Extopian

Many homesteaders and other people that choose to set up households in remote areas quickly realize that transmitted electricity is a premium resource, if not completely unavailable in some particularly remote areas. Even in reasonably developed areas, on larger properties paying for “last mile” utilities may be prohibitively expensive. Some turn to ingenious but expensive kerosene or propane powered models for appliances such as refrigerators when they may have an inexpensive, low-tech refrigerating system right beneath their feet. For the same reason utilities are hard to come by, many locations also rely on a private well and that’s where our solution starts.
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Popularity: unranked [?]

A few nights ago I was watching a documentary about an expedition into the Caldera de Luba, an isolated and steep-sided valley on Equatorial Guinea. With some descents as steep as 70 to 80 degrees, sections of the journey were more like mountaineering than hiking. To assist in one particularly challenging segment, the crew built a rope ladder. Although, the technique was not explained in detail and was a bit hard to follow, it could be gathered that it was essentially a series of looped knots that secured stout lengths of wooden saplings into a highly serviceable rope ladder. I decided to research the technique (along with another, more minimalistic one) and share the process with you.

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Popularity: 17% [?]

Rain water barrels have been all the rage for the last couple years (unless, of course, you lived in one of those areas where the government “owns” the rainwater than falls from the sky).  They’re an excellent way to provide for or supplement the water needs of a home garden.  However, a lot of us forget that it was not too long ago that such measures (rain capture and cistern) were part of the life or death water supply of mankind in many area. With water collection comes the issue of purification.  It was with all of this in mind that I came across this clever bit of farm technology from the last century.  My hat’s off to the clever farm that built the first one of these from simple materials found on most farmyards without the need for power or industry.

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Popularity: 4% [?]

Earthquakes are among those handful of natural disasters that are at once, expected while simultaneously being unpredictable. That is to say that while we know that parts of the world are prone to earthquakes and can identify general trends, we have no reliable way to predict them or even monitor their approach. This often makes them much more catastrophic than hurricanes, flood and tornados when they do strike a heavily populated area. History and pre-history is full of cities and civilizations brought low or wiped out by the “Unquiet Earth” in its various forms.

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Popularity: 7% [?]

It’s no secret that we’re fans of freshwater and saltwater fishing here at Extopian, both as a source of nourishment and as (one of many) motivators for responsible stewardship of our planet’s aquatic environments. One HUGE issue facing our waters is the accumulation of refuse from the fishing practice. Anyone who has fished at popular lakes and streams is no stranger to stray and broken lines in the brush and waters. From the lure and bobbers in our area, I’d estimate that some of them are easily a decade old and that’s just the ones ABOVE the water.

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Popularity: 5% [?]

No one would argue that having the right tool for the job is not one of the cornerstones of preparedness. And, while improvisation is another vital trait for the prepared individual, the use of tools is one of the hallmarks of humanity. With that in mind, we’re going to look at the Knife… one of man’s earliest tools and how it fits into modern survival and preparedness scenarios.

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Popularity: 4% [?]