The Five “P”s: A fire evacuation grab ‘n’ go kit
By Patrice Lewis
In October 2017, the neighborhood I grew up in was incinerated by a wildfire. It was one of many during a devastating fire season. My parents had long since retired and moved...
Battery-Powered Tools are Changing
By Jeffrey Yago, P.E., C.E.M.
April/May/June, 2019
Battery-powered tool technology is now undergoing some rapid changes in both the power of the tool motors and the batteries supplying the added power. For many years most battery-powered...
With commonsense planning, you can survive hard times
By Jackie Clay
Issue #55 • January/February, 1999
Today, many people are afraid that hard times are about to descend upon us because of the Y2K computer date problem, also known as the Millennium Bug. Others...
Wildfires: Before, During, After
By Charles Sanders
There are many things rural homeowners can do to mitigate the danger of wildfires. The first is to create a defensive zone around your homesite which will become a buffer area around...
Food security 101
By Rowena Aldridge
Issue #138 • November/December, 2012
These days a lot of people are concerned, and rightly so, about their family's economic stability and security. Recently I've become aware of the ways in which I,...
Buying the right emergency radio
By Jeffrey Yago, P.E., CEM
Issue #98 • March/April, 2006
In our last issue I addressed how to select the best battery-powered lighting for your emergency needs. Recent examples of poor emergency response during the Katrina...
Preparedness for travelers
By Brad Rohdenburg
Issue #81 • May/June, 2003
When the subject of preparedness comes up, do you think of having a stock of supplies in your kitchen pantry in case of a storm? Maybe a backpack...
Emergency treatment for fire-related injuries
By Joe Alton, M.D.
If confronted by a fast-moving wildfire, your chances of avoiding death or injury depend on a plan of action that is easy to understand and quick to implement. Some form of...
Commonsense preparedness just makes sense
By Jackie Clay
Issue #48 • November/December, 1997
What if that snowstorm turned to a blizzard or an ice storm lasted for days, knocking out the power and phone lines? Would you be prepared? Or what...
What to do when there’s no doctor
By Gary F. Arnet, D.D.S.
Issue #75 • May/June, 2002
We are used to being able to see a doctor at any time for any reason, no matter how small. Will this always be the case?...
10 day survival pack for your vehicle for just $25
By Jeffrey Yago, P.E., CEM
Issue #104 • March/April, 2007
It seems like every winter there are news stories of people getting stranded for weeks in bad weather while driving through the many remote areas of...
Keep the Ice On
By Jeffrey R. Yago, P.E., C.E.M.
Self-Reliance, Fall 2019
When I ask most people why they own or are looking to buy a generator, most will say it is to keep a refrigerator or freezer operating....
The 7 core areas of preparedness
By Patrice Lewis
Issue #133 • January/February, 2012
As I write this article, it's early September. And September, as you may or may not know, is National Preparedness Month, sponsored by the Federal Emergency Management Agency...
Survival storeroom
By David Eddings
Issue #130 • July/August, 2011
This story begins in the mid-nineties when the Y2K threat was in the news. Several members of my family thought it would be prudent if we started stocking...
Gee-Whiz: From Paper to Canning
By John Silveira (aka O.E. MacDougal)
May/June 2017 Backwoods Home
The greatest inventions in history are the ones we now take for granted. Fire and the wheel-axle combination are among them. If we weren’t taught in...
