Lets Learn to be Self Sufficient.

it's time to cut government out of our lives. The more Self Sufficient we can become locally and regionally the less need will will have of Central government and they will wither away and die. At least the Fascist part of them. Please post your knowledge in this forum about things you have done and or things you are researching to be more self sufficient. Thanks!

I am planning on making an alcohol still to cut gas prices. I'll make sperate post about it.

I've got about 10 acres in central alabama at the foot of the Blue Ridge. It has a year round stream that we will be damming up to produce small scale hydro-eletric power. I'll be using a 9' water wheel that is being made from an old metal wire spool and using old 25 gallon plastic barrels to make the buckets. Initially we will produce power using modified car alternators, but I've been doing research on axial flux alternators currently used for wind mill power production and am designing one to be used with a water wheel. The idea is to not only be self sufficient, but to be inovative in using things gathered from salvage and junk yards. If there are any other groups or people in central alabama that would be interested in comparing notes and sharing home brew tech, drop me a line.

Wind Energy.
Of all the research on windmills I've done, the Skystream 3.7 seems to be the best. You can look at this at their website:
www.skystreamenergy.com They are located in Flagstaff, Arizona
I have not implimented this yet however, when I get it done, I'll be happy to share the information.

Take a look at these people and what they are doing with highly efficient home built wind power - http://www.forcefieldmagnets.com/catalog/index.php?osCsid=47ecq72hnhve07d5lbb3ktdp25
Where I am at, the wind would only provide power for a few months of the year. My stream, however, is a constant. Even through our recent drought in the south east, it had water flow and I have identified a couple of underground feeders to this stream. Hydro power is the viable way for me to go. So I would want the most effecient power producing set up I can engineer myself. Because if I build it, I can repair it. To be self sufficient, a person must be able to maintain his equipment himself.

I would like to encourage people to think about building their own house. We bought land and are building our own home as we live in it. We have no mortgage on it. There are ways to do this, that an inexperienced person can do. Try looking into cob houses, adobe houses, rammed earth houses, and did you know that you can lay cement blocks without mortar, and cover both sides with a substance that has fiberglass in it, and the result is a stronger wall than done with mortar? Anyone with enough strength to handle a cement block could do it. We have found beautiful doors and windows at yard sales, and perfectly good insulation being thrown out at job sites, because it was cheaper for the builders to throw it away, than to inventory it? Your library has books on electric wiring, plumbing, and experts in these fields love to help people with their knowledge. Our home is not done, but certainly livable, and it is becoming beautiful, gradually, and will be worth so much more than the money we have put into it, with no interest. To see if you could do this, try finding books on doing it yourself, and you may become confident that you can do it too. And, when one builds one's own home, when it needs fixing, you will know how to do it. And even if there is a certain area that you would not feel comfortable doing, say, like electric wiring, you could hire someone for that, being so much cheaper than hiring the whole house done, and save up for his wages, instead of paying interest on a loan.