Our Simple DIY Home Solar Power System Bringing some of the benefits of electrical power to our off-grid home has been a hit-or-miss affair. Over the years we’ve tried some very simple approaches to lighting and small battery recharging for our flashlights, such as hauling a 12 volt car battery to a small rural school about a half mile away every time it needed to be topped up. This was time consuming and inefficient. But we didn’t want to lose the feel of our simple home by bringing in a large generator and the jugs of gas needed to run it, and the prospect of setting up a wind turbine or solar array seemed expensive and a technological eyesore in a natural setting. …developing Eartheasy.com using a dialup internet connection on a phone line strung through the woods was challenging… Today, with the help of a local expert on off grid home solar power and alternative energy systems, we have the best of both worlds. The cost of this complete solar system, in today’s pricing for the components, was less than $1000. 1. 2. 3. 4.
Mountain UltraLight: Make Your Own Backpacking Meals! My 14 day John Muir Trail thru-hike with my son is just a few weeks away, so I've been busy preparing 28 days worth of backpacking food for us. Making your own is not that difficult, less expensive, and much lighter than buying those individually packaged meals. Are you up for the task? A healthy hot breakfast is pretty easy. My favorite is couscous, dry milk, dried cranberries, chopped almonds and cashews. 15 1/2 ounces yields 2,240 calories, or seven 320 calorie breakfasts. Now for some dinners. I may have gone a little crazy with this stuff, but did I mention that I absolutely love it? ...4 huge cans of crushed tomatoes... ...8 white onions, finely chopped... ...all in two giant pots with lots of garlic, basil, black pepper, and whatever else you love! Then into the dehydrator on parchment paper. I found the sauce finishes drying better if you remove it from the parchment paper and place it directly onto the drying rack. That's it for the hard stuff, the rest I will buy and repackage.
Monkey's Fist | How to tie the Monkey's Fist | Decorative Knots Uses: The Monkey's Fist (ABOK # 2200 - 3, p 354) is used both as a decorative knot and to weight the end of a heaving line (see caution below). Tying it: The Monkey's Fist is usually tied around separated fingers. For the demonstration, a U-shaped piece of metal strip was used instead and three turns of rope were used in each direction. After each set of complete turns, change direction by passing the end through the middle. Finishing it: The animation shows an overhand knot being inserted into the center. Alternative Monkey's Fist Finish Alternative Finish: Ashley describes a version shown here where both ends remain outside the fist and are spliced together so that the Fist becomes part of an eye splice. Split heaving line into two coils Splitting the Coil: Before throwing a heaving line, split the coil into two parts. Preparing to heave the line
Camp With Less Gear From Wired How-To Wiki Being a hardcore backcountry trekker requires a tolerance for discomfort. We don't have that. Les Stroud, star of TV's Survivorman, does. So we asked him for the secret to toughing it in the wild. His answer: Don't take a lot of stuff -- just take the right stuff. This article is a wiki. Stroud's advice is particularly nice for survivors, but if you're just looking for a lighter backpack, we have a few tips. Don't forget your essential camping gear: a map, a compass, and a pocket knife in addition to the items mentioned above. This article is a wiki. Go during summer. Thoughts from the mountains. I will never, ever, ever, nnnnnevvvverrrrrr go into the wild without toilet paper, a candle, a lighter, a knife, a compass, and water. As a long-time Outward Bound instructor, I have burned through a lot of gear in the quest to find lightweight, durable, high quality equipment that won't fail me on a long expedition. Snowpeak Titanium Spork:Wired: It's a spork.
25 Habits of Highly Effective Hikers Backpacker Magazine – August 2008 by: Michael Lanza, Illustrations by Colin Hayes Some people just have more fun. They get out every weekend, enjoy extraordinary summer adventures, and they make it all seem so easy. Their secret? They've made backpacking routine. 1. >> The best adventures rarely happen spontaneously–you make them happen. >> Plan the details months in advance. 2. >> Plan well in advance so you have time to find the best companions. >> Communicate the details and difficulties of your proposed trip to prospective partners. >> Agree on training goals for demanding hikes. >> Ask potential companions about prior trips. >> New partner? 4. >> Identify five destinations within an hour of home for dayhikes and overnights. >> Make sure your gear is organized in one place (a big plastic bin in the garage, say). >> Keep camp foods–dry goods like pasta and rice, fixings for a simple dinner and breakfast, and perishables like cheese–on hand so you can take off on short notice.
33 Days Across Wrangell St Elias National Park: The Southern Spiral Traverse – Perpetual Weekend by Jim Harris The Objective: As seen from afar: Numbers that defined our world: Wrangell St Elias NP and Preserve: 13,200,000 acres² (20,587 miles²) Distance traveled: 430 miles (~220 miles on land and ~210 floating) Time: 33 days (25 days on foot and 8 days paddling) Distance on trail: 0 Resupplies: 3 Bears: 14 Other park visitors: 0 Jars Nutella eaten: 5 Gallons olive oil used: 0.7 Hours of cardiopulmonary resuscitation (CPR) performed: 1.2 Width of tent space space, per individual: 15” Width of foam sleeping pads: 20” On the long, unpaved road to McCarthy, with the bumpin’ sound system. Almost midnight with a great bivy spot at the airstrip When Chuck Norris goes to bed at night he checks underneath for Garry Green. Cisco won the rock-paper-scissors for shotgun seating Garry dropped us off at Tebay Lakes As the sound of Garry’s plane faded, we found we were very, very far from anyone else. At the end of the first day we could look down the Bremner valley and see the Copper River on the horizon.
19 Pictures Of A Shipping Container Turned Into An Awesomely Designed House March 17, 2011 | 5 Comments » | Topics: Design via Home DSGN Hot Stories From Around The Web Other Awesome Stories The Project Gutenberg eBook of Woodworking Tools, 1600–1900, by Peter C. Welsh. Home Power - Micro Hydro and Solar Electric Systems Timber Castle and Customs Inc. - A Choice in Lifestyle Breathingearth - CO2, birth & death rates by country, simulated real-time
55 Great Sites For Woodworkers :Construction Management Schools: Construction Management Degree Do you have a love for woodworking? Having a husband that loves working in the garage and two sons in woodshop at school, I decided to put this list of sites together to help them as well as help others. From the novice to the advanced, if you are looking for some tips and tricks, design ideas, or just want to see what others are doing, this list has what you are looking for. These sites are not listed in any order other than by general topic. 1. 2. 3. 4. 5. 6. 7. 8. 9. 10. 11. 12. 13. 14. 15. 16. 17. 18. 19. 20. 21. 22. – Chris Baylor is the woodworking guide for About.com. 23. 24. 25. 26. 27. 28. 29. 30. 31. 32. 33. 34. 35. 36. 37. 48. 49. 50. 51. 52. 53. 54. 55.
100 Websites You Should Know and Use In the spring of 2007, Julius Wiedemann, editor in charge at Taschen GmbH, gave a legendary TED University talk: an ultra-fast-moving ride through the “100 websites you should know and use.” Six years later, it remains one of the most viewed TED blog posts ever. Time for an update? We think so. Below, the 2013 edition of the 100 websites to put on your radar and in your browser. To see the original list, click here. And now, the original list from 2007, created by Julius Wiedemann, editor in charge at Taschen GmbH.