A Homeowner’s Guide to Enhancing Safety and Security on a Budget

Modern homeowners place a premium on security and self-sufficiency. Knowing that you can retreat to your private space when you need a break from the world can bring great peace of mind. But how can you create a safe property—without breaking the bank? This guide tells you how it’s done.

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Field Testing the OKMO 1000W Portable Power Station

OKMO has kindly provided me with their 1000 Watt Portable Power Station to test out and review. I was a bit skeptical of the unit at first since it was priced a little bit less than most of the competitive models. I was pleasantly surprised by its performance!

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Solar Generator – Final Version and Final Design Updates

The finished large solar generator featured in our DIY How To Build a Solar Generator series. If you are getting ready to follow our video tutorial and build your own solar generator, make sure you watch this video first so you know about the design updates!

In the video below we go over the solar generator features, solar panel kit specs, and our DIY battery bank expansion units. In addition, we show how to upgrade / improve several aspects of the original design including a higher power AC power inverter (3,000 watt continuous, 6,000 watt peak), fully waterproof external switches, mounting improvements, and a better way to store accessories inside the solar generator main case.

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Solar Generator – Battery Bank & Solar Panel Expansion

This is an update to our DIY How To series on How to Build a Large Solar Generator.   In this follow up post, I will show you how we can use the quick connects designed into our solar generator to expand both the solar charging capacity, as well as the battery bank for increased run times.

A lot of the feedback was asking how to expand the solar generator to an even bigger capacity system. When I designed the base unit, I wanted it to be very easily expandable using quick connects. There are two areas where we can easily do that with our system:

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Prepping 101

Prepping is a nickname for the act of preparing.  Preppers is a label used to describe those who like to prepare for the unknown. This post will give a broad overview of the various components to a good, versatile survival plan, and hopefully start the wheels turning on your own preparation plans. A good strategy will also be beneficial to you and your family during everyday life, as well as actually save money.

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Earthminded RainStation Rain Barrel

The Rain Barrel collects rain water from the roof and its drainage system. The water it collects is not potable, and should not be used for drinking or cooking without filtration & disinfection.

Besides the ability of providing a source of emergency reserve water, the rain barrel provides a great source of water to use to water your lawn and garden.  Any way to reduce your dependency on the utilities is a great thing. The rain barrel is one such way to reduce that dependency and save money on your water bill as well. Continue reading Earthminded RainStation Rain Barrel

Alternative Energy

Our technologies have developed at an astounding rate over the last 200 years. Also astounding, is how rapidly we are becoming completely dependent upon them. Electricity was not even widely available in homes until 1910-1920. Now, when the power goes out for more than a day or two, people often leave their homes and stay with family / friends that have power.

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Strikeforce Fire Starter

I decided to test out the UST StrikeForce Fire Starter. This is the best quality flint bar and striker we have seen. The outer construction is made of very sturdy ABS plastic and inside it contains a very large 1/2″ diameter flint bar. The striker is made from a thick piece of hardened steel. Together they produce nice large and very hot sparks.

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