Are Solar Panels Right for your Home?

The price of solar panels has dropped by sixty percent since 2001, making them an attractive investment for anyone interested in reducing their dependence on utility power, either out of a sense of environmental concern or the appeal of off-grid independent power generation.
Before you invest in solar panels, however, it’s important to consider whether your home is a good fit for them. This doesn’t just mean calculating whether solar power is a worthwhile financial investment—sometimes the physical nature of […]

Life Lessons Camping Can Teach Your Kids

Camping with kids offers opportunities to teach life lessons they’ll carry with them as they make their ways into the world. The skills and attitudes you teach children when camping prepare them for future challenges, and instill personal responsibility, self-reliance, and a deep, abiding love of nature.
Survival Skills
Even if you’re car camping for the weekend, campsites offer opportunity to teach valuable survival skills. Learning to pitch a tent, build a fire, catch a fish, and cook their own […]

Why Camping Might Help Your Sleep Schedule

Ever noticed you sleep better after you’ve been camping? It’s not just because you’ve been exerting energy hiking and backpacking. It’s also about exposure to natural light.
For most of our time on the planet, human beings went to sleep shortly after the sun went down and got up with the sunrise. Candles and oil lamps pushed bedtime back a little, but for the most part, if the sun wasn’t up, we were sleeping.
Then along came gas lights, and the […]

Where to Find Free Camping

US and Canadian national, state, and provincial parks may be beautiful, but if you’re planning an extended camping trip, the cost of campground fees can quickly mount up. Wouldn’t it be great if there were free areas you could camp?
There are, and their existence has led to the development of a culture of free camping enthusiasts. Known variously as boondocking, dispersed camping, dry camping, and wild camping, free camping offers a chance to take full advantage of nature’s bounty […]

First Aid Essentials You Should Have in Your Home

A first aid kit is a little like home insurance. You hope you never have to use it, but if you do, it can make an enormous difference. While many commercial first aid kits are well-stocked, few contain enough material to cover every eventuality, particularly in an emergency or survival situation. With that in mind, we’ve put together a list of essential first aid items every home should keep in stock.
Before we start listing kit supplies, however, let’s discuss […]

Submit Your Taxes & Check Your Supplies

April 15th is D-Day for US taxpayers. The only other time you see lines as long at your local post office is during the winter holidays. Whether you’re part of the last-minute crowd or submitted your taxes back in March, your upcoming tax refund offers a chance to improve and revitalize your emergency supplies.
Many people already use April 15th as a reminder to check their smoke detectors, fire extinguishers, and other safety supplies, so why not use it for […]

Why You Should Bring a Water Filter on Your Next Backpacking Trip

If you’re heading out to do some backpacking, some form of water filtration should be in your emergency kit, even if you don’t plan to be far from treated water. The reason is simple: injuries, wrong turns, or severe weather could leave you out on the trail with no access to clean water and your own water supply running low. With a water purifying system, you can use natural water sources with a minimum of risk.
Natural Water Threats
Drinking untreated […]

Survival Essentials to Keep Stocked at Home

In an emergency, you’re not going to be able to pop out to the local store if you run out of essentials. Instead, you must make do with what you’ve got until normal life can resume. That means having access to a well-stocked emergency larder, water, and other provisions.
Below is a list of supplies you should have handy in case of emergency. How much you need to stockpile depends of course on your location, your storage space, and the […]

Essential items to Keep in Your Car

Breaking down on the road isn’t any fun. Breaking down without any emergency supplies can be downright dangerous, especially if you’re on an isolated road in harsh environmental conditions. Be prepared by packing these fifteen essentials.
Car / Truck Repair Kit
It won’t be pretty, but sometimes you can jury-rig a solution to your vehicle’s woes long enough to get it to a mechanic. Your car repair kit should include:

Duct tape
Fix-a-Flat
JB Weld cold weld epoxy
Jumper cables
Motor oil
Parachute cord
Road flares
Tire reamer / […]

7 of Our Best Fishing Tips and Tricks

Every angler has their own private mental list of the best fishing tips and tricks. Some they’re willing to share. Others, like the location of their favorite fishing spots, are jealously-guarded secrets. We’ve complied seven of our best fishing tips to help you next time you’re on or by the water.
Controlling Snaps and Swivels
Snaps and swivels are to tackle bags what socks are to washing machines. You’d swear you put them in there, but they disappear like magic. Instead […]