The return of home emergency shelters takes on a dual-purpose approach
By Jeffrey Yago, P.E., CEM
Issue #74 • March/April, 2002
After September 11, 2001, all of us became much more concerned with protecting our families from biological, nuclear, and terrorist attacks. However, if you followed up...
Modify your oven to bake great bread
By Emily Buehler
Issue #102 • November/December, 2006
Making bread at home is a long process—kneading the dough, waiting while it rises, shaping it into a loaf, and then waiting while it rises again. But in...
Just for Kids: Life in the forest
By Lucy Shober
Issue #34 • July/August, 1995
Click on pictures for printable, full-sized versions to color.
"It's a jungle out there!" You've probably heard that phrase time and again, but did you ever stop and ponder...
Cornmeal sour cream biscuits
Recipe of the Week
Cornmeal sour cream biscuits
Courtesy of
Arthur Vernon II
You'll find this recipe and over 400 more in Backwoods Home Cooking.Click Here
Ingredients
1 cup unbleached all-purpose flour
1 cup cornmeal
1 Tbsp. sugar
1 1/2 tsp. baking powder
1...
That old survivalist mumbo jumbo and 10 reasons why it makes sense
By Dave Duffy
Issue #91 • January/February, 2005
I've got a suggestion for a sensible New Year's resolution for self-reliant types like myself, and I've got at least 10 good reasons to keep it. The resolution...
Vise Dremel Moto Tool mount
By Dana Martin Batory
Issue #84 • November/December, 2003
Sometimes it seems two hands are not enough—three would be nice, four even better. This economical, easy to build jig solves that common workshop problem. Designed to...
Presidents’ wives of the past Part 4 — Cunning, vindictive, and one may have...
By John Silveira
Issue #35 • September/October, 1995
(This is a four-part series. Click the links to navigate to parts one, two, three, and four.)
Do you think we'll ever have a woman as President?" I asked....
Canning game meat
By Linda Gabris
Issue #166 • July/August, 2017
Attempting to can meat (or any other low acid food, for that matter) without the use of a pressure canner is every bit as foolhardy as arming up...
Louisiana gumbo
Recipe of the Week
Louisiana gumbo
Courtesy of
Alice Brantley Yeager
You'll find this recipe and over 400 more in Backwoods Home Cooking.Click Here
Ingredients
1 large dressed frying chicken, including giblets & neck
1-1/2 cups of flour for dredging
1/2 tsp....
The Informed Juror — How an informed jury helps safeguard liberty
By Gary F. Arnet, D.D.S.
Issue #82 • July/August, 2003
You are hereby summoned to appear for jury trial service. Failure to respond will subject you to punishment for contempt, including a $1,000 fine, imprisonment for...
Mairead’s Fabulous Flan
Recipe of the Week
Mairead's Fabulous Flan
Courtesy of
Mairead Duffy
While attending the Solar 2001 Conference in Washington, D.C., I'm staying at the home of my brother, Bill, and his wife, Mairead, and I'm eating especially well....
Running your own business: a mother’s perspective
By Ilene Duffy
Issue #62 • March/April, 2000
When my middle son, Robby, was a baby, he had two seizures. After the second one the doctor informed me that I needed to get him to the...
Terrorism in America — The armed citizen’s view
By Massad Ayoob
Issue #150 • November/December, 2014
The warnings come in non-stop...
FoxNews: "A new English-language Al Qaeda magazine features a how-to article on making car bombs and suggests terror targets in the United States, including...
Putting it all on the Amtrak line for Self-Reliance magazine
By Dave Duffy
Issue #163 • January/February, 2017
As publisher of Backwoods Home Magazine for 28 years, I have not had to work as hard in recent years, as younger people like Managing Editor Jessie Denning...
Stashing Junk Silver for Bad Times
By John Silveira
Issue #131 • September/October, 2011
This is a pile containing $100 face value of pre-1965 "junk silver" coins, but it could represent 400 gallons of gasoline or 400 loaves of bread.
When I was...
