What's the differences between the 1800's Mountain man and his family and the 2017 mountain man and remote homestead?

  What's the differences between the 1800's mountain man and his family and the 2017 mountain man and remote homestead?

     We are privileged to be able to "CHOOSE" Wilderness living in the great north and this wonderful primitive lifestyle, but there are some significant differences today that make it a "wonderful" lifestyle compared to the 1800's.  I'd like to clarify what some of these differences are so that those who are seeking this lifestyle and are leaving "modern" life to try it can know what makes it so inviting compared to what they read in books from the 1800's. We like to see it as a kind of "sifting" gleaning the things that made the earlier era so inviting and leave behind the pulp/chaff of what made it so miserable. Likewise, we "sift" the 2000's and glean the best of  this modern age for the things that make living now inviting and leave the chaff or pulp of this modern age behind... Through this process you can create a life for yourself that captures the best of all your choices creating a life that is fulfilling, satisfying, and solid in character. Here's what we decided on....

What did we choose from 1800's?

CANDLE LIGHTING with MIRRORS,
 Since bees wax is a natural by-product of honey making and honey can be produced at home eliminating our need to purchase sugar. The bees pollinate the fruit & vegetables, part of our food supply, beeswax candles are an obvious choice, plus, we like to roast marshmallows over our natural beeswax candle flames! The mirrors are really important in maximizing the light. This is the style in our experience that gives the most light throughout a room. It can be found at the Daniel Boone Trading Post We have tried all kinds of candle lighting and this exact mirrored candle holder produced the light of 3 or more candles with just one candle. It produced comfortable reading quality light.

MAPLE SYRUPING, 
This too provides needed sugars for baking, coffee/tea/cereal sweeteners, etc.

WOOD HEAT & WOOD COOKSTOVE,
 Again we choose this to eliminate heating and cooking expenses, no gas or electric purchases. This one was made in 1888. It works just as good as it did the day it was made. I paid $400 for this one. The unique thing about this one is that it completely disassembles into back pack sized pieces, or a package the size of the oven door.These were the type commonly sold and transported to very rural or remote areas on horseback or by dogsled teams.

GOOSE DOWN BLANKETS/SLEEPING BAGS
these allow us to burn less or no wood at night, so no one has to get up to stoke the fires during the night. Make sure you get all down and not down & feathers as is sold 

SHEEP HIDE MOCCASINS 
Cabin floors get really cold in the winter!


HAND PUMP WATER
To eliminate the need for electricity in the summer, and water falls from the sky in the winter...FOR FREE! 

HANDMADE FURNITURE 
We create our furniture by hand from wood,antlers, tanned hides etc. Nearly cost free, attractive and materials are readily available on our property at our own time and desire, no store shopping required.

OLD BEDS were made with ropes like this one. Over time the ropes would stretch and get loose making it uncomfortable to sleep upon. Hense the "Good Night" wish to have a "good night and sleep tight!" It referred to "tight Ropes" as seen here.

TWO MAN BUCK SAW-SHARPENED PROPERLY AND TEETH SET PROPERLY
This saw is very efficient for 2 people and does produce firewood in stove lengths very quickly. We use ours as a back up saw.

HAND DRILLS
We prefer these for tapping trees and screwing in screws with no electric. Make sure you get one with a big chuck opening 1/2" to handle Big bits as well as small ones. Many only go 1/4" and then are not big enough to handle the bigger bits.

BOOKS 1800'S DIARIES, 1800'S ENCYCLOPEDIAS OF FORMULAS & HOW TO'S
These provide us with alot knowledge and information that help things go smoothly without electricity and with products naturally available in the environment. They include things like how to make tools for lifting heavy objects by yourself, how to make paint, glue,soaps - you name it...Its in there! . How to build without nails or screws, where to find food, how to trap etc. These books of this nature are indispensable on a homestead! You can read this book online by clicking on the book.

TANNED HIDES & LEATHER
Used for floor coverings, quiet gun slings/sleeves, bags, hot pads for handling hot pots and pans, used as trade or profit source, shoes and sandals, blade guards, gloves etc.

HUNTING&FISHING

This harvest fed 7 people for 1 year 

95% of our meat comes from natural harvest. A years worth of meat. Yes, we ate it all!

BERRY PICKING
Provides 95% or our fruits and fruit products, jams, syrups, juice etc come from home raised or woods picked fruits.

GARDENING & NATURAL GREENS

Narrow Leaf Plantain

This provides our organic vegetables, and we try to utilize as many natural occurring greens commonly called "weeds" in the urban environment but hold a lot of nutritive value, such as dandelion, common plantains narrow and broad leaf, lambs quarter, wild asparagus, clover flower and  chicory. These all make good salads. Chickory root can be roasted in the oven then ground for a coffee like drink. 

Lambs Quarter 

Broad leaf Plantain

COFFEE FROM THE HOMESTEAD - Coffee type drinks can be made by roasting wheat, barley, oats etc grains in your oven til golden, then add molasses. Makes a very serviceable coffee substitute.

MAULS,SPLITTING WEDGES,AXES,HATCHETS,MACHETES,HEAVY KNIVES
We use these extensively. They are used in wood fuel production for the stoves, furniture making that we use and sell. Wedges help split difficult knotty wood, and help fall trees in safe directions etc. Heavy steal knives are utility and used for cutting, prying, screw driving, you name it.

MUZZLELOADERS AND BLACK POWDER
Additional harvest seasons, black powder is easy to come by, readily available. Can be easily purchased from individual in most areas.

BOWS AND ARROWS
This is our favorite method of hunting, it is silent, highly effective, and can be produced mostly from natural materials. (The string is still most effective made from modern material)

HEIRLOOM SEEDS/VEGETABLES - The heirloom varieties are important because their seeds have been proven for decades or centuries and consistantly produce dependable fruits and you can collect seeds from your own plants. Open pollinated are the best choice because they are easily pollinated by many sources and produces many fruits.


What did we choose from the 2000's?

COMPUTER
Access to knowledge 1800's books and diaries at alibris, gutenberg.org free public domain ebooks, ability to earn $ at home such as ebay, craigslist, access to hard to find primitive living items lehman's. Community Support and encouragement from like minded individuals striving for the same goals or ideals against the pressures of a society that is prohibitive, through resources like Blogger youtube etc.

CHAINSAWS
This is a huge time and bodily energy saver! It is one of the inventions that surely helped extend man's life expectancy. 

GASOLINE & PROPANE
For running chainsaws, generator, wringer washer, camp stove in the summer, occasional lighting for special needs where brighter light is requisite. 

4X4 TRUCK
Hauling supplies, seeing friends or family far away, moving wood/logs

EMERGENCY BEACONS
These are special satellite signal beacons that can be activated in an emergency and your exact location is alerted to rescue services such as coast guard, state police and other search and rescue groups.

CELL PHONES 
These marvelous little devices are both good and bad. You can communicate with loved ones far away and can be used as a tracking device, can call for help if theres a signal and your battery isn't dead. These should NOT be relied on as a safety measure in remote areas.

RIFLES, REVOLVERS AND AMMUNITION
For safety from man & beast, and procuring meat supply. More durable, longer shooting range, more powerful and most ammunition can be reloaded.

THINSULATE BOOTS & GLOVES
Thinsulate has been a wonderful invention that is truly effective in keeping warm in cold environments. 1600 gram thinsulate boots are perfect for the northern U.S. Canada and Alaska

FLEECE
Fleece is similar to wool but lighter, an inbetween choice  between wool and down. It is soft on the skin and retains body heat well and dries quickly. Sherpa fleeces are most effective, but remember to turn the puffy side of the fleece inward toward your body heat to retain this heat. Many clothing manufacturers produce the garments with the fuzzy side facing out which is not as effective in retaining heat in seriously cold weather or exposure, so just remember to turn these garments inside out when spending long periods of time in extremely cold weather conditions.

POLYESTER AND NYLON
We've found these materials to be a huge improvement to items like rope, bow strings, anchor lines, tarps. These items can handle much heavier loads than their 1800's counterparts made from hemp, cotton etc.