  If you’ve never been the victim of a disaster, you tend to be more complacent about preparedness, whereas the vast majority of those who are prepared (82%), said that they had a previous brush with a disaster of some sort.  Also, among those who were prepared, 27% were ready because they wanted to be ready to take care of other family members such as children, grandchildren, elderly or even a spouse.

Why aren’t people prepared? It seems that 38% have never even thought about it. Nearly half (48%), claimed that financial limitations are holding them back and 15% claim that they simply don’t have time to prep.

Amazingly, one out of five respondents said they intend to “just wing it” if a disaster strikes. In other words; one fifth of the population is relying on nothing more than dumb luck to survive. (and the Darwin Award goes to…)

Those of us experienced in survivalism and preparedness know that the Federal Government isn’t going to save us.  Due to FEMA’s abysmal track record, there seems to be a lot of doubt among the general public as well. When asked how confident they were about the government’s ability to effectively respond to a disaster , 28% were unsure if the government would be able to handle a major natural disaster in their area, while another 30% of panelists are absolutely certain that they can’t. One respondent commented: “After seeing the Katrina mess and resulting federal help, if you can call it that, I have little to no faith in the federal government”.

The numbers are even worse when asked about man-made disasters. In this case, 41% were unsure and 35% said the government would be unable to handle it. Additionally, 68% believe that the government is not doing enough to educate the public. Of course, we all know that the government prefers a population that is not self-reliant, but rather dependent on government agencies like FEMA, so why would they go out of their way to educate the public on disaster preparedness?

If you’re among those who don’t believe you have enough time or money to prepare, try purchasing one or two items per week (or month) for your medical kit, bug out bag or food storage. Having some of the things that you need to survive is better than having nothing at all. At least this way, you’ll be making a start. Once you start seeing some progress, it will inspire you to take it to the next level and keep going. Sometimes making the first step is the hardest part, whether it’s getting in shape, quitting smoking, or establishing a good foundation for your safety and survival.

Who among us hasn’t experienced the joys of eating roadkill?  

What’s that?  You haven’t?  Well, to be completely honest, I’ve never deliberately eaten roadkill (I ate some roadkill bear once, but wasn’t informed of the cause of its demise until after the fact).

But when you think about it, what’s the big deal?  As long as it’s fresh kill and hasn’t been completely squashed, and it’s thoroughly cooked, what difference does the cause of death make?  If the same animal were dispatched with a shotgun, rifle, or was caught in a trap, we wouldn’t have any qualms about eating it.  But in our modern, western culture, we get queemish about a lot of things when it comes to food.  However, there are pockets of our society that not only view roadkill as a viable source of meat, but prefer it to the store-bought variety that’s full of hormones and anti-biotics.

The idea of eating meat sourced from the roadside – whether deer, pheasant, fox or even otter might sound revolting to you but for some, it’s a gastronomic opportunity and a way of avoiding factory farmed meat.For survival, roadkill can be a life-saver. And it doesn’t require the energy of catching food on your own.

‘I barely have to drive 20 miles to fill my freezer. Ignoring all this great meat just seems wasteful to me,’ McGowan continues. Bushcraft and foraging expert Fergus Drennan agrees. ‘The question I ask myself when I find roadkill is, “here is some meat: do I need it, and is it good and safe to eat?”’ 

Here’s an article I came across from the UK (of all places) that covers the advantages of road kill as a sustainable food source.

CLICK HERE  to read the entire article

One of the dumbest pieces of bad advice I’ve ever heard anyone give in the context of wilderness foraging is: “Watch what the animals eat… If they can eat it, so can you”. That is no way, I repeat NO WAY to determine whether a wild plant is edible or not.

Animals have different physiologies than humans and what may be harmless to a deer, bird or other woodland creatures may be a deadly poison to humans. 

“Deer eat strawberry bush twigs, and birds eat the fruits, but both parts are deadly to humans, causing vomiting, diarrhea, irregular hearbeats, convulsions, coma, and death.   Scientists don’t know what type of poison it is.  Strawberry bush is also poisonous to livestock.  It was advantageous for deer to evolve the ability to digest a plant that was likely poisonous to competing herbivores of the Pleistocene, such as bison and horses. 

Buffalo nut is toxic to humans, rabbits, and pigs, but not deer, cattle, horses, sheep, and mice.  Its poison is an amino acid similar to that found in cobra poison.  The protein stimulates growth hormone in deer and may facilitate antler growth.” 

While there are far more plants in the wild that are safe to eat than poisonous ones, the only failsafe way to be sure which wild plants are edible is to educate yourself on the native plant life in your area. There are many books available that will teach you how to identify wild plants that are safe to eat. You should also learn how to test plants if you’re not sure. This takes a bit of time, though, and involves first tearing off a piece of the plant and testing it on your skin for a reaction. If there’s no skin reaction after 8 hours, rub some of the plant on your lip. If there’s no tingling, numbness or reaction after 8 hours, put a small piece in your mouth. If still nothing happens after 8 hours, try swallowing a small bit of it. If that doesn’t make you sick or give you the runs, try eating a little more, etc. 

However, this is no substitute for KNOWING. For example; if you can’t visually identify poison ivy, oak or sumac, you don’t want to go rubbing it on your skin to find out if you should eat it or not.

Also, in a survival situation, dehydration is a major risk and you should avoid ingesting anything that will make you vomit or give you diarrhea. But if you’re not sure, or you find yourself in an area where you’re unfamiliar with the local vegetation, it’s good to know how to test a plant before eating it. 

While I’m on the subject of the foolishness of taking cues from the animals to determine what’s safe to ingest; the same goes for water… Just because you see an animal drinking from a natural water source, that doesn’t mean it’s safe to drink untreated. That’s like saying it’s safe to drink water from the toilet because your dog can. 

No matter how clean or clear the water LOOKS, there are microscopic buggers in there that you can’t see, which don’t bother the critters none, but will put you in a world of hurt. In the wild, water should ALWAYS be filtered AND sanitized before drinking.

For further reading, here’s an interesting article I came across from a blog called: Georgia Before People.

With this post, I wanted to kill two birds with one stone. First off, some of you may be familiar with my friend; Scott B. Williams’ work through his book: “Bug Out: The Complete Plan for Escaping a Catastrophic Disaster Before It’s Too Late”, which is an awesome resource, of not only great information about bugging out and bug out preparedness, but it also contains valuable information about the various geographical regions of the United States, so you’ll know what kind of terrain, weather, wildlife and flora to expect in different parts of the country. In my opinion, this is a “must-have” book for every prepper and survivalist that has earned a permanent place in my own personal survival library.

Recently, Scott has released his follow-up: “Bug Out Vehicles and Shelters”. Scott touched a bit on bug out vehicles in his first book, but due to space constraints, there was only so much that could be covered in a book that was already so rich in bug out information to begin with. Ever since then, everyone (including myself) has been clamoring for more on the subject, and now it’s finally here! This book is a comprehensive guide to just about every vehicle you could possibly bug out with, (including motorcycles, boats and kayaks) with valuable information on which types of vehicles are appropriate for each given situation and how to prep your ride into first class escape vehicle. 

Both “Bug Out” and “Bug Out Vehicles” are available at Amazon.com and I highly recommend adding both books to your library of survival and preparedness resources! 

And the second bird? 

On Scott’s blog: Bug Out Survival, he posted about a You Tube channel that I have not come across yet called: The Daily Prep, which features daily videos by “Dan the Urbivalist”. His channel features over 100 episodes (or “prepisodes” as Dan calls them), with quick tips on a wide range of survival and preparedness topics. Judging by the view counts of his videos, it looks like not a lot of folks have gotten hip to his channel yet. He’s got a lot of good, easily digestible information on there, such as: How to Find Survivalists in Your Area, How Krav Maga Can Save Your Bacon and How to Get ANYTHING for $5.00, as well many reviews of books and products (his review of “Bug Out Vehicles” is posted below, as well as a video of Dan’s own vehicle bug out kit). I recommend checking out his channel if you haven’t seen it already.

When most people think about Agent Orange, they think of the Vietnam war. But now, Big Agro is planning to use it on our food crops! One of the primary chemical ingredients of Agent Orange; 2,4-Dichlorophenoxyacetic acid (2,4-D), is a powerful defoliant that was sprayed over the jungles of Vietnam in order to expose the Viet-Cong (or at least, that was the theory). Many Vietnam war veterans suffer severe, permanent side effects from exposure to this toxin and hundreds of thousands of Vietnamese children were born with serious birth defects as a result of its use. 

It has been recently discovered that Dow Chemical (the company that developed Agent Orange in the first place) is coming out with a genetically modified version of corn that is resistant to 3 different types of herbacide, including 2,4-D. This is a possible reaction to the discovery that after heavy use of Monsanto’s Round-Up over the last 15 years, weeds have already developed a resistance to that herbicide and is becoming useless. 

“…weeds are becoming increasingly resistant to Monsanto’s broad-spectrum herbicide Roundup, which is used in massive quantities on all genetically engineered Roundup Ready crops. It’s estimated that more than 130 types of weeds spanning 40 U.S. states are now herbicide-resistant, and they’re showing no signs of stopping. In fact, the situation is getting progressively worse.” 

 - Dr. Joseph Mercola

Strangely, the use of 2,4-D as an herbicide is not new, As a matter of fact, it’s one of the most commonly used herbicides world-wide. But if staple crops like corn and soy are engineered to be resistant to 2,4-D, that will open up the floodgates for indiscriminate use on an horrific scale. 

The puzzling thing is; corn is already naturally resistant to 2,4-D. So why would they need to engineer a 2,4-D resistant strain? The more troubling question is; why would anybody in their right mind ever consider spraying our FOOD with Agent Orange?! 

The answer is (as usual); money. 

“Of course, the whole point of engineering resistance to an herbicide within a plant is so that you can “carpet bomb” an entire field, leaving only your GM crop standing. If 2,4-D resistant crops receive approval and eventually replace Monsanto’s failing Roundup-resistant crops as Dow intends, it is likely that billions of pounds of 2, 4-D will be needed, on top of the already insane levels of Roundup being used (1.6 billion lbs were used in 2007 in the US alone!).” 

However, money is never the only objective. When taken into the context of Agenda 21 goals of controlling our food supply and reducing population, it takes on a whole new level of sinister. 

If you were unaware that there’s a war going on over our food supply, or if there has ever been a question your mind, this should be your wake-up call. The FDA is not here to protect the health of the American people. That agency (like so many others) is under the control of corporate interest, where many of its highest ranking officials come in and out through a revolving door between the agency and corporate agricultural and pharmaceutical firms. 

The only agency that’s really speaking up about 2,4-D is the EPA, but they seem impotent to enforce any authority at all over the “corporatocracy”. 

Remember what happened back during the BP oil “spill” when the EPA told British Petroleum they couldn’t dump Corexit on the Gulf of Mexico? 

Yeah… They did it anyway…  Repeatedly…  With no consequences (for BP, anyway). 

Dow has applied for non-regulated status of its 2,4-D-resistant corn, and you have until February 27, 2012 to comment on the petition. Please help bring a loud and clear message that approving more herbicide-tolerant crops is not the solution to ending “super weeds,” rather, the real solution lies in eliminating the genetically modified crops that created them in the first place! 

Approving 2, 4-D-resistant corn will only escalate the weed problem, and worsen already heavy environmental pollution with dangerous chemicals. 

Cornucopia.org also has a “Say No to Dow AgroScience’s GE Corn Petition” on their website. Please sign this petition, which will automatically send a letter to USDA secretary Tom Vilsack and President Obama, voicing your concerns. Part of this petition also asks for labeling of genetically engineered foods. 

“The industry is vehemently resisting that, because they know very well that given a choice – just like in Europe where they do have a choice because of mandatory labeling – consumers will not vote to subject their children to become, in essence, human guinea pigs, because there’s been virtually no human health testing on any of these novel genetically mutated life forms,” Kastel says.   

To read more about this newest assault on our food supply CLICK HERE. 

And listen to Dr. Mercola’s interview about Agent Orange in our food supply with the co-founder of the Cornucopia Institute; Mark Kastel below.