Recommended Backwoods Home Magazine: Practical Ideas for self reliant living

Many of the regulars here at SM are familiar with Backwoods Home Magazine. It is an impressive online resource for those who are interested in self sufficiency and self reliance in a sustainable way. The articles and authors cover a wide variety of topics, mostly of a practical nature...though there are some partisan polemicists riding their hobby horses through the website also.

I thought that some of the visitors to Survival Monkeys might appreciate the link to the author index of BHM's archived articles.

Articles by author | author index | homesteading

 

THIS IS A GREAT SITE THAT I DID NOT KNOW ABOUT

 

Yup, great magazine and I've subscribed for many years.
Thanks for the link, it's good reference.

 

To my critics, suggestin' that I'm free ridin' on preppin' thread creation....you just have to know that it just ain't so!

bump

 

I have been getting BWH for many, many years.

Went to B&N (yes they are scum, only game in town) and picked up twelve survivalist/prepper/homesteading mags. A list of mags would include of course Countryside and Small Stock Journal (highly recommended), Backwoods Home, Backwoodsman (Charlie has backed off his "survivalist are scum and preppers are nutz" stance in the current issue, just a joke you understand....), SURVIVALIST (excellent), PREPPER & SHooter, Modern Pioneer, Modern Homesteader (both too basic to be of use, 98% of mag was either ads or "articles" that were ads), SWAT (was SURVIVAL Weapons up to Aug 1982, then SPECIAL Weapons, now SURVIVAL Weapons again), ASG (too basic to be of use, 98% of mag was either ads or "articles" that were ads), Survival Edge, ballistic (new, not impressed), STAY ALIVE, GRIT, MEN, have to go get the list to figure out the rest. Gee, remember five years ago when survivalists were nutz and there was nothing out there?

 

OK, new list, some survivalist, some prepper, some homesteading, some combo (mostly same as the old list, most of these I get or got);

Backwoods Home - (excellent. Duffy is a communist, which he admits every so often. Writers are libertarian however.)

Backwoodsman - (excellent. Charlie backed off of his "all survivalists are losers and stupid and all preppers are scum." Guess a few thousand canceled subs changed his mind! Naturally it was "just a joke...". Of course he is STILL pushing Big Foot whenever possible! And I'M the nut?!)

Countryside & Small Stock Journal - (excellent)

GRIT/CAPPER'S/Mother Earth News - (same publisher, not impressed.) Grit/Capper are about 90% same mag. MEN is trash now, however HIGHLY recommend the CD with ALL back issues!

Survivalist - (excellent)

"New" American Survival Guide - (EXTREMELY basic, 98% adverts)

Be Ready - (not too bad, not great either)

American Homesteader - (EXTREMELY basic, 98% adverts. May be "New Am Homesteader")

New American Mountainman - (EXTREMELY basic, 98% adverts)

OFF GRID by the publisher of RECOIL MAG - (so-so. I'm not impressed)

RECOIL MAG "the premier gun rag". The ones I bought were worthless for real life use. The $2,000 straight razor/fantasy junk killed it for me.

STAY ALIVE - (ok/so-so)

ballistic - (no caps) "the premier survivalist and gun rag" (NOT impressed)

Survivor's Edge - (ok/so-so, mostly bullet points and very basic)

Primitive Archer - got it for a year, of no use

Fur-Fish-Game - trapping/fishing/hunting, lots of people love it. I get it for the one article a year that pays for the sub.

Prepper and Shooter Mag - four issues in the last three 1/2 years

SWAT - was SURVIVAL Weapons, then SPECIAL, now SURVIVAL again

Modern Pioneer - (EXTREMELY basic, 98% adverts)

[{New Amer Pioneer - I'm 98% sure I saw this one too. Didn't see it at Wally when I was there looking. EXTREMELY basic, 98% adverts when I looked at it. May have been Mod Pi with new cover}]

PREPARE Mag - I get the free (and worth every penny!) internet mag. They have a print version that is supposed to be (they claim) completely different and much longer. Have not seen the print version.

Out Of Print - - - - - - -
Kurt Saxon SURVIVOR/Poor Man's James Bond/US Militia/etc.

Wilderness Way (half BWM/BWH/Primative Archer)

Guns and Survival (1990s - would buy any copies)

SOF SURVIVAL (1980s would buy any copies)

Independent American Online Mag/LMI print mag (complete set of all issues available for $25 [total cost] from Northwoods Traders, POB 21, Fernwood, ID 83830 and worth every penny! This was EXCELLENT!)

Did I miss any? Print mags? Internet? Agree/disagree? What/why?

 

OK, missed one!

Self-Reliance Illustrated (when they say "illustrated" they mean ILLUSTRATED! Endless dandelion and cowboy coffee articles! Put water in pot (photo), put pot on heat source (photo) grind/crush beans (photo) put coffee in pot (photo) boil (photo) add egg shells or dash of cold water to settle grounds (photo) pour in cup (photo) drink (photo). Same with dandelion articles. There IS a reason they went belly up!) Need #3.

American Woodsman - sort of a poor man's Fur-Fish-Game. 1950-55. Will buy any issues.

Hunter-Trader-Trapper - early 1900s (1900? 1914?-1940/41) started by Harding, Harding sold it to go do something else, tried to buy it back, started F-F-G in Sept 1925.

Any others?

 

Thanks for the comprehensive listing. It is a good starting point for those wishing to do their own research on prepper / survival periodicals. Readers can make their own evaluation of the magazines listed.

 

tacmotusn Mosquito Sailor Site Supporter+
Recently Melbo posted an open letter to Senator Cruz. Upon clicking on "read more" at the bottom of that article, I found "Forward Observer" magazine website. Doing a little exploring at the website, I noted many possible articles of interest to any prepper. YMMV
.
Here is a link to the website and an article that interested me. Building Tribe, Part I | Forward Observer Magazine

Any one get this? Good/bad?

 

Forward Observer also has some content available by free download podcast.

Forward Observer Podcast | Forward Observer Magazine

 

FROM HOMESTEADING.com

There are a number of survival magazines on the market, both in print and online. These publications are intended to help educate and prepare people for any type of unforeseen situation. From getting lost in the wilderness to a large-scale disaster, these magazines offer invaluable information related to survival.

This is not a comprehensive list of all of the available magazines; however, here is an overview of some well-known publications.

Survival Magazines
Wilderness Way

Wilderness Way is one of the newer survival magazines in print. Published quarterly, this magazine is both informative and affordable. Subscriptions are offered at the cost of $18.00 per year, for delivery inside of the United States. On their website, you can find free valuable information, featured articles, reader input, survival tips, and classified ads; all updated frequently.

Backwoodsman Magazine

One of the longstanding favorite magazines for survivalists is Backwoodsman Magazine. Printed 6 times a year, the cost of a one-year subscription is $23. If you want to get an idea of what you will find in this magazine before you order or purchase it, you can check out the website and read their free featured articles section. They also have an online store on the website, and if you really enjoy the magazine, you can purchase their “Best of Backwoodsman” issues.

Backwoods Home

A similar magazine, Backwoods Home, recently published their 20th year anniversary issue. This magazine is unique because its focus is mainly on a completely self-reliant lifestyle. On the website, you can find a general store, a discussion forum, back issues, and several articles to browse. A one-year subscription (6 issues) will cost $24.95, delivered to your door. Visit the webiste for all of this and more.

Backpacker Magazine

Backpacker Magazine is a bit different with its focus being mainly on outdoor survivalist gear and techniques. At Backpacker.com you can find featured articles, informative videos, product reviews, and blogs. Subscriptions are affordable at $12 for one year (9 issues). If you are interested in adventure and the great outdoors, this may be the perfect magazine for you.

Outdoor Survival Magazine

One of the leading online magazines for survivalist topics is Outdoor Survival Magazine. The best part about this magazine is that the subscription is free. You will find articles about survival tools and techniques on this online publication. Additionally, there are discussion forms and reviews of survival gear. They can be found at OutdoorSurvivalMagazine.com.

Modern Survival

Another quality online publication is Modern Survival. This online-only magazine is not free, however. It is published 6 times a year, and an annual subscription will cost you $19.95. For the price of your subscription, you will have access to articles, reviews, forums, classified ads, and more. You can preview this magazine at ModernSurvival.net.

Not listed is a magazine called SURVIVAL, which I haven't seen.

Wilderness Way is, as far as i know, out of print now and has been for some time.

Ever notice the less useful a mag is the more it costs? New Pioneer is $6.33 EACH as a SUB! ASG is $6 EACH as a sub, etc.!

One new mag I did pick up is BUG OUT - from the editors of ASG. About what you would expect from them, $250,000 to $500,000 (quarter million to half million bucks!) Bug Out Vehicles and the like.

 

Tried the Modern Survival link and it is gone. I think this was Jim Benson's (the editor of the OLD ASG) web magazine after the original ASG went belly up. I haven't talked to Jim in YEARS! We used to talk fairly regularly, no idea why we stopped, got busy I guess.

The Outdoor Survival magazine link came up with a site, but no links were working. Archives ended in 2011 so they might have gone belly up too.

 

Lots of good info in this thread.

Here is an internet archive of "Home Power Magazine"

All are availble to download in multiple formats (pdf, ebup, kindle, etc)