Backcountry living?

[chorlton]

I'm in the middle of planning stages for getting away from the city, and I figured this would be the place to get some ideas on books or websites which deal with backcountry living, self sufficiency, all that stuff. I dont think we'll be going off grid straight away, but I do want to gradually head in that direction. This one looks great:
http://www.backwoodshome.com/
but I want to see if ther are others like it

 

[Ian]

I subscribe to Backwoods Home. It's a good magazine - a nice mix of off-grid power atricles, building articles, gun articles (Mossad Ayoob does a regular comumn), and food/cooking articles. Plus other stuff.

Depending on what you've got in mind, you might also look at Mother Earth News.

 

[chorlton]

Thanks for the info on those two, Ian!

 

[Thin Black Line]

Depending on what you've got in mind, you might also look at Mother Earth News.

I actually started reading this while I was in Iraq. I already lived in the
country (moved back from the suburbs) and had grown up on a farm. This
is a good basic place to start and the articles are easy to read.

 

[TallPine]

Even if you live in the country, you will still have some neighbors.

Probably the most important thing is not to act like a big city jackass

Slow down on the back roads (for instance, MT is open range country legally and if you hit livestock then you are to blame even if the fence is down), remember that people make a living with tractors and cows and pigs and such, and don't act like a know-it-all. Believe me - you don't!

And be careful about bad-mouthing who-ever you buy your land from - they may have been well liked members of the community (in my case I broke this rule, but it didn't matter because everyone started telling me that they were so glad that old so-and-so was gone )

Folks will take a liking to you if you don't stomp on their toes first thing.

 

[DWARREN123]

You will also learn from doing and the people who live around you.

 

[Sam]

Ask the new neighbors for help and advice, especially if you don't need it. There is no need to reinvent the wheel and they will appreciate your respecting them enough to ask.

It goes a long way toward fitting in.

Sam

 

[Dave Markowitz]

Check out The Backwoodsman magazine.

 

[anotherKevin]

Book resource

I find this book:

Back to Basics

to be pretty useful, and I'm frequently referring to it.

 

[hso]

http://www.homepower.com/

 

[Polishrifleman]

Glad to see you aren't completely jumping off grid. The expense has come way down but you still need all the same gear. Inverters, batteries, generators, gas, propane and the like. Keep it in mind when choosing a homesite though.

Great stuff mentioned above. Here are a couple I have found interesting.

Remember water, a good well can't be beat.

vermontsolar.com
wildernessawareness.org
woods-n-water.com

 

[carpettbaggerr]

http://www.motherearthnews.com/

Be ready to spend a few days paging through the archives.

The Foxfire books are good too:

http://www.amazon.com/Foxfire-Book-Mountain-Planting-Moonshining/dp/0385073534