I get these newsletters and they are usually pretty basic information. The company sells survival books and they are definitely worth the money. I have several. Thought this was an interesting article You are receiving this email because you purchased our book, The Lost Super Foods. Preparing to go off-grid can be a daunting task, especially when it comes to ensuring you have all the tools you may need. Then, once you are off-grid, finding an inexpensive option to buy tools becomes paramount when saving every penny matters. That’s why attending flea markets and local swap sales can prove to be beneficial. In this article, we will look at some of the off-grid tools you might expect to find at a flea market. Kitchen Tools Being off-grid means you’ll want to have plenty of manual kitchen tools. This can include can openers, meat grinders, and mixing tools. While these can be purchased from a standard retail operation, finding them in a flea market could mean huge savings. Finding these tools in a flea market is even better because they are often older, but better quality. We all know things aren’t made to last anymore. The key to finding kitchen gadgets is to make sure they are operational before buying them. Make sure they have all the parts with no rust pits. Small rust spots can usually be remedied quickly, but if the metal is pitted by rust, it may not be worth your time and money. Cookware Pots, pans, and utensils are often a prominent fixture at flea markets. And, while one pan might do for most cooking scenarios, you’ll want to be sure you have the right pans for the right uses. For example, if you’re making a stew, a frying pan just won’t work. Your best chance of versatile cookware will be cast iron. Cast iron is one of the only pieces of cookware that you can move from a stove to the campfire without harming the pan itself. Remember, though, that cast iron is still at a premium, so don’t shy away from the pieces that need some TLC. If you know how to restore cast iron, you can find some decent deals and save money. Flashlights Flashlights and batteries are something you can never have enough of on a homestead. You can often find them in bundle deals for cheap. And, if you find a booth dealing in just flashlights, chances are they will have survival flashlights that require cranking to work without batteries. Maintenance Tools Basic maintenance and construction tools, such as hammers, screwdrivers, and wrenches will always be a staple at flea markets. When living off-grid, you’ll find these tools tend to have legs of their own and can never be found when you need them the most, so having extra is always beneficial. One thing, too, you will want to keep an eye out for is buckets full of nails, screws, and bolts. Though they seem like an organizational nightmare, they can be good to have around, especially during construction projects. Fishing/Hunting Gear Regardless of where you decide to live off the grid, chances are you’re either hunting or fishing to find a sustainable food source. Rods, reels, and even guns can often be found for a fraction of the retail cost at a flea market. Also be on the lookout for camouflage and fishing lures, especially if you are into fly fishing as many flea markets will have fly-tying supplies available. Buckets and Storage Boxes Organization is key to off-grid success, and you can never have too many buckets. These items are often seen in bulk around flea markets and swap meets, making them extremely inexpensive. This can also include barrels and drums; anything that can hold liquids, mainly water. If you do intend to use these for water, you’ll want to be sure they are made of food-grade materials. You can use the barrels to build this cheap pressurized rainwater harvesting and purification system on your own property. Old Military Gear This kind of gear can include rucksacks, MREs, med kits, and canteens. These items have been created to be rugged and long-lasting and often fill many of the needs you’ll face on an off-grid homestead. Old ammo crates, both metal and wood, make great storage containers. Fabric and Sewing Supplies Being off-grid comes also the need to fix things yourself. Buying new clothes won’t be as easy as going down to Walmart or other retailers as often as someone who lives in an urban area. Therefore, you need to have both the knowledge and materials necessary to make and repair your clothing. This might even mean being in search of a manual sewing machine if you have the space available. Garden Tools Gardening is a staple of any off-grid homestead. Plus, there’s always a need to either dig a hole/trench, rake the yard, or till the soil. These tools, and the supplies to repair them, are easily found at flea markets. The need to inspect them, though, is the same with any metal equipment you buy. Be sure they are free from rust and the handles are in good shape for the work you need to complete. One thing I have noticed about many flea-market merchants is that they aren’t out to become rich. Many are perfectly willing to barter, making their goods more appealing to an off-grid homesteader as you can use your own products or services to purchase items you need. Regardless, don’t discount flea markets as an excellent source of items necessary to living off-grid. Don't forget to add a gardening guide. It's true, I didn't find this guide at a flea market, but it's the best one I can recommend. Since the late 1970s, the authors of this book have thrived off the grid by growing their own food, making natural remedies, collecting safe drinking water, heating their home, and generating electricity at minimal cost. They’ve lived entirely self-sufficiently, using only what their homestead produces. For a complete guide on how to achieve this lifestyle, check out The Self-Sufficient Backyard. The Only Survival Items You Should Never Pack **I left the links in as I can vouch for the company. And thought others might want to look at what they have to offer. MM **
Don,t mean to hijack thread, but would like to flesh it out. This is an area that I have thought a lot about and the tools to look for or to get. Don't really know how to move this to a new post with cut and paste and have several hours into this first of a few section idea. Old time hand kitchen tools. Old "Dutch" cook book that allows you to use the old time tools. Starts from scratch and allows you to use all the old hand tools. http://www.merrymeeting.com/historiccooking-ebooks/Pennsylvania-Dutch-FineOldRecipes.pdf Often over looked are old hand kitchen tools. You don't know if you will be in a shelter, cooking for 3 or 4, at home stead with 8 or 10 or in a community with 30 or more. While you can hide for a while, sooner or later if things go real bad, you need a community for defense and sharing. Will have children, elderly, and unable to work that will need care. Old rule of thumb is that with vacations, sick leave, etc, it takes 5 full time employees to cover one position 24 hours a day, 365 days a year. Also old rules are never have a guard alone, some one will eliminate him or her, and guard shift shouldn't last more than 4 hours. Get sleepy at night or lose awareness in day. Thus if planning for a years supply of food, need to plan on how many and where they are going to be located. Also have to know if you are planning for a physical collapse or an economic one. I would put emp in with economic one. Still have means of production, just no infra structure to use the resources. Potato peelers are totally needed for all veggies. It lets you use less than perfect carrots, needed for lots of squash, of course potatoes if you don't boil them with their jackets, etc. Note there are potato peelers that make a very thin slice of almost just the skin, and a second type that gives you a thicker slice used when you cook or eat the peel, make potato or veggie chips, use for quick cooking soups or fry in wok etc. Kitchen knives. Most of the new paring knives today are worthless. They are only sharpened on one side, easy to make, and are hard to resharpen and when slicing veggies etc, they will not give a straight cut. Need a two sided sharpened blade. Will also need larger knives to cut bread, slice up larger cuts of meat, skin and butcher game or farm raised animals, etc. Also need large knife to dice up squash, turnips, potatoes, beets, meats, onions, celery, etc for soups and stews. There are several special knives that few have that are very use full. Cleaver or ulu knife to chop, cut between bones, etc. A knife is not a substitute for a meat grinder or chopper. Used to be two different tools. One cut up the pieces, the other basically mashed them. We all know what they look like, but few people use them any more. If you get one, be sure to get all the parts. Different parts allow you to cut different sizes of cut pieces and some had attachments that allowed you to stuff sausages and hot dogs. It allows you to use leftovers to make hash, or if extending your meat supply, to feed more people with the same amount of meat. Grind onions, potato, meat, and carrots etc to make hash. To use meat to tough or in small pieces to make hamburger, which also allows you to mix in fat or a different meat to make sausage. This can be used to extend the meat, use bad cuts, or to be processed to keep, ie, summer sausage or pepperoni, etc. Mom used all kinds of weird thing with meat in the meat grinder, oatmeal sausage for breakfast, cut up meat and veggies for pasties and mince pies, turnips etc. She also used it to grind up fruits for juices for jams, jellies, apple sauce, cider and vinegar, fruit leathers, etc. This was with a food chopper, not a grinder. The Universal Cook Book : Universal Food Chopper : Landers, Frary & Clark : Free Download, Borrow, and Streaming : Internet Archive Almost everyone at one time had a hand meat saw. Used to cut up bones for soups and in butchering to cut off pigs feet, ham hocks, soup bones,etc. It was used in butchering to break the animal down into 4 pieces, quarters, that could be handled easier. It also was used to cut up ribs, pork chops, hams, etc in the butchering process. Lot of work and best learned from some one who knows how to do it. https://www.extension.purdue.edu/extmedia/AS/AS-671-W.pdf Next was a sauerkraut cutter. It was a piece of wood with a knife blade and a box that slid over the knife. We made sauerkraut with cabbage with it, but it also cut up beets for canning, cucumbers for pickles, apples for drying, etc. Mom's had a single blade that was adjustable that allowed you to cut different thicknesses with it, I have seen several different styles in junk shops. One of the least understood "tools" were the large stoneware crocks. A gallon or 2 and up to 25 gallons. They were glazed and made of fired clay. You used them as metal reacted with the foods and ruined them. Everyone knows of the small ones for sauerkraut, but they were used to cure meats, store home made lye for soap, with lard to store meats, to ferment all kinds of veggies, make pickles, etc. The source below lets you know the cost of new ones and see if you really want to buy that old one even if perfect. The Science Of Curing Meats Safely Stoneware Fermentaion Crock, Lids and Weights - Pickling Crock | Pressure Cooker Outlet We all know about pressure cookers and water bath caners. If not look at the Blue Book. 2006 JK Ball Complete Book Of Home Preserving : Free Download, Borrow, and Streaming : Internet Archive The next item, stock pots, is not so evident. They work well with wood stoves, put your bones, chicken bones, peelings, etc in a pot, let simmer for a while, well hours at least, strain and end up with a very rich broth or stock for making soups. To say nothing of making regular soups to feed large numbers of people with cheap, and usable food. ! chicken, whole and tough old hen, potatoes, rice, veggies, what ever stone soup you have. Cook meat first, remove chicken and strain, put chicken pieces back and throw bones, add veggies, rice, potatoes, turnip, cabbage, tomatoes, beans, you know, and cook. Extends food, good for you, use up long term storage foods, ie, dried onions, rice, dried veggies, add dandelions, nettle, lambs quarters , other edible weeds, you know the game, and stay alive. https://chatelaine.com/food/how-to/how-to-make-the-best-soup-stock/ Cast iron for cooking is something we all know about. Lots of stuff on Monkey. Transforms LTS unusable foods to good eats. Dried beans into backed beans without burning on the bottom of the pan and on either a wood stove or even buried in the ashes. There are at least three different styles of cooking with cast iron. Dutch oven for open camp fires, with or without a tripod, and buried or with covered coals. It may be used covered as a sort of oven, or open as a heavy kettle. The use of cast iron fry pans to distribute the heat of an open fire or a wood cook stove is a whole different type of cast iron cooking as is using cast iron in a wood stove oven. Short and sweet, if you don't have cast iron in your preps, you aren't in it for the log haul or even fully enjoying life now. The frying pan recipes are a little fancy, they do indicate all the basics and show that the limit is the cook's imagination and not the fry pan limits. http://www.bsa-troop29.org/downloads/resources/cookbooks/Scout_Dutch_Oven_Cookbook.pdf 29 Quick & Easy Cast-Iron Skillet Suppers The next on is not as obvious. If you are cooking over an open fire or on a wood stove, you need "long" handled ladles, spoons, turners, etc. Think of barbecue grilling tools to keep away from the heat. That and for stirring large deep kettles if cooking for 30 people. If serving dumplings or veggies etc in liquid you will need a slotted spoon. or if serving soup from large pot to bowl a ladle. Rolling pin. Used to make pie crusts of course, but also biscuits, flat bread, tortillas, pasta products, etc. It is part of the secret that converts LTS storage foods into good eats. large shallow pans for the oven or basement. Used to make lard from pig fat, to separate cream from milk to make butter, for making cheeses, to make fruit and berry leathers in wood stove oven, etc. Mom said the secrete of good lard was low temps. In the 1920's, a pound of good lard cost more than a pound of pork chops. How to Render Lard • The Prairie Homestead Strainers. That is a whole field in itself. Sifters used to sift flour to remove bran so you can use it in cakes, strainers to drain pasta's, drain soaked beans, washed rice or lentils, re hydrated dried fruits,etc. Then there was the Foley, or food mill, sort of a cross between a sieve and a motar and pestle. It was used to remove seeds, skins, etc fro fruits and berries and leave a puree that could be made into jams, apple sauce, with more boiling, apple butter, etc. Also used to make a lot of the baby food in our house. More modern ones, OXO for one , have replaceable bottom plates with more than one size hole so that you can get a puree that has more solids in it. How to Use a Food Mill https://www.oxo.com/blog/cooking-an...oDvq8My4AOdMlJNZzZ4hr0aw8htM3S2y6BL_U0ZdrtD7_ Grain grinders. There is all you need to know on grinders in the Monkey now. Just need to look it up. They convert long term storage food into ready to prepare food. Wheat into whole wheat flour, cracked wheat for breakfast foods, corn into corn flour, etc. They also convert food with storage times in the decades into flours etc that will spoil in weeks as the germ is broken down and the oils exposed to oxygen. Some allow you to make nut butters as well and peanut butter does spoil and has a lot of food value, as well as tasting good. That is just a few items off top of my head. I am sure that many of the older folk could double this list of things that will be valuable if SHTF and make life more pleasant and some like flour mills and caners may actually allow you to survive.
