The GLP Woodsmanship and Off Grid Living Tips and Tricks Knowledge Sharing Thread

Rocket Stove

Items I keep on hand for this.


Manual hand drill

VASGOR 1” x 10” Scotch Eye Wood Auger Drill Bit


Video because I'm too lazy to type.

I've stockpiled plenty of booster shots If people need assistance .

5 stars for subject title alone.

I checked out and headed for the hills in '94', been here off grid ever since.

RFB came for a visit last year and said out of every prepper and survivalist he had ever visited, no one had even come close to what I have accomplished here.

I have a back up for every back up, 3 independent sources for each; water, heat and electricity.

My Green House is heated from underground via Outdoor Wood Burning Boiler for all year around growing, here at 7500 feet up in the Northern Colorado Rockies.

Life is good!

Wimps need not apply.

I've actually done this and it is time consuming but the lye water actually made better soap than the store bought stuff, I even used my own rendered fat.

An easier way to check the alkalinity of lye water is to use a feather. If you toss the feather in the lye water and it shrivels to a bare quill, it's ready.


My process was far less technical than this one, but this will give you the gist of how to do it.

[link to www.thesprucecrafts.com (secure)]

I just ordered these books from Hamiltonbook.com, all new and affordable as far as books go:



BUTCHERING DEER: A Complete Guide from Field to Table $5.95

THE CULTURED CLUB: Fabulous Fermentation Recipes $7.95

WINDMILLS AND WIND MOTORS: How to Build and Run Them $5.95

U.S. ARMY SURVIVAL MANUAL, REVISED $5.95

THE ULTIMATE GUIDE TO NAVIGATING WITHOUT A COMPASS $5.95

THE TRAPPER'S BIBLE: The Most Complete Guide to Trapping and Hunting Tips Ever $6.95

THE TRACKER'S HANDBOOK: How to Identify and Trail Any Animal, Anywhere $4.95

THE COMPLETE GUIDE TO GUNSMITHING, SECOND REVISED EDITION: Gun Care and Repair $5.95

MOUNTAIN MAN SKILLS: Hunting, Trapping, Woodwork, and More $6.95

MAKING NATIVE AMERICAN HUNTING, FIGHTING, AND SURVIVAL TOOLS $13.95

Cool thread OP. I always salivate over teevee shows that did woodworking. To me it seems you need to be built from the start with those skills.

My woodworking has consisted of a cage I built for audio gear. And it was not stellar.

As for the rest of life maintaining skillz when this all goes tits up, I am ok there.

Let me weigh in on a few critical topics. I will touch upon housing, water, sanitation, food, communications and security.

Everything you read here I've implemented over the past decade. Not theoretical.

Sulfur - found in lots of stuff but really pure forms come from volcanic emissions like hydrothermal vents.
Charcoal - burning stuff.
Potassium Nitrate - from cave walls and ceilings.

Take those 3 things and mix them all together and TADA you've made gunpowder.

Maybe can come in handy if you want to make your own shotgun shells or something.

Structures.

[link to www.youtube.com (secure)]


Comms.

[link to www.youtube.com (secure)]


Solar power.

[link to www.youtube.com (secure)]

Last Edited by Tangy on 11/18/2021 07:59 AM

I am glad for you, but a bit envious. I don't know why, but I am so fearful I won't correctly can and inadvertently introduce botulism into my food supply.

I have thought of getting a freeze dryer, but they are so expensive.

Thanks for starting this thread.

The freeze drying machines are looking attractive now. You can freeze dry and then put in a jar with an 02 absorber for 30 or more years shelf life.

Housing

A stick-framed 640 sq' two story house can be constructed in 1,400 man-hours; can be moved in at the 700 man-hour mark. About two man-hours per square foot.

It should be built on concrete piers, poured below the frost line, OSB sheathed and painted.

Tips: If you are not going to use siding, put the OSB with the smooth side out. Paint the exterior with elastomer roofing paint.

Use two layers of subfloor.

Use 12" to 16" joist spacing with 2x6s or 2x8s, according to the floor loading you expect. There are carpenter tables which describe joist sizing and spacing / loading.

Walls should be on 16" centers, you could get away with 2' if you want.

Insulation will vary according to your climate. Be sure to take into account snow loading and maximum wind gusts at your location.

Critical structural joints need to be glued and screwed together.

I would not suggest getting a permit. Keep your house out of the county / state databases if at all possible. If you go this route you need to put the house under tree canopy.

I’ve always considered this place one leg of the tripod, the other 2 being survivalblog and permies. If you haven’t already, check them out.

[link to godlike.com (secure)]
95 "How To" Survival SHTF Videos for Download! Growing, Butchering, Water Filters, Bushcraft, First Aid..Updated Link

Last Edited by the deplorable ar-15 nut on 11/18/2021 08:16 AM

Good idea. You may wish to add more camouflaging somehow. I saw a clip last week where Al Gore, I think it was, said they have satellites that photograph every square foot of the earth every 6 hours.

There'll be no hiding unless you're magic.

Wonderful idea!! Good for you. I'll follow this thread for everything I might learn, immediately after giving it five of the finest!

Hope your traffic is heavy and continues til we don't need it any more or can no longer access it!

Green to follow.

You can get even more bang for your bucks getting a tank of nitrogen to flush the air out before you throw in your o2 absorber. It’s what all the manufacturers of long term anything from freeze dried food to coffee do to keep product fresh as long as possible.

Freeze drying food doesn't take some expensive machine. The process is exactly as the name. You freeze it and dry it out.

Moisture in the food turns to ice, then you put it in a vacuum and the ice turns to vapor completely drying out the food.

In case anyone ever finds themselves in a situation where there is no "do everything for you" machine, this is how it's done.

Last Edited by Ele'zar on 11/18/2021 08:26 AM

Really interesting channel I’ve been watching lately that seems to cover all aspects..

[link to youtu.be (secure)]






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This is a project in which I failed miserably. But "Necessity is the mother of all inventions." so I guess if my life depended on it I might be more careful next time.

I may have missed some steps or tips, some of the other more experienced folks may have more info or better descriptions on this.


Brain Tanning Deer Hide


1) Kill a couple of deer (you'll see why two or more can be needed)

2) Preserve all the meat you can

3) Save the antlers if it is a buck

4) Skin the deer. Be very careful here, try to keep the skin as intact as possible. (no holes, try to keep the leg hide to make small pouches etc)

5) Hand the hide on a tree or lay it across a log or something very firm.

6) Remove all of the flesh from the inside of the hide by scraping it. This must be done thoroughly (ask me how I know) It can't be too thin and you can easily scrape holes into the hide this way if you're not careful.

7) Wad the hide up and soak it in water, this could take a couple of days. If the water gets bloody or really milky looking, you didn't scrape it right (again, ask me how I know)

8) Remove the hide from the water

9) Scrape the hair off of the hide, this part is pretty hard to do without damaging the hide. You have to be very careful to get all of the hair and out part of the hide (follicles, membrane) without tearing it. If not done right (this is where I failed badly) the brains mix won't penetrate the hide well enough and will become brittle and "break" in the spots that weren't scraped correctly.

10) Dip the hide a couple of times in water and wring it out. My buddy twisted one end while I twisted the other like wringing out a sheet.

11) Make the brain mix by removing the brains, squish it up really well and stir it into hot water. NOT boiling just hot, you will have to stick your hands in the brain mix to massage it. You may have to do this more than once. (Hence two deer)


12) Massage the hide by stretching it and wadding it up while it's in the brain bath.

13) Find a smooth surface to rub/ stretch the hide over so it gets soft, anything will work as long as it can't tear the hide will you work it across the surface. I did it on a fence rail by my barn, it was smoothed by the weather over the years. work the hide with a side by side motion until it feels sort of like a chamois cloth.

14) Smoke the hide by hanging it over a smoldering fire (you need a TON of smoke for this so soft or wet wood on a fire will help.

15) I removed my hide from where I hung it every now and then to make sure all parts of the hide were exposed to the smoke.


All done, if you did this better than I did, you should have a nice skin to use however you want.

Last Edited by Boiling Frog on 11/18/2021 08:32 AM

Water

In most parts of the country, rainfall can provide the water you need.

A house with a 1000 square foot roof will collect 7,770 gallons per year of water with 12" of annual rainfall.

Water usage will be around 7 to 10 gallons a day per person, assuming a composting toilet vs. a traditional septic system. That includes drinking water, washing machine, dishwasher and showers.

Rain water is directed from the roof through a mesh with 1/16" spacing into a cistern. There it is dosed with 2 ppm of chlorine and 1 ppm of copper sulfate. The cistern needs to be painted flat black to exclude sunlight (prevents algae, as does the chlorine and copper sulfate).

The main use cistern needs to be separate from the rain cistern. Water is pumped monthly from the rain cistern through a 20 micron filter, then a 1 micron filter to charge the main cistern. A 330 gallon tote main cistern is more than enough for one person for one month.

Water from the main cistern is run through a carbon granular "big blue" filter to remove the chlorine, right before the demand pump. Drinking water is made with reverse osmosis, then through a Berkey filter. Then it goes through a ZeroWater filter and comes out laboratory grade with no dissolved solids, chlorine, bacteria, or viruses.

You will need this pure water for your batteries, as well.

The water system is powered with a 3 GPM SureFlow demand pump set at 60 PSI. It also has a bladder-type pressure tank, approximately 2 gallons capacity per person.

Hot water is provided by a propane hot water heater. A bypass valve allows water to be heated and returned back to the main cistern to prevent ice formation.

The sizing of your water storage is dependent upon the reliability of your rainfall year over year.

Last Edited by Cheyenne on 11/18/2021 08:39 AM

This youtuber is a biology professor and her videos are the gold standard for safe canning.

Get rain barrels. one for every downspout and a ceramic water filter. Learn the edible wild plants in your area. Harvest acorns to dry and grind to add half and half with regular flour. Acorns are plentiful this year and the best are those of White oaks.

The only critters you,might be able to reliably trap are rodents. Mice, chipmunks, squirrels and rabbits. All the deer will likely go fast and the living deer will vanish never to be seen by humans again.

dandelion and chicory roots can be dried to make a coffee substitute. pine needles, clover blossoms and rose hips make good teas.

The vacuum part is the machine. They have several science grade ones they sell with it.

Unless you can suck a hose to vacuum for hours, you need a machine/pump.

Sanitation

In areas where water is at a premium, I suggest a composting toilet.

Gray water can be sent through a simple separator, and used on the garden. This separator excludes sediment and soap residue. Alternatively you could use a french drain.

Preserve green beans by making some leather beans.

1) Wash the beans and let them dry for a bit. (hour or so or pat them dry with a cloth)

2) Snap the stem off

3) Thread a large needle with string (something like kite string or fishing line) That's what I used.

4) Tie a large enough knot in the end of your string so the beans don't slide off

5) Thread the beans onto the string

6) Hang them in a pantry or some other place away from bugs etc.

7) Let then dry, this could take over a month, just make sure they are completely dry, you can't hang them for too long anyway.

8) Store the dried beans in a bag.

9) When you are ready to use them, soak them like any other dried bean in cold water overnight.

10) Cook them, I like to add some bacon fat and salt to mine when I cook them the next day.

Last Edited by Boiling Frog on 11/18/2021 08:51 AM